Joe Espada’s gaffe didn’t cost Astros, but looks far worse after Dana Brown's firing

It was a truly odd moment in Saturday night's game against the Athletics. Hunter Brown had completed 5 2/3 of one run ball, had runners on first and second, and Houston Astros manager Joe Espada came to the mound. Usually, the skipper coming to the mound means the pitcher is done for the game and a reliever is coming in; this wasn't Espada's intention, though.

Espada said postgame he only meant to go give Brown a pep talk and let him finish the inning with Houston leading 1-0. Whether it was muscle memory or, as Espada said, signaling to the umpire to get timeout, he made a motion in the direction of the Astros' bullpen. A's manager Mark noticed it and brought it to the attention of the umpires, who deemed that it was enough to force a pitching change under the rules.

The moment itself didn't cost the Astros the game. AJ Blubaugh, the reliever who came in, got the final out in the inning, and then went on to pitch a scoreless seventh. It would end up being Bennett Sousa in the eighth who blew the game, but you never know what kind of butterfly effect that moment caused. Now, with Houston deciding to mutually part ways with GM Dana Brown, Espada is the next man on the hot seat.

Life with Joe Espada hasn't had the seemless transition that Astros' fans had hoped it would

Life under Espada hasn't been what the Astros had hoped. He seemed like the golden child when Dusty Baker decided to retire at the end of 2023. Espada had been Houston's bench coach since 2018, under AJ Hinch and then Dusty Baker. He had been to three World Series in his tenure. It seemed like the perfect fit.

The Astros won the AL West in his first season, though it was their lowest win total (not including 2020) since 2016, and got knocked out in the Wild Card round. In 2025, they still won 87 games, but missed the postseason on a tiebreaker after going 12-13 in September. Now in 2026, they find themselves hovering around .500, lucky to be in a playoff spot due to an extremely uncompetitive AL West.

Espada did take over in a time of turnover in the organization. The core that had gone to four World Series in six years was breaking up because the ownership group didn't want to make fair offers. In his tenure, Alex Bregman, Framber Valdez, and Justin Verlander all left in free agency. Kyle Tucker was traded away. The players who did remain were aging.

They still have a talented roster, including a potential triple-crown winner, Yordan Alvarez, one of the best shortstops in baseball, Jeremy Peña, and one of baseball's best closers, Josh Hader. This team still has the talent to compete.

The ownsership group decided that the team's recent failures fall on the shoulders of Brown, and that's why he's out the door first. If they think other changes are necessary, then the next person to go will be Espada, and mistakes like the one Espada made on Saturday won't help his case.

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