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Sep 20, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros manager Joe Espada (19) walks in the dugout before the game against the Seattle Mariners at Daikin Park. Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Astros General Manager Dana Brown Speaks on Joe Espada's Future

Originally posted on Houston Astros on SI
By Sean O'Leary | Last updated Sep 28, 2025 9:03 PM ET

The Houston Astros dominant run has come to a temporary end, as they will not be competing in the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

During that stretch they felt inevitable, as if no matter what, they'd make a playoff run. From 2017-2024, they made it to the ALCS every year and made the World Series four times, winning two of them. With that much winning comes high expectations. The fans and team themselves expect to make the playoffs, at the very least.

With that not coming to fruition this season, general manager Dana Brown places a majority of the blame on injuries suffered throughout the year, but will still take a look at the team as a whole this offseason, according to Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).

Brown Says Nothing Is Definitive About Espada

Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

2025 was the second year of Espada's tenure, with the first ending in an American League Wild Card loss. When Dana Brown spoke about the offseason, he mentioned the contract of Espada when asked about his future with the team.

"As far as I'm concerned, Joe is under contract ... And I really think injuries is what caused us to not get to the postseason," Brown said.

It was a non-committal comment by Brown, but pointing to Espada being under contract might be hinting that the current skipper will be back in 2026. That being said, this franchise is no stranger to rash, hurried decision making even after a successful season.

Going all the way back to 2022, owner Jim Crane and the Astros didn't renew the contract of former GM James Click, even though he had just put together a World Series-winning roster. After three seasons as GM, Click was let go in favor of Brown.

Crane has let go of his team's leadership for a lot less than missing the playoffs, but from what Brown said, an end doesn't seem inevitable. Espada was groomed for the role during Dusty Baker's tenure, and while Brown didn't commit to anything about Espada's future, he did offer some praise.

"I haven't sat down and gone through it yet, but from my initial thought process, Joe did a good job," Brown said.

Instead of putting the lion's share of the blame on Espada, Brown placed it on the injuries the team had. Houston was one of the most injured teams in all of baseball. At season's end, the Astros had 14 players on injured list, not counting Jeremy Peña, who had not played since Sept. 20. The injuries were Brown's "biggest frustation."

"We’re going to take a deep dive and figure out how we can avoid them, is there anything we can do to make adjustments. Whatever you can do to be different and to have a better outcome," Brown said.

Yordan Alvarez only played 48 games, Peña played 125 and Isaac Paredes played 102, and that was just in the lineup. Closer Josh Hader missed much of August and September, Brandon Walter only started nine games, Spencer Arrighetti started seven games, Hayden Wesneski only six and Luis Garcia wasn't able to get through two games.

It was an unprecedented amount of injuries suffered, with Peña and Alvarez missing time during their stretch run. Houston just could not catch a break on that front, and missing the team's best players is solid evidence as to why they didn't make the playoffs.

It will be an interesting offseason with key cogs getting older and hitting free agency. While they'll need to get better, especially in terms of lineup and rotation depth, the main focus should be getting everyone healthy and giving Espada a start from scratch next year.