Honestly, while Baker is a clean option, and I can understand how Houston wants clean above all right now, Dusty is a bit of a dinosaur these days. He's more of an old-school baseball guy, more interested in the look and feel of a player than his metrics, how he plays in certain situations, etc. I can just hear Dusty saying, with this screwed-up, WTF look on his face, "Spin rate? What? Just go throw the ball, and pound them Budweisers, boys!" (And if you don't recognize that last phrase, go re-read Ball Four by Jim Bouton.)
As a manager, he's taken great teams and made them not-good-enough teams. I don't see him taking the Astros back to the big dance, though he will make certain they're not cheating on his watch.
My only personal problem with Dusty is his extreme disdain for his time as the manager of the Cubs, and for the Cubs fans. I have literally heard an interview with Baker who, when asked about his time with the Cubs, said (and this is as close to a direct quote as my brain can manage): "I almost hated to win at Wrigley. I hated that goddamn song! All them damn people singing that damn song! I wanted to tell them to shut up!"
So, my own personal opinion of the guy is not high, based on that comment. But I can see how someone who gets that bent out of shape over his own team's fans celebrating a win could get a team into an emotional place where they just cannot win the big games...
-Doug