I want him gone because I see no evidence whatsoever that he's a good manager, but you're right, it's not all his fault.
I am continuously perplexed by Joe's bullpen management. This team has too many multi-inning low leverage guys and too few leverage guys. This is not his fault as the roster is not on him, and Dana Brown can only activate the best guys that are healthy and available. Furthermore, with the status and performance of the rotation, more of those guys are needed to get through the early and middle innings. That said, it is more important than ever that Joe uses the leverage relievers correctly. For 2 consecutive offseasons, the organization has preached the need to limit the leverage relievers to a single inning. Especially now with Hader and Sousa hurt and Abreu not dependable, guys like King and De Los Santos can not throw multiple innings. The risk of injury and reduced performance is too high. IMO, as one of the few proven veterans who can fill a leverage role, Steven Okert should not be wasted getting only 1 out or pitching in the middle innings. Sunday was a perfect example. Joe likely cost the team a win because he used Okert too early ( and for only 1 out) so when it went to extra innings he had to use King for a 2nd inning. If he had saved Okert, he would have been able to get 3 outs instead of 1, and King probably pitched just the 10th for the save. And King is available if needed Monday. Just 1 of a dozen examples.
I really don't understand Espada getting the sole blame for Hader yet still being the manager. The organization told him to be conservative on Hader and he ignored them, which means they should have canned his ass yet he's still here. Or they never raised much fuss about it which makes Dana Brown and the front office equally culpable. Either way the entire organization isn't blameless for it, yet like a lot of the mess we currently have Espada is front and center as "the biggest problem". He doesn't have the PR clout Dusty had, they can drop his ass whenever. If he's misusing the pen, and misusing his starters against advice, why the f**k is he still here. That's extremely high up on the manager responsibility chart in 2026.
Espada is terrible at using pitchers wisely. He goes through stretches where he either overuses some and underuses others. He makes the move to change pitchers at the wrong time. He apparently never tells them — DON’T WALK ANYONE. Add to that, his game management when fielding/hitting changes to be made is terrible. What in the world are we doing with Matthew’s at 3rd in the 10th inning? I realize that he played some 3rd in the MiL, (or at least i think the did), but this is the big leagues and he doesn’t act like he’s ever been there. But at least Espade put Matthew’s in to get immediately picked off. But even if we recognize that ALL managers make mistakes, can anyone enlighten us with a move that he has made that actually helped us win a game? Not many that’s for sure. I’m convinced that if Espada and Brown got canned tonight, our chances of winning tomorrow would improve immeasurably, and that’s without even knowing who would take their place.
Every last member of this forum in it's entire history will end up with the exact same number of playoff wins as Joe Espada. Think about that.
I hope not, when he let Hunter hit 100 pitches on day one, he should have been canned. Does he deserve all the blame, no, but he is the one piece you can replace, this experiment has been a failure, cut your losses and see if we can make chicken salad out of chicken $hit
Don't forget. Espada also let McCullers go 96 pitches in his first outing. Which is criminal given his injury history. And how has he looked since? And didn't both Hader and Abreu get their agents involved last year about their bullpen (mis)usage? Yeah, I think some sizeable fraction of our pitching woes can ultimately lead back to Espada.
The bottom line is Espada will last as long as the record allows him to survive. If they stay in ( get back into) contention he will be here so I hope he lasts the season. I want him gone but changing a manager in season is never good for team that is trying to win and rarely improves playoff chances. So just not renewing his contract in the offseason is the best option at this point.v
Not renewing Espadas contract solves nothing, letting him hang on to the team tells the entire organization you do not care about them. He is a problem that is only resolved by removing him from the organization. If there is not a better man available assign a temp and go hunting. At least the team will know you have their interests at heart and are working to solve the problem.
I know the history and there certainly have been other exceptions but that doesn't change the facts. I want Joe gone. However, Brown hired him. Him failing still reflects badly on Dana. That means Dana will give him extra runway out of hopium. By the time Dana is willing to fire Joe, its likely too late. I would rather the pitching return to Astros pitching, the team get healthy, and they start winning despite Joe. Then start over in the offseason.
Sparky Anderson as manager couldn't help this team. I blame Dana Brown and injuries. I looked at their lineup on day one and my first thought was...this team isn't winning anything. And that was before I looked at their pitching staff and that was before the injuries. Then again some of Joe's decisions are questionable. Let them all go as far as I'm concerned and take LMJ with them. Also, look at the standings. There's the Dodgers and there's the Yankees. Same teams every year, especially LA.
So you want the Astros to keep Joe this season and try to win despite him because .... you don't think Dana will do it? You started with "it won't make a difference" and ended with "when he does get fired, it will likely be too late". Those are two opposite ideas - if it won't make a difference, then it can't be too late or too early. I agree Dana probably doesn't do it. But it's a weird leap from that to thinking the Astros should just keep him and deal with it. You are allowed to think what you want regardless of whether the Astros actually do it. I don't think Espada deserves nearly as much blame as he's given - but he also doesn't provide anything positive for the team and there's no real benefit to keeping him. Like the pitching staff, if what you have isn't working, try something new. Espada is not costly or difficult to replace. At least if you do it, you find out if it makes a difference. Just sticking with a losing hand without trying alternative seems dumb. No one would advocate that for a replacement level player. Seems weird to do so for a replacement level manager.
I don't WANT this. This is what is REAL. Sometimes people here post what they want, and sometimes they post what they expect, even if its not what they want.
