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Pittsburgh Pirates Managerial Candidates Part 2
By Marty Leap
Houston Astros bench coach Joe Espada
On Thursday night, the Houston Astros will send ace, and former Pirate ace, Gerrit Cole to the mound in Game 5 of the American League Division Series. Opposing Cole and the Astros with a trip to the American League Championship Series on the line will be the Tampa Bay Rays and another ex-Pirate pitcher – Tyler Glasnow. God, being a Pirate fan is tough.
Okay, enough with that, time to get to the point. One of the men in the Astros’ dugout on Thursday night will be bench coach Joe Espada. Espada is someone who is likely to get an interview with the Pirates.
Like Shelton, Espada is widely respected around baseball. He is expected to interview with the Chicago Cubs about their managerial opening in the near future.
Espada is in his second season as bench coach with the Astros. Prior to that, he spent the previous three seasons as the third base/infield coach for the Yankees. He held this same position with the Florida/Miami Marlins from 2010 through 2013.
There are few organizations in baseball better run than the Astros. They are driven by analytics and few organizations do a better job of getting the most out of their players than the Astros do. Hiring someone from the Astros to be the team’s new manager is something that should excite any Pirate fan. If Espada were to be the choice, it would be a great hire by Huntington.