TORONTO - Former Houston Astros general manager James Click was hired by the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday as vice president of baseball strategy.
Click, 45, helped build the Houston teams that went to three straight AL Championship Series and back-to-back World Series, winning it all last year. But he clashed with owner Jim Crane, and the Astros announced six days after clinching the title that he would not be back.
It’s believed to be the first time a World Series-winning GM did not return since 1947, when the Yankees’ Larry MacPhail was replaced by George Weiss.
The Blue Jays said Click will work closely with GM Ross Atkins across both professional and amateur levels.
A Yale graduate, Click spent 14 years with the Rays, starting as a coordinator of baseball operations before becoming the team’s director of baseball research and development and director of baseball operations. He spent three seasons as vice president of baseball operations before Houston hired him.
