Joe Espada's future is uncertain, but AL West title is a time to celebrate. 'He kept everyone cool'
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Amid a simmering celebration ready to erupt, Joe Espada called for silence. About him milled Houston Astros players wearing ski goggles and division champion T-shirts. Against the sound of corks popping, Espada embarked on a short speech.
“Early in the season, adversity came in hard on us – very hard,” Espada began. “Mid-May, we were down in the standings, down in our record, 10, 15 games under 500. When adversity came knocking at that door, you guys never opened that door. You guys just came together and came closer together, ’cause you guys knew that at the end of the day, you were the best team in the West …”
Shortly before, the Astros had reclaimed that distinction. Houston on Sunday won its eighth American League West title in 10 years. This one resembled none of those before it. The Astros finished 81-81 to claim a division in which no other team finished above .500 or posted a positive run differential.
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These Astros are the first MLB team to reach the postseason with a non-winning record in a full-length season. Just six other teams since at least 1900 have started 20-31, as they did, or worse and made the playoffs, per Baseball Reference.
In another season – or another division this season – that start might have buried them. Avoiding it still required a measure of resilience. To what extent that emanates from a manager is debatable, as it’s the players who must produce. Yet results also reflect on those at the helm.
“You need a voice of reason,” said first baseman Christian Walker. “You need that slow and steady. One hundred sixty-two (games) over six, seven months, it’s a crazy thing. It’s a marathon for sure. I think he (Espada) does a great job of letting us run our clubhouse and control the culture and just making sure he holds us accountable.”
Joe Espada gives a speech and the Astros celebrate: pic.twitter.com/ikfhQHW0MP
– Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) September 27, 2026
This is the third season as manager for Espada, who spent six previous years as the Astros’ bench coach. It featured some parallels to his first. In 2024, the Astros started 7-19, the second-worst record to that point of a season in franchise history. They were 10 games out of first place on June 18. They wound up with 88 wins and a division title, before losing to the Detroit Tigers in the wild-card round.
Espada’s constant positivity and patience garnered some recognition after that turnaround. Last season yielded a different kind, as the Astros squandered a seven-game division lead at midseason and missed the playoffs. Team officials cited injuries as a factor, but the end of the franchise’s streak of eight straight playoff appearances, while fielding a top-10 payroll, did not sit well.
Ineffectiveness and injuries hit the Astros hard again early this season. Sixteen players resided on their injured list in late April, including shortstop Jeremy Peña, ace Hunter Brown and closer Josh Hader. Third baseman Carlos Correa suffered a season-ending ankle injury in early May. On May 20, the Astros fell to 20-31 and a season-high-tying six games out of first place, with the worst team ERA in the majors.
Going 61-50 the rest of the way – the fourth-highest winning percentage in the AL in that span after the Red Sox, Rays and Yankees – proved enough to make them a playoff team. Espada credited his players with creating that pivot. In all, he used 19 different starting pitchers, a franchise record. Sixteen players made at least one start in his outfield – 12 in left field alone – and 10 in the cleanup spot.
“Any other team would have folded, but these guys chose not to, man,” Espada said Sunday afternoon. “It’s about the character of this team. They just don’t quit, and they fight, they stay together.”
Making the postseason is a mandate for Houston. Astros owner Jim Crane made that clear in August, after he dismissed general manager Dana Brown in the middle of a playoff race.
Brown was in his final year under contract. So is Espada. Crane, a day after dismissing Brown, affirmed that Espada would at least finish the season as manager – remarking that “Joe’s doing what he can do with what he’s got” – but deferred a decision on Espada’s future to after the season.
The Astros, at least, delayed that consideration further with their return to the playoffs. They will host the Chicago White Sox in a best-of-three wild-card series beginning Tuesday at Daikin Park, securing a spot on the final day of a season in which they never climbed more than four games above .500.
“Joe was great for us all year,” Peña said. “He kept us level-headed. We had a lot of things that didn’t go the way we wanted from the jump. But I feel like Joe, as the head of the group, as the leader, he kept everyone cool, calm and collected, and we got into the postseason.”
With that official, the Astros encircled Espada in the visitors’ batting cage at Sutter Health Park. Espada started by recognizing Yordan Alvarez, the slugger who claimed a batting title and carried the Astros’ offense all season, bringing him into the center and wrapping a wrestling-style belt, similar to the ones the Astros present their hitter and pitcher of the game after wins, around Alvarez’s waist.
“In my f- book, you’re the heavyweight champion of the world,” Espada told Alvarez.
The Astros cheered. Espada asked Alvarez if he’d like to address them. Alvarez demurred, and Espada began the short speech to his team that he concluded as such:
“I am so proud of all you guys, man. Young players, veteran players, training staff keeping these guys on the field, coaching staff, I am so proud of you guys. Hey, we won the West. Let’s go.”
His final words drowned in a din of shouts and sparkling spray, as the Astros feted an aspiration fulfilled.
“It’s a team that’s been there before, and that matters,” Espada said afterward. “We’re going to be in front of our home crowd, that matters too. In ’24, that wild-card (series), we didn’t play our best. And we’ll be better. Just looking forward to it, man.”
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This article originally published at Joe Espada’s future is uncertain, but AL West title is a time to celebrate. ‘He kept everyone cool’.
