ST. PETERSBURG (WDAE) -- With just over a week until the start of Spring Training, the Tampa Bay Rays learned they would be losing another member of the front office.
The Houston Astros Monday named Rays vice president of baseball operations James Click as their next GM, replacing Jeff Luhnow, who was fired on the heels of the sign-stealing scandal.
Click had been with the Rays since 2006, when he joined the team as a coordinator in the baseball operations department. He then worked as director of baseball research and director of baseball operations before being elevated to vice president in November 2016, overseeing research and development, baseball systems, clubhouse operations and departmental logistics.
Click joins Chaim Bloom, who was named Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox in November, in leaving the team following a 96-win season in 2019.
"We wish James and his family well, and we thank him for his 15 years of great work with our organization," principal owner Stuart Sternberg said in a statement. "The departure of another talented, senior Rays executive is difficult. That difficulty is compounded by the timing of the departure, only days from the opening of spring training. A large number of former Rays staffers now populate senior team positions across the league. Most recently, two of the past three World Series winning teams, against whom we compete directly, have reached beyond their organizations and into our ranks to fill their top baseball operations positions.
"We have great organizational leadership, strong faith in our ability to regenerate, and we have supreme confidence in the men and women who will be stepping up into their newfound opportunities and responsibilities. That is the Rays way. It is who we are, it is what we do."