Houston Astros Utility Man Clarifies His Comments About Former Team

The Houston Astros traveled to San Francisco on Tuesday to face the Giants, marking the first time Mauricio Dubon played at Oracle Park since being traded to the Astros in 2022. Houston acquired Dubon from the Giants in May 2022 for Michael. Papierski immediately played more games for the Astros than he had ever played in a season.

Dubon struggled in his first 83 games with Houston, but had a career year in 2023. He set career highs in games played (132), home runs (10) and RBIs (46). He was also extremely versatile on defense, playing every position except receiver throughout the season.

He made news in May when the Astros first faced the Giants, when Dubon had a few choice words about his former team and his playing time with them.

“You would think I would probably get more playing time,” he said at the time. “With Dusty here now, I’m in heaven.”

He never mentioned his former manager, Gabe Kapler, by name, but when mentioning then-Astros manager Dusty Baker, that’s apparently what he was referring to.

Upon his return to San Francisco, he appeared on a local radio show, “Papa & Lund,” to clarify what he had said last year.

“…It was funny because all the guys knew what I was talking about. All the guys knew what was going on and everything,” he said. “Everything went wrong, honestly.”

Dubon went on to say that he later told himself he needed to “clarify” what he meant and that he had been “treated the right way by some people, with the exception of those who made the decisions. Although he didn’t mention any names, this apparently refers to Kapler and Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi.

Although Dubon had issues with Giants management, he said he loved the fans and looked forward to being heckled because he did as a kid.

The Astros utility weapon faced backlash among Giants fans for his comments at the time, but his trade to Houston appears to have been the best thing for his career. With the Astros, he has played almost every day since he became an Astro. In San Francisco, under Kapler, there were a lot of left-right divisions, and Dubon shows that maybe he should have played every day for them too.