Even if Joe Espada keeps his job, Astros could undergo massive coaching changes

In the wake of missing the 2025 postseason, there has been a lot of attention regarding the Houston Astros and, specifically, who is going to get the blame for the team's collapse. There have already been whispers that manager Joe Espada's job could be in jeopardy, and if you think that general manager Dana Brown isn't potentially on the chopping block, you don't know owner Jim Crane well enough.

A few days after the end of the regular season, Espada and Brown remained employed, but there is little certainty that that will remain true. According to reporting from The Athletic's Chandler Rome, Houston could see sweeping changes to their coaching staff even if both Espada and Brown are allowed to return.

Astros insider indicates that Houston's hitting coaches are very much on the hot seat

Most of Rome's piece talks about the futures of Brown and Espada and how they remain extremely unclear. He also justifiably blasted the organization for how they handle injuries, and even Brown acknowledged that getting imaging done earlier on Yordan Alvarez's hand could have made a world of difference in terms of how the team handled his recovery.

However, Rome went a step further and identified hitting coaches Alex Cintron and Troy Snitker as two coaches whose jobs are very much in jeopardy. The Astros' offense was a massive problem during Houston's second-half collapse, but it is unclear what Cintron and Snitker could have done about Alvarez missing most of the season, Cam Smith not being ready from the beginning, Jake Meyers being hurt, and Jose Altuve being banged up and getting older.

Common sense may not matter here. We have seen how fickle Crane can be if he decides change is needed. The scale of the Astros' failures this season likely means that there are going to be players and staff who are going to pay the price. Unfortunately for Snitker and Cintron, their jobs may be the ones most at risk even if Brown and Espada stick around.

As to whether or not making such coaching changes will fix any of the Astros' problems, that remains to be seen. Such a move could end up being a blessing in disguise, but predicting where Crane will come down and what other changes could be on the way makes projecting anything in Houston very, very tricky right now.

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