Astros set offseason tone with reported Dana Brown, Joe Espada decision for 2026

Eric Cole

2025 Houston Astros / Houston Astros/GettyImages

As soon as the Houston Astros failed to make the playoffs this year, there was rampant speculation about the futures of general manager Dana Brown as well as manager Joe Espada. Everyone knows that owner Jim Crane does not handle losing particularly well, and there was a real sentiment that both Brown and Espada could find themselves unemployed after Houston's collapse.

For the moment, it appears as though both men are safe. According to reporting from Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart, both Brown and Espada remain under contract for next season and are expected to be back with the Astros.

Source: Astros GM Dana Brown and manager Joe Espada are both under contract for next year and will return in 2026, a source tells MLB. com. Any speculation about their futures can be put to rest.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) October 7, 2025

Both Dana Brown and Joe Espada are staying with the Astros...for now

If we are being honest with ourselves, the odds that Brown and Espada would be allowed to do end-of-season media availability like they have if they weren't sticking around were pretty low. Yes, Crane can be a fickle owner, but he is probably aware that a lot of what befell the Astros this season was injury-related, and there is only so much you can blame Brown and Espada for that.

However, there is definitely going to be some form of accountability for the team cratering and missing the playoffs after being prohibitive favorites for most of the season. There has already been some speculation that some coaches could be fired, including Troy Snitker and Alex Cintron. Given the offense's implosion, targeting hitting coaches makes a certain amount of sense.

What happens next is where things get interesting. Brown clearly is on a bit of a leash now, and Espada may be a bit more expendable. Houston has some real roster holes to fill, limited payroll to fill them unless the roster is purged a bit, and they have to do all of this with the knowledge that a new CBA is coming after the 2026 season (hopefully), which could change all the rules. Things are getting more and more interesting, and the postseason isn't even over yet.

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.