Mills gets Astros manager job

Brad Mills, who spent the last six years working under former college roommate and teammate Terry Francona as the bench coach for the Boston Red Sox, will be named Tuesday to be named as the new manager of the Astros.

Mills, 52, inherits a Houston team that has missed the playoff four seasons in a row since reaching the World Series in 2005. Last season, the Astros went 74-88 and finished in fifth place in the six-team National League Central for their lowest finish since a sixth-place ending in the NL West in 1991.

Mills managed 11 seasons in the Minor Leagues with the Chicago Cubs (1987-92), Colorado Rockies (1993-96) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2002), moving into managing immediately upon the completion of his playing career. He's coached 11 years at the Major League level, including the last six as Boston's bench coach.

Astros general manager Ed Wade has a tremendous respect for Francona and said dismissing him as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies was the biggest mistake of his professional career. Mills and Francona were teammates and roommates at the University of Arizona.

Mills played four seasons in the Major Leagues for the Montreal Expos, hitting .256 in 106 career games. He some time playing the Astros' Minor League system, but is probably best remember by Astros fans for being Nolan Ryan's 3,509th strikeout victim, lifting Ryan past Walter Johnson as baseball's all-time strikeout king in 1983.

In addition to the Red Sox, Mills has also spent time on Montreal's Major League coaching staff, as well as serving as an advance scout for the Cubs.