Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow announced that Triple-A manager Tony Defrancesco will not return to the Astros organization for the 2018 season.
The Astros say their Triple A manager, Tony DeFrancesco, will not return for the 2018 season.
— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) September 6, 2017
DeFrancesco spent the last seven seasons managing the Astros Triple-A affiliate, beginning with four seasons with Oklahoma City (2011-14) and then the last three with Fresno (2015-17). In 2015, he was named Baseball America Minor League Manager of the Year after leading the Grizzlies to the Pacific Coast League championship and the Triple A National Championship. DeFrancesco also served as interim manager for the Astros Major League club for the final 41 games of the 2012 season.
This past season was DeFrancesco’s 23rd as a minor league manager, he has won eight division titles, four PCL titles and two Triple A national championships. In April of 2017 with Fresno, he reached his 1,000th career victory managing in the PCL.
Luhnow said of the move:
“We are very thankful to Tony for his contributions to the Astros organization. He has had a long, successful career as a manager and played a key role in the efforts to rebuild our minor league system over the past few years. We wish him the very best in the future.”