Bagwell on new role in Astros front office: 'All I’m trying to do is help the organization be the best it could possibly be'

A former All-Star infielder for the Houston Astros has a new role in the incumbent World Series champions’ front office, according to a report on the team's website. 

Jeff Bagwell, who played his entire 15-year career in Houston from 1991 to 2005, was tabbed the Astros’ senior advisor to ownership and baseball operations.

Per the franchise, the 54-year-old Bagwell will continue his involvement with baseball operations, to which he said is about helping sustain a successful run that has produced five division titles, four American League (AL) pennants and two Fall Classic triumphs.

“All I’m trying to do is help the organization be the best it could possibly be, so there’s no such thing as a window [of contention] here and we just continue to maintain winning,” the 1991 National League Rookie of the Year (NL ROY) and 1994 NL Most Valuable Player (NL MVP) said in the report. “Part of that is the big league stuff, making sure we get the right players that fit our organization and what we do – great pitching, great defense and we don’t strike out. Taking that and bringing it all the way down to the Minor League system.”

According to Sports Illustrated (SI), Bagwell said Astros fans deserve seeing their team remain on top.

“We have made this city such a big Astros town,” he said, per SI. “You can see it when you’re driving in and see it when you’re at restaurants and all that. I don’t want that to end. If we do it the right way, spend smart money and develop our players, we can continue to win here.”

The Boston-born Bagwell played the first base position, and together with ex-Astros second baseman Craig Biggio, formed the revered “Killer B’s.”

Bagwell’s best season was the strike-shortened 1994 campaign, when he took home a Gold Glove Award and a Slugger Award aside from NL MVP.

He helped guide the Astros to their first World Series appearance in franchise history 11 years later.

Having hung his cleats up for good in 2006, Bagwell went on to work for the only Major League Baseball (MLB) club he ever played for and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017, the same year Houston won its first Fall Classic on its second try.