Have the Houston Astros ever had a manager who, in his first year as skipper, had a son eligible for the MLB draft? Well, they have one now. Dusty Baker, with the ink still damp on his Astros contract, has a 21-year-old son, Darren Baker, who’s a junior second baseman for the University of California-Berkeley Golden Bears.
Drama may unfold come draft day, and in two arenas. Dusty would love for his new organization to make Darren a part of the Astro family, even though nil is the chance of Dad ever managing him at Minute Maid Park. Dusty Baker’s deal as a manager is for one year, with a team option for 2021.
But, will the Astros feel pressure to draft Darren because his dad is the team’s manager? Add to that equation the specter of the Astros having lost their first two draft picks in the wake of MLB’s punishment for tech-aided sign stealing from 2017.
Will having lost two picks, even at the top of the draft, dissuade Houston from “taking a chance” on Baker the younger even as far down the draft order as he will likely land? He’s on FanGraphs’ draft board, but barely, after some 550 other eligible players.
Darren, with his dad in his second and final year as the manager of the Washington Nationals, was drafted by the Nats in the 27th round of the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Darren, of course, didn’t sign out of high school, opting to attend Cal as a six-foot, 175-pound left-hand hitting infielder.
Where Have You Seen Him Before?
Darren Baker was born on February 11, 1999, in the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay, California, as Dusty was preparing for his seventh Spring Training as manager of the San Francisco Giants.
Dusty went right to work putting little Darren to work, handing him a bat instead of a rattle, dressing him in an adorably oversized Giants uniform and made his three-year-old a bat boy.
The tiniest Giant had a relatively uneventful career until one particular 2002 World Series at-bat by his favorite player, former Astro Kenny Lofton (1991). Running to get Lofton’s bat after a long drive, Darren was in harm’s way. JT Snow famously scooped the tot off home plate, helping to avert a collision with oncoming players.
Darren as a Marauder
Darren Baker attended Jesuit High School in the Greater Sacramento suburb of Carmichael. He hit .386/.448/.884 in 30 games as a junior, was named All-Delta League Second Team, and was an All-Metro Honorable Mention pick.
Slashing .396/.476/.960 as a senior, Baker was the Marauder’s Most Outstanding Team Player and Most Outstanding Defensive Player in his 2017 senior year, just before being drafted by the Nats. He also played in the nation’s capital for the DC Grays of the Cal Ripken League that same summer.
On to Berkeley
Tackling American Studies at Cal, Baker (a good friend of former Cal catcher and Astros’ 2019 first-round draft pick Korey Lee) hit .273 his freshman year. Adding six doubles, a homer, 23 RBIs, and five stolen bases, Baker had 16 multi-hit performances.
One of the Pac-12’s better defenders, he compiled a .983 fielding percentage with just three errors at second base.
In 2019, Baker further developed into one of the conference’s premier defenders as a sophomore, nabbing a spot on the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team. He proved flexible, as head coach Mike Neu slotted him up and down the batting order. He rewarded his coach by hitting .306 with four doubles, a triple, and 19 RBIs.
Darren was second in the conference in stolen bases, with a flawless 21-for-21. In the field, he made just six errors over the final 48 games of the season.
Eager for the extra work, Baker put in a solid summer with the Cape Cod League‘s Wareham Gatemen, earning a spot in the league’s All-Star Game. He actually finished fourth in the CCL batting race, logging a slash line of .342/.384/.376.
Notes From the Clipboard
Apparently, Darren does not leap off the ledger sheet as a top-drawer, top 20 draft prospect. Still, as he enters his junior season at Cal, he’s got tools that may project on a major league roster after a few years moving up a system. And, if he rakes this season, he could improve his draft stock accordingly.
FanGraphs calls Baker a “hit-first second baseman with above-average speed, and a good feel for the game, but limited pop.”
“Awesome to See His Development”
In a media day press conference (with Darren Baker on the dais) at Stanford University, January 30, Coach Neu was eager to outline Baker’s improvements, especially following his sterling Cape Cod summer:
“He started as a freshman and had a lot of talent, but his confidence level has continued to grow. Now, seeing him be a leader, and understand the game more is great. He had a huge knowledge of the game coming in, obviously because of what he was able to grow up around and see.
“He’s developed into one of the best defensive players in the country, and he really understands what it takes to be a high-level player, day in, day out. He proved that last summer, which was really cool from my perspective. It’s been awesome to see his development.”
Dusty Gives Time to Cal Baseball Program
Neu even weighed in on Dusty Baker’s recent hire as Astros’ manager: “We’re all excited. He’s been around [our program], and it’s been awesome to see him be around Darren every day.
“His insight…just having access to that has been awesome. For him to get this chance, we’re just really excited for him. It’s such a great opportunity and great team [in Houston].
“We have a lot of [Oakland Athletics] people from our Cal program, but they’ll be battling it out this year [in the AL West]. For him to have the chance to get a ring is pretty cool.”
Finally, from his spot on the dais, Darren offered this self-reflection to CalBears.com: “The experience against high-level pitching [helped me the most]. Those games could be 10-0, and you’re still facing someone’s Friday guy.
“It was about never taking an at-bat off, that’s what I focused on the most. [Wareham Gatemen manager Jerry] Weinstein really beat that into me all summer. I’d say that’s the biggest reason behind my jump.”
Bring on Darren and Dusty’s draft day drama.