Joe Espada has big shoes to fill in his first season as the Houston Astros manager. Former manager Dusty Baker won a World Series and was loved in the clubhouse and by the fans.
Espada has been with the Astros since 2018 and is a well-known person around the organization. He's also well respected, which made this tough decision that much easier.
Learning from Baker should help make this transition easier than it would've been if he had been with a different organization. Espada, who has also spent time with the New York Yankees and Miami Marlins, says that Baker did things differently than other managers.
He had strong words for Houston's former manager, according to Josh Criswell of Chron.
"He did things that were different from different managers that I've worked for, but it worked for him. He had a way to go about things that really included everyone, and watching him the last four years, I really learned a ton."
As Espada enters the season, expectations are at an all-time high for a first-year manager. Given the success that this organization has found throughout the better half of the past decade, anything less than a World Series will be viewed as a disappointment.
With the pending free agency decisions on Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, and Framber Valdez, this season is that much more stressful.
Espada already made one tough decision, naming Josh Hader the closer over Ryan Pressly. The Astros signed Hader to a five-year, $95 million contract earlier in the offseason.
All of the players around him should give him a better chance to succeed. This is one of the top rosters in baseball and if Espada can get them to buy in like Baker did, Houston should be in for another impressive season.
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