After narrowing down a long list of candidates, the Houston Astros finally found their manager of choice. A month after firing Cecil Cooper, the Astros chose Brad Mills to be their manager over keeping interim manager Dave Clark and many other candidates. Mills, 52, has been Terry Francona’s bench coach for the Red Sox for the past six years. This is his first managerial position in the majors with 11 managerial seasons in the minors (most recent 2002 with a Dodgers affiliate).

Now Brad gets to scratch his head instead

The Astros have a large turnaround on managers since making the World Series in 2005. This is their fourth manager in 6 seasons. They have mostly disappointed in the years since their best season in franchise history, so Mills has his work cut out for them. He will have to overcome injuries from top players and a pitching staff that is not prepared for a 162 game season.

Houston’s management interviewed 10 candidates, and offered new Indians manager Manny Acta the job, but obviously he refused. Other candidates included former mangers Phil Garner and Dave Clark. I don’t know much about Brad Mills, so I can’t make much judgment on the hire. Sometimes choosing the obscure guy works, but sometimes it doesn’t. The Astros are hoping the wild card pick could give them at least a wild card spot in the 2010 playoffs.