Jeff Bagwell doesn’t want to be Astros GM (right now), but here’s his master class on baseball consulting

HOUSTON – Former Astros star and baseball legend Jeff Bagwell played a big role in landing José Abreu for the Houston Astros, KPRC 2 sports director Randy McIlvoy reported Tuesday, but as we learned through a short interview with Bagwell, he’s been playing a big role for the team in terms of consulting.

In an interview on Tuesday, Bagwell lauded Astros owner Jim Crane and said he flew to Miami to meet with Abreu.

“It’s something that I enjoy because I get a chance to see the person. You know, so much of this game is numbers and things like that, but there’s so many things about this game that numbers can’t tell you. The type of person, what he means in our clubhouse, desire, how he goes about his business. Those are the intangible things that I can see when I talk to somebody – more than just the numbers.”

Asked if he would like to be general manager of the Houston Astros, Bagwell laughed and smiled. “No, I’m good, man,” he replied. “I’m good where I’m at right now.”

“I talk to Jim a lot, the guys, the assistant GMs and stuff like that, just to consult and give my opinion on different things that I see and how I see it from the player’s perspective, but as well from the front office perspective as well and how that all mixes together,” Bagwell explained. “Because you have to have a mix of both. It can’t all just be one way. The game has advanced so much, but at the end of the day, it’s about driving runs in, scoring runs, getting 27 outs before the other team. That never changes. So trying to get a mix of both of those is what I’m trying to get some of those up there because that’s what Jim wants.

“This game is played by humans, man,” Bagwell continued. “It’s not played by computers. There’s a lot of things that go on, stuff that’s not in between, stuff in those doors over there and on the field. There’s stuff that happens on the field, stuff that goes on at home, a lot of things that can happen throughout a year, that mean something and it affects a player in some ways and being able to know that – that’s what Dusty (Baker) does so great – he knows his players so well on and off the field which makes it a lot easier for him to manage because he has the communication with the guys and understands.”

Bagwell is a National Baseball Hall of Famer. He was a first baseman and coach who spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball playing career with the Astros.

For more, watch the full interview below.