actually I believe he/the org realized this was no longer a "mail-it-in" opportunity for him... (and he was run out of town/org... dont claim he "retired" when the dude is a "consultant" for the Giants org)
Espada needs to go. I'm sick of him already. Will he still put Bregman as the #4 hitter tomorrow now that he's batting .195? Why on earth is he still putting the worst batter on the team at #4 in the lineup?
Espada is just not cutting it, he was a bench coach for a reason, I liked the hire at the time but its clearly not working...............and you sit Dubon who has a strong bat with RISP because you have a long stretch of games coming up, the kid just had a day off ...........we need to be in playoff mode and do everything we can to win NOW, not next week. Not a fan of Brown either, not sure if thats his doing or he is just a puppet for Crane but I wish they would both go......................man this is hard to watch
I’m not usually one to react to small samples, and what a Manager can reasonably affect is hard to determine, but at some point the manager has to be held accountable for the performance of his players and the team’s win/loss record, especially relative to their consensus projections. If this team doesn’t improve by the trade deadline and stays on track for <85 wins, Espada should probably be let go.
Unless a top 5 in all of baseball type coach is available, I don't think ditching Espada is going to affect the win/loss column much. But the FO may do it anyway just to make a point.
Let's say Espada is let go. Who would be the ideal candidate for the position?? Just interested to know the mindset of those on here that are more plugged in than myself on such things.
Promoting Omar López or hiring Buck Showalter or bringing back Dusty Baker would be the main options if a move were made midseason. Mark DeRosa would be a dark horse. Otherwise after the season, this list is probably a good place to start:https://www.mlb.com/news/astros-2024-manager-candidates There isn’t an obvious candidate imho. It’s always a risk.
I don't think anyone from outside the organization is workable. If they make a change they do it as a hail Mary to save the season. They don't have time for someone to come in a learn the organization and talent at the cost of wins or just time. Omar Lopez is the obvious choice but he is very likely to be just Espada 2.0 - long time coach w/ limited management experience who watched and experienced the same things. Mickey Storey could be an option. No MLB managerial experience but plenty of MiLB experience and knows the players. Then there are your out of the box options: Geoff Blum, Jeff Bagwell/Enos Cabell/Craig Biggio, hell maybe Julia Morales would even be better than Espada has been.
Liked Baker. But let's get real. When names like Blanco, Singleton, and Carantini are the highlights of the season. You are going to suck. And no manager could have altered the result. I don't blame the manager. This team just fell on its' face like no other. Give 'em two seasons to turn it back and then blow it up. But good chance they still right the ship under Espada.
I agree with you that the majority of the problems this year are not on Espada. That said (and I actually defended him early) he has made some bad calls. Something must change or the season is over. What realistically can he changed?
They may very well fire Espada - Crane has never had to navigate a bad (normal) regular season. But I'm not sure a new manager fixes this team. Bregman has been atrocious; Abreu worse than that. McCormick has regressed. Alvarez seems... off. And Abreu, Pressly and, to a lesser extent, Hader (his peripherals are fairly OK - I assume he'll eventually be alright) have been awful, with Abreu and Pressly nearing not being viable options. I don't see how a new manager fixes those issues.
It’s one thing to seem off. It’s a whole other thing for multiple guys not giving any effort. They don’t believe in Joe.
