VIDEO: Dusty Baker Arrives in Houston for Interview With Astros and Comments on AJ Hinch

The Houston Astros were the first MLB team to suddenly be sentenced to managerial purgatory last week, but they were swiftly joined by the Red Sox and Mets, each franchise felled by a cheating scandal that's rocked the game. Houston's struck quickly to speak with a few established managerial steady hands, however, reportedly contacting stalwarts like John Gibbons and Buck Showalter to take on a ready-made contender. Perhaps the candidate casual fans are most excited about earning one of the three open opportunities is Dusty Baker, who arrived in Houston for his interview Sunday evening.

Baker hit every mark in this impromptu interview, showing empathy for AJ Hinch, a fellow member of his managerial fraternity, while making it clear he'd be willing and able to pick up the pieces.

All this man does is win, yet he's somehow never gotten a ring for his troubles, nor the proper credit for steadying a remarkable number of disparate squads. His 2003 Cubs nearly made it before succumbing to an all-out meltdown he simply couldn't be blamed for. From the '90s Giants to the early-2010s Reds, Baker's teams have almost always been contenders who never got the proper breaks, and his dismissal at the end of the 2017 Nationals' season still feels icky.

This could be a golden opportunity for Baker, though after Houston's most recent heel turn, I'm sure most of America would rather he win as a Met.