3 primary Joe Espada concerns Astros must consider as they seek their next manager

I make no bones about the fact that I was not Joe Espada's biggest fan. That makes me somewhat different than most of the people around these parts. The common refrain has been that Espada was given a raw deal because of a flawed roster. Obviously, nothing is ever cut and dried, but if someone is going to argue for someone's culpability, then they should outline their reasons for doing so.

Of course, nothing is ever all good or all bad. We can outline the reasons for disagreement, but that ignores the things a manager does well. One could easily point to how resilient this team has been for the past three seasons. All three seasons have started slowly, but the team did not fold shop and competed until the bitter end. That obviously is a point in his favor. However, there are three primary concerns that the Astros must look at when they are deciding the next person to skipper this team.

Moving on from Joe Espada's Bullpen Usage

The Astros led the known universe in multi-inning relief outings. Yes, the starting rotation was not nearly as good as it has been in recent seasons. However, they were not the worst team in the league in that department and they didn't lead the league in relief innings. However, they did lead the league in multiple inning relief outings.

Obviously, a part of that is bullpen construction, and while much of that can be laid at Dana Brown's feet, the manager and the general manager work hand in hand in March to decide who moves forward in April. The reliance on these heavy innings did two things. First, relievers are generally more effective in one inning than they are in two or more. I have already outlined elsewhere what happened to A.J. Blubaugh when he pitched one inning versus multiple innings.

Obviously that spills us over into the second point. Blubaigh led the known universe in relief innings and we began to see the wear and tear in September. That wear and tear doesn't go away once the season ends. It has a way of lingering into the next season. I would not be surprised if Blubaugh is less effective next season. It would not be a stretch to partially blame the fade we saw from pitchers like Bryan King on over-reliance early in the season. Some of these things are unavoidable when a starting pitcher gets chased early, but some of these were unforced errors.

Astros' Lack of Discipline

Admittedly, this is a two-pronged complaint that normally gets levied against football coaches. It normally comes when teams commit too many penalties. In the baseball sense, this is when teams excessively run into outs or make mistakes that disciplined teams don't make. This is particularly true for a veteran outfit like the Astros.

While the 2026 team didn't have this specific example, the way that Espada handled the Framber Valdez situation likely cost them a playoff berth in 2025. In particular, the beaning of Cesar Salazar really didn't seem to be handled at all. I seriously doubt Dusty Baker lets him get by with that. Obviously, we don't know what happens behind closed doors. We only know what we see. We did not see anything and we did not see any change. We also did not see an acknowledgment of what was happening in real time. Valdez was a great pitcher over the balance of his Astros career, but over the last six weeks of it, his outings were guaranteed losses.

That obviously has little direct bearing on 2026 except for how people in that clubhouse feel about him. Did they question his authority? I certainly would if I saw an obvious case like Valdez's being mishandled. They are professionals and they aren't jaking anything on purpose, but was their focus 100 percent there?

Tinkering

This is obviously a vague term. So, what do I mean by that? The Astros went through more lineup changes than just about any team in baseball. Some of this was due to injury, sure, but much of this was the daily whims of the manager. Obviously, one cannot prove a negative. I cannot prove what would have happened if the lineups had been more constant. I just know human nature, and this also plays into the bullpen as well.

Most people perform better when they have an expectation of what will happen that day. They expect to be on the lineup card. They expect to be hitting in their customary spot. If they are a reliever, they anticipate how they will used that day. Their routines and preparations are based on these assumptions. It is impossible to think a player will perform as well routinely when their routines are disrupted.

Obviously, we all can't be Joe McCarthy and fill out the same lineup card every single day. Players have slumps and get hurt with regularity. Still, Espada seemed to be jittery when filling out his lineup card. He wanted to tinker because he didn't trust the process. The aggregate is usually the best way to go and all of the changes, frequent random pinch hitting choices, and abnormal bullpen usage are signs of panic. Panic is not something you want in a manager.

What does this all mean?

We can kick a man while he's down or we can use this information to inform future choices. In particular, hiring a first-time manager doesn't allow for testing most of these things. Anyone can say anything in an interview process. It is only after we see them in the heat of battle that we can know how they will really handle these situations. That is why hiring an experienced manager brings with it more knowns in a situation like this.

We hear rumors about Brad Ausmus or Morgan Ensberg. At least Ausmus has a track record you can test, and we certainly can do that as we move further down the line. It is tempting to hire another first-time manager. It certainly worked in Larry Dierker's case, but those scenarios are unpredictable. In order for the Astros to move forward, they will need someone that addresses these concerns directly. You can ask the question, but you only know if you have seen them do it before.

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