Astros bench coach Joe Espada has been linked to another managerial opening, as MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link) that the Giants have asked the Astros for permission to speak to Espada. This will mark the third team who has put Espada on their radar this offseason, as he has already interviewed with the Cubs and received some consideration from the Angels before Los Angeles hired Joe Maddon. At least three more teams (the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Rangers) all considered Espada for managerial vacancies last offseason, as well.
As Heyman notes, San Francisco’s list of known candidates consists of “mostly younger guys” who have never managed at the Major League level before, like the 44-year-old Espada. Gabe Kapler and Mike Matheny (who has to be interviewed for the job) are the only candidates who have been big league skippers, though Kapler is only 44 years old and Matheny is 49. Longtime Giants coach Ron Wotus, at 58, is the oldest of the candidates. It certainly seems as though Giants president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi is looking to follow the league’s recent trend towards younger, more analytically-inclined dugout bosses, though Zaidi said earlier this month that he was going to embark on a rather extensive search, so more candidates could still emerge.
More from around the AL West…
- Anthony Rendon in a Mariners uniform? It isn’t like to happen via free agency this offseason, though it was almost a reality back in 2011 when the M’s heavily scouted Rendon as the second overall pick in the draft, The Athletic’s Corey Brock writes (subscription required). “Going into the draft, [Rendon] was probably the player a lot of people thought we were going to take…and we did, too,” then-general manager Jack Zduriencik said. The Mariners had other players on their radar, however, and as draft day approached, Danny Hultzen eventually emerged as the pick. While selecting the highly-touted Hultzen was a perfectly respectable choice at the time, it ended up being a critical miss for Seattle —- Hultzen battled injuries throughout his career and only made his MLB debut this season, as a reliever for the Cubs. Rendon, of course, has gone onto stardom, as have several other players from what now looks like a stacked draft class. Rendon was the sixth overall pick, and Trevor Bauer (3rd), Francisco Lindor (8th), Javier Baez (9th), and George Springer (11th) also went in the top half of the first round.
- The Athletics have promoted Ed Sprague to director of player development, as per a team press release (Twitter link). Sprague will take over from Keith Lieppman, who has served in the role for the last 28 seasons as part of a 49-year run in the organization. Lieppman will become a special advisor to the player development department. Sprague, perhaps best known as a starting third baseman for the Blue Jays during his 11-year playing career, has worked in Oakland’s front office for the past four years.
lowtalker1
Wow Ed sprague… he has one of the weirdest batting stances in mlb history
steven st croix
Phil Plantier
impapad17
Dick McAuliffe from the Tigers in the 60’s and early 70’s… had by far the weirdest stance ever
Gmen777
Craig Counsell has to at least be in the conversation
Asfan0780
Sprague interesting background. Went to stanford , won 2 college world series, olympic gold medal. Won 2 world series with blue jays. His wife is a olympic gold medal synchronised swimmer. And his daughter also works in the A’s front office.
baines03
…some guy named Gerrit Cole, too.
Vizionaire
ah, sf only wants young boys!
muskie73
Instead of Anthony Rendon, who has posted 27.3 bWAR in 916 games, the Seattle Mariners had to settle for third baseman Kyle Seager, who has posted 30.4 bWAR in 1,261 games.
warwhatisitgoodfor
They could have figured out another place for either of them to play. Too many good players at a single position should never be a problem. You can’t tell me that you wouldn’t have rather had Rendon over Hultzen in hindsight.
dshires4
Drafting Hultzen over Rendon wasn’t a respectable choice then. It was an absolutely absurd pick then, and the result speaks for itself now. Awful decision by Zduriencik. Every Mariners fan that followed that draft knows the exact location they were at when the pick was announced. Boils my blood to this day.