Blue Jays hire ex-Astros GM Click as VP of baseball strategy

The Toronto Blue Jays added a marquee name to their front office, hiring former Houston Astros general manager James Click as their vice-president of baseball strategy, they announced Monday.

Click helped build the 2022 World Series champion Astros, but left the team weeks after their victory following a contract dispute.

In his new role with the Blue Jays, he will work alongside GM Ross Atkins on "strategic planning, decision making, and evaluation."

"We're just really excited that he chose us to get an objective view of things that we're doing well, things that we could be doing better," Atkins said, according to Sportsnet's Shi Davidi. "We feel very, very good about where we are as an organization, but we're always trying to get better."

The 45-year-old joined Houston as its GM in January 2020 following Jeff Luhnow's firing after the team's sign-stealing scandal. The Astros reached the ALCS in all three of his seasons running the team, a run that included pennants in 2021 and '22 and last year's 106-win world championship squad.

Despite winning the title as his contract was expiring, Astros owner Jim Crane offered him a one-year extension. Click rejected that offer and left the team; the Astros operated without a GM for most of the winter.

Astros manager Dusty Baker, who was hired by Click shortly after he took over as GM, said he was "glad" to see his former colleague find work elsewhere, according to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle.

"I always thought he had a bright future, just sometimes things don't work," Baker added.

Prior to joining the Astros, Click spent 14 seasons in the Tampa Bay Rays' front office, including three as their vice-president of baseball operations.