Major League Baseball

Dusty Baker returning to San Francisco Giants as a special assistant

Published Jan. 16, 2024 12:36 a.m. ET

Dusty Baker is returning to the San Francisco Giants for a third stint with the team, this time as a special assistant in the front office, according to a person with direct knowledge of the hiring.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday night because Baker's new position with the club hadn't been formally announced. That is expected to happen this week.

Baker is still beloved in the Bay Area and this very well could be his final baseball stop in what almost certainly will be a Hall of Fame career.

Back with the Giants, he will serve as a special assistant to President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi and CEO Larry Baer. Baker managed the Giants from 1993-2002 before coming back to work as an adviser to Baer during a break from managing in 2018-19.

The 74-year-old Baker retired from the Houston Astros following the 2023 season — his 26th year as a major league manager. He said then he still had more to offer a team and hoped to take on an advisory role.

Baker finally won a long-awaited World Series title as a manager with Houston in 2022. He owns a 2,183-1,862 career managerial record with the Giants, Cubs, Reds, Nationals and Astros.

He left the Giants on difficult terms following their World Series loss to the Angels in 2002 and took over as skipper of the Cubs.

Still, this new job is a natural fit. Baker repaired his relationships in San Francisco over time — the Giants offered him flexibility to watch son Darren's college games at the University of California at Berkeley — and still owns a home in Granite Bay outside Sacramento, where he loves to garden and grow grapes for his own wine.

USA Today first reported the reunion Monday.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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