Astros Hire Brad Mills as Manager

The Houston Astros are poised to announce the hiring of Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills as their new manager Tuesday, according to multiple reports, first from MLB.com, a move that comes two days after the club lost out on Manny Acta to the Indians.

Mills, who came to Boston with manager Terry Francona before the 2004 season and won two World Series with the team, also managed in the minors for 11 seasons and played four seasons with the Montreal Expos from 1980-83.

The Mills hiring continues a mini-exodus from Boston. This past week former Red Sox assistant general manager Jed Hoyer was hired away by the Padres to be that club's general manager, a sign of how well-respected Boston's management team has become in baseball circles.

Mills will have his hands full in Houston. He inherits a team that went 74-88 in 2009, hasn't finished higher than third in the NL Central since 2006 and features an aging core of Lance Berkman, 33, Carlos Lee, 33, and Roy Oswalt, 32. To make matters more difficult, the Astros' farm system is considered one of the thinnest in the game and owner Drayton McLane has shown little patience for a lengthy rebuilding effort in the past (though he did seem more open to one earlier this season).

That lack of patience has resulted in plenty of instability in positions of leadership. The Astros have had four different general managers (three permanent) since 2000 and Mills we be the team's sixth different manager (fifth permanent) over the same time span.

Houston passed over two other finalists for the job -- interim manager Dave Clark, who led the team over the final 13 games of the season after Cecil Cooper was fired and Phil Garner, who managed the club for parts of four seasons (2004-07).