“Dream Come True” – Joe Espada Gets Emotional After Replacing Dusty Baker as New Houston Astros Manager

Joe Espada has officially become the Houston Astros baseball manager today, as announced in a meeting held earlier this morning. After serving as their bench coach and right hand to ex-manager Dusty Baker for six seasons, Espada finally is getting the recognition he deserves; he was instrumental to the Astros’ ’22 World Series Championship win, just a season ago. Will he be able to uphold his supreme reputation in his brand-new role as well?

In earlier news revealed to The Athletic Press, an anonymous source revealed that the Astros’ previous manager, Dusty Baker, is in talks of getting replaced by Espada. The whole discussion was being kept low-key, as the team had yet to make an official announcement to the press. Fans all over the world are rejoicing at the news at this very moment. What will they expect of Joe, given his existing history with the team?

Joe Espada: The Brand-New Astronaut in the Houston Ocean!

Baker retired last month, just after the World Series was over, leaving an empty managerial throne behind him. Needless to say, it has been filled by a worthy candidate who already has a World Series win under his belt. This will be the first managerial role for Joe Espada; he tried to apply as the Texas Rangers skipper back in 2018 and the Chicago Cubs in 2019, but the deals fell through.

In the meeting where the news was announced, Joe stated that he couldn’t have been more ecstatic about the news. “I’m humbled by this. This is a dream come true. And I just can’t express my feelings about how happy I am to stay home and get to manage this team,”, he reportedly revealed to the press.

His colleague and Astros general manager, Dana Brown, had a similar reaction to the team’s decision. He stated that Espada is “probably one of the biggest hires of my career.”.

Espada began his coaching career with the Miami Marlins in 2013. Before that, he worked with minor league teams as a 3B coach. While working with the Yankees organization as a special assistant to Brian Cashman in 2014 and then as their third-base and infield coach in 2015, Espada introduced many underrated techniques to the team, such as defensive shifting.

Although he faced many controversies regarding the reactions received from the team and media, he stuck with his process, and the team was better for it. Astros fans have been celebrating the introduction of their twentieth manager ever since the announcement was made.

Colleagues and fans are ecstatic over the Joe Espada managerial hiring

The Astros have secured a berth in the American League Championship series consecutively for seven seasons. They tried their luck at getting the Commissioner’s trophy, once in 2021, but it didn’t work out. However, they did clinch the title in the season right after, while still having Joe Espada as their coach. In GM Brown’s words, “We wanted to continue the success here in Houston. … We came up with the right man for the job. Our fans deserve it.”

Read More: 5 Reasons Why Joe Espada is the Perfect Replacement of Dusty Baker as the next Houston Astros Manager

Now that the fans have received what they have been waiting for so long, they cannot seem to hold the joy inside. One fan believes that this move will secure the Astros a revenge World Series win in the upcoming season.

A group of fans seem super-enthusiastic about Joe acting as their manager, and they are already asking him for a couple of Fall Classic wins.

A fan revealed how they have been waiting for this to happen.

Believing that he will put the Astros back on the World Series map again, a fan asked Espada to tell the world that they’re up for a win again.

A fan congratulated Espada, stating that all the fans were hoping for his managerial hiring buzz to come true!

Do you think that the Astros made the right choice in hiring one of the winningest bench coaches in MLB history as their brand-new manager? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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