Both Espada and Murphy Have Big Shoes to Fill As New Managers for Astros & Brewers

Two new MLB managerial hirings to note with the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers.

Both teams took the internal route with the Astros hiring bench coach Joe Espada who succeeds Dusty Baker who retired after the 2023 season. Meanwhile, Milwaukee has promoted their bench coach Pat Murphy who will replace Craig Counsell who jumped ship to their NL Central rival Chicago Cubs last week. 

Espada has been the bench coach for the Astros since 2018. He began his professional baseball career as a minor league infielder in the Oakland A's, Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Devil Rays organizations over nine seasons in the 1990's and 2000's. His coaching career began in 2010 with the Marlins organization. In 2014, Espada joined the New York Yankees front office as a special assistant to GM Brian Cashman before returning to the dugout for three seasons until joining the Astros.

Espada does not have an enviable task ahead of him. The Astros have reached the ALCS for seven consecutive seasons under A.J. Hinch and Dusty Baker winning four AL pennants and two World Series titles albeit one which deserves an asterisk. If the Astros fail to make the ALCS during his first two seasons in the dugout, then I don't think he'll be back for a third. 

Murphy is not without similar pressures. No, the Brewers have never won a World Series. However, Counsell is the franchise's winningest manager and took the team to five post-season appearances. Murphy does have previous big league managerial experience when he served as interim manager for the San Diego Padres after the team fired Bud Black in the middle of the 2015 season. The Friars went 42-54 under Murphy. 

Following the 2015 season, Murphy joined the Brewers coaching staff at the behest of Counsell whom had been coached by Murphy at Notre Dame. Before joining the Padres organization in 2010, Murphy had spent more than 20 years on the collegiate circuit with Notre Dame and later Arizona State University. Murphy was briefly a minor league pitcher in the Padres organization in 1983 before pitching with the independent Tri-Cities Triplets in 1985 and 1986 before turning his attention to college baseball. The jury is still out on whether a college baseball coach can make it in MLB. Will Murphy break new ground? Or will he be another Bobby Winkles? Winkles, like Murphy, also coached at Arizona State University, but couldn't translate that success with either the California Angels or the Oakland A's during the 1970's. 

As for the Padres, they now remain the last MLB club without a manager. However, a decision is expected this week.