The Cubs are interviewing Astros bench coach Joe Espada for their managerial opening today, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune tweets that they’ll also interview recently dismissed Phillies skipper Gabe Kapler this week. Espada’s Astros, of course, are still very much alive in their chase for a second World Series crown in three years, but today is a travel day for both remaining American League clubs.
Espada had a 10-year minor league career as an infielder but never cracked the big leagues. The Puerto Rican-born 44-year-old began coaching not long after retiring as a player, working with the Marlins organization as a minor league hitting coach and field coordinator. He eventually moved up to become the team’s third base coach for four seasons and served another three years in that same capacity with the Yankees.
Espada has also spent time as a special assistant to Yankees GM Brian Cashman and has currently been in his position with the Astros for two seasons. He received quite a bit of managerial interest last offseason and seems increasingly likely to ultimately lead his own club, given recent interest and the general manner in which coaches from successful, analytically inclined coaches are coveted by other teams. He’s already been tied to the Angels’ vacancy and was involved in the respective managerial searches conducted by the Orioles, Rangers and Blue Jays last offseason.
Like Espada, Kapler is 44 years of age. He played parts of a dozen seasons at the MLB level before becoming a minor league manager with the Red Sox and, eventually, the director of player development for the Dodgers. Kapler was recently cut loose two seasons into a three-year deal to manage the Phillies, though owner John Middleton seemingly went through a painstaking deliberation before making what he characterized as a difficult decision. Middleton said that he and the club are “indebted to Gabe for the steadfast effort, energy and enthusiasm” at the time of Kapler’s dismissal. Kapler is also set to interview with the Giants.
The Cubs are also known to be interested in Joe Girardi, David Ross and internal candidates Mark Loretta and Will Venable as possible successors to Joe Maddon, who was not brought back for a sixth season after his initial five-year deal to manage the Cubs expired. Notably, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers suggests that Kapler and Espada “should be” the final two candidates to receive interviews (Twitter link), so it seems that the next Cubs skipper will come from this batch of names. Chicago had interest in Carlos Beltran, as well, but Beltran declined the opportunity to interview with the team.
Those can’t be “the final two,” right?
Final two players to receive interviews — not the two finalists in the search. Girardi, Ross, Venable, Loretta, Kapler and Espada would seem to be the field, unless I’m spacing on someone.
What about Dusty Steve?
It’s going to be Sweet Lou
I think they should go with Dusty Steve.
Man, that would make 3 Dusty’s in the hunt to go along with Baker and Wathan
Such an underwhelming manager lineup, especially after getting rid of a legendary manager like Maddon.
Oo oohhhh Jeezus Chwist!
Ross must have said no.
Why would this mean Ross or anyone said no.
Read more carefully
I think it’s fair to say Cubs weren’t set on anyone when they departed with Maddon, they just knew they were ready to go in a different direction. I also think they are looking for a cheaper option, with managers seemingly making 1/5 of what Maddon was making. I think Espada is a good fit, as he has coaching experience. I don’t think Kapler would be a good fit, as he’s an easy target to hate the second he makes the smallest mistake after his rough tenure in Philly. Ross seems too fresh out of the game to throw into a scenario where he’s coaching several of the players he played with a few short years ago. Finding that Alex Cora type seems to be a smart way to go, and that’s what I think Espasa is.
i dont get the appeal with Kapler. Its not like he did a rock solid job in Philly, and it seems like teams think hes a great candidate still.
Kapler might not be a horrible guy. I feel like people are MAJORLY discounting the fact that he was hamstrung from day one because they brought in Bryce Harper.
For one, adding Harper made the expectations for that team VERY unreasonable. For two, Harper MAJORLY underperformed.
And for three, is it a complete coincidence that the Nats are in the NLCS with a lead in YEAR ONE of getting rid of Harper? Or is he a one-man culture nightmare for a franchise?
I agree with you on the Harper aspect. Said it from day one that he is the most overrated “superstar” this game has seen.(all Harper apologists can do is bring up the 1 MVP season he had) He puts up good numbers, but for the money hes making, its a huge overpay. i think the Phils are going to want out of that contract in the next 3-4 seasons. They should have diversified their money and got starting pitching help.
I think Gabe will get another chance, but you will see him go to a team like the Pirates–not a lot of pressure or expectations. Idk why the cubs see him as a fit in a huge market with the expectations that they have
Gabe looks like a poor man’s John Cena. If he just starts telling his players to “Never give up.” and making the You-Can’t-See-Me gesture at umpires, he’ll be fine.
The Cubs are probably a bad fit though. Another team with high expectations and no pitching.
Plus in Chicago he would have to deal with a similar situation to Harper in Bryant. Bryant is another player that has all this hype around and he just doesn’t produce. Really hope they trade him this offseason. Injury prone + high strike outs are not a good combo.
Yeah a guy who hit 31 hrs last year plus has a league MVP and Rookie of the Year award sucks.
Gabe is a Theo guy from their time together in Boston. Plus doesn’t have an insane idiot as an owner. Just has a racist one instead.
I need to know if that comment is sarcasm before I respond properly.
It’s known that the Phillies owner is an insane idiot. The rest of the team, players and management all wanted Kapler back. Of course most Philadelphia fans aren’t exactly sane either.
@ mike lowe—here is where people just have to quit believing what they are hearing or reading on the internet…”Kris Bryant never comes through”…this year’s stats as POINT OF FACT:
2 out, runners in scoring position: .955 ops
Late and close: 1.125 ops
Game within one run: .922 ops
Cubs behind: 1.009 ops
Game score greater than 4 runs: .781 ops
People should really watch the games and take it as a whole, not the times “they conveniently remember”. All the numbers I have posted are for the entire season.
That was then, this is now. 2016 was a long time ago (in baseball years). For anyone that’s been paying attention, Bryant has been pretty underwhelming for 2017, 2018, and 2019. Definitely not worth superstar money.
Who is a racist owner? Man I love when people throw out accusations that are unwarranted
Totally agree. Aside from the bum knew, his numbers this year were sometimes better they were than when he won MVP.
Do a google search on Ricketts, and you’ll see the accusations are not unwarranted.
That’s his father who has nothing to do with the Club
Tom Ricketts isnt that smart. He thinks seeing one game at Wrigley in 1986 in the bleachers makes makes him a fan. His father is the cofounder of one of the largest stock market trading companies in the world he borrowed 915 million dollars and bought the Cubs.
Not sure how a 4.6 WAR equals majorly underperforming.
His WAR was 26th among batters. Was his salary 26th among batters?
His OPS was 37th among qualifying hitters. Was his salary 37th among qualifying hitters?
Not saying he was the best value for what he provided on the field, but money aside, it wasn’t like he hit .200/.250/.320.
only defense for Harper is a stupid stat like WAR
Well I guess that depends, he was worth 4.6fwar which has a $value of 36.5 mil. He was paid 30mil which would mean 6.5mil in surplus value seeming to indicate he earned his pay. If you go by his AVV which is 25mil that means 11.5mil in surplus’s in the contract as a whole so far.
Was he a superstar last year? I don’t think so but he was worth what he was paid and was certainly not part of the problem.
……………..@ goaway—and neither were Kershaw, Cabrera, Greinke, Machado, hey how about Prince Fielder??? The fixation on Harper is ridiculous.. There are 30 teams in baseball that would like that talent on their team—only one can pay him and have chosen to…..don’t begrudge him for that.
Unfortunately, baseball doesn’t pay it’s players after the season based on how they did—except for the playoffs where all players are paid equally–and I don’t think Gerrit Cole is going to bang the table for more money than Martin Maldonado come playoff share time.
Yes, but at those obscene valuations of 1 WAR, a guy like Willy Adames was worth about $25M this year. David Fletcher was worth over $27M.
If you can’t look at Harper’s contract and his numbers and tell that he was worth MAYBE half what he was paid this year, you’re deliberately missing the point.
I think its hilarious that the Nats are one game away from winning the pennant and all they had to do was replace harper. Talk about 330million regrets by harper..he was the Achilles heel to the Nats not winning a playoff series .
They’ve now won 2. Playoff series
Has nothing to do with Harper. Has a ton to do with Strasburg having his best season ever, Scherzer being Scherzer and Corbin performing well. Oh, and Anibal pitching lights out the past couple of games. Guaranteed——if they pitch one and three hitters on a consistent basis they would be there with Harper, also.
Yup, because this is the first time the Nats have top-end pitching.
I love how people make excuses for a guy they’ve never met, who wouldn’t spit on them if they were on fire. Did you get really pumped up watching one of his gatorade ads or something?
hamstrung? the team could have spent more money, Klentak just opted to not make any more moves.
Not hamstrung by money. Hamstrung by HARPER himself. Being a cancer. Being the culture killer he’s been all along. Undermining the manager in the locker room.
I never wanted Harper and I took a lot of heat on these boards for saying that. I cannot stand Mike Rizzo and the Nats, but I also do not think it is a coincidence.
Kapler had to deal with a bad bullpen, no quality starters behind Nola, and a host of injuries and very little depth from a poor farm system. In short, Kapler was a scapegoat for the Phillies front office.
Just like Maddon was for the Cubs
How is it that Kepler didn’t pan out in Philadelphia but has a shot at filling the same post for the Cubs? More broadly, why do teams recycle managers who have been found wanting with their previous clubs? This suggests to me that there are no objective criteria for the selection of a major league manager, that the selection of a manager by any given team is visceral. I see comment after comment on this site that this guy or that guy, recently fired, would be “perfect,” a “great fit.” It’s not at all clear why that might be the case.
The criteria for firing managers is no less arbitrary (and petty). A manager wins manager of the year and makes the playoffs one year, and fired the next. The rationale for replacing a manager is never about said manager. It’s about the team needing “change”.
I didn’t care for nor hate Kapler. As a Philly fan, I just don’t think it was the correct fit at the correct time.
As a person, Gabe seems to be an outstanding human being and I’m willing to be that he not only lands on his feet, but that it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he turns into this generation’s Terry Francona. I think people largely forget about Tito’s first ever manager gig in Philly.
Kapler might be the best fit for the Cubs. Unlike Maddon, Kapler would be a “yes man” to Theo!!!
Said this before and I’ll say it again………..
Aside from his many questionable moves there are a few other things that rest on Kapler’s head.
As has been reported in the Philly press many times it was Kapler who convinced Klentak to let Rick Kranitz go even after the staff showed improvement in 2018. He lobbied for Chris Young because he was his analytics guy and that didn’t sit well with many of the staff. Young’s approach turned the ship in the wrong direction.
It’s also been reported that both Kapler and Young had a good bit of input before the season and during, telling Klentak that they have the pitching needed to get the job done and they can right the ship.
It’s Klentak’s fault for listening but he hired Adonis Kapler and trusted him. Big mistake. If he is hired again and the FO listens to him the same kinda things will happen.
Kapler wants to be a players manager but he takes it to the extreme (like benching Hernandez for not hustling but letting him believe it was a scheduled day off). I’ll ad a little advise as will….if “your” team does hire him don’t listen to his post game interviews after eating….it can get messy.
all good points. dont see why everyone wants to just pin it all on Klentak when Kapler was obviously the first guy to need to go. Klentak was just extended not too long ago, and he did more right than people think. imagine how bad the team would have been without Realmuto, Harper, Segura, etc
So it’s Kapler’s fault the Phillies aren’t very good. “They don’t have enough talent, but let’s take it out on the manager.” Mob mentality. The next Phillies/cubs manager won’t be there for long either (no matter who they hire). It’s some kind of ritual.
Well if all the stat heads that like garbage stays like “war” are accurate then the Phillies should have finished something like 35 games over .500. The fact they haven’t had a record over .500 in over a decade should be blamed on whom? Kapler was given a team that has some of the best statistical players in the majors, so maybe it’s time to stop with all the contract driven statistics and start looking at the only one that matters – WINS. A manager is probably responsible for fewer the outcome of 10 or so wins unless he is truly clueless and continually starts players in positions they shouldn’t be occupying. Cano hitting 3rd, Phils starting pitchers #2-5, constantly using relief pitchers for fewer than 10 pitches 5 times a game, etc.
Playing both sides of the coin, a manager can only use the players he has, HOW he uses them is up to him. Succumbing to current statistical analytics instead of using instinct is why certain teams fail while others over achieve. Someone explain the A’s and Rays success and that’s what teams like the Phils and Mets miss year after year.
Is that right? What do the stats say about Zach Eflin, Vince Velasquez, Nick Pivetta and Jake Arrieta? How about Philly’s bullpen? Also, do stats account for injuries, or is that cheating?
No one in their right mind thought this team would be +35, so I’ll assume you were exaggerating. You guys get caught up in the hype of one free agent, and you expect them to contend. The reality is you’re a long way from being a playoff team. There’s no special about the Phillies whatsoever. I’m not saying this to troll, I’m just stating a fact. They’re lacking in all four aspects (defense, offense, starting pitching, bullpen). No manager can change that. They need better players and a little luck staying healthy.
@jim stem
I, too, use an abacus to do my own taxes.
Even a casual follower of baseball should be able to see that striking out 150 times trying to hit every ball in the air and using 6 pitchers every game is going to catch up to you in the second half.
I, too, think that there’s no excuse for starting pitchers to throw less than 300 innings in a year and total 20+ complete games annually.
If the Cubs wind up hiring Joe Espada it would be like “Back to the Future”. They had hired a bilingual manager in Rick Renteria who came with rave reviews as a developmental coach and manager with the Marlins and Padres just as they were completing their rebuild before they jumped on Joe Maddon when he opted out of his Rays contract following the 2014 season.
In the wake of the Cubs ‘classless’ decision to hire Maddon and fire Renteria when he was still under contract, their neighbors to the south grabbed Rick to be Robin Ventura’s bench coach replacing another bilingual in Mark Parent. The White Sox eventually promoted Renteria to be their manager and oversee their own rebuild when Ventura decided to walk away from the opportunity, to the cheers of most southside fans. Now Renteria will finally have his chance to manage a team ready to contend in Chicago, an opportunity the Cubs didn’t afford him back in 2014.
Meanwhile, Maddon gets to take his ego and genius elsewhere beginning in 2020, most likely Anaheim to manage the Angels. To replace him with Espada would be some irony, especially since the Cubs could have just let Renteria continue as their manager over the past 5 seasons and perhaps achieved more success with their ‘juggernaut’ of young talent. Instead, Renteria will get that same chance with an even more impressive cast of young talent on the White Sox that actually includes a far better balance of hitters and pitchers.
An “even more impressive cast” that finished nearly 20 games under .500. Okay then.
When your offensive leader goes out for a month and you go 2-16 without him that’s what happens. Team was better when Anderson was healthy. Plus they get some of their top pitchers back this coming year. Along with a couple of prospects. Something the Cubbies traded away for almost no production.
My comparison is with the 2014 Cubs and the 2019 White Sox, both teams managed by Rick Renteria in the final year of a rebuild that was expected to transition into contention status for each Chicago team the following year.
You say the Cubs were classless for firing Renteria because he was under contract but how is that different than when the majority of managers who are fired are under contract.
Mets Phillies Pirates Padres Angels all fired managers this year who were under contract. Are they classless too? Or just the Cubs?
Renteria had two years left on his deal. He got paid in full and the Cubs also sent him a world series ring, a very classy move.
The Cubs negotiated with and signed Joe Maddon during his two week opt-out window with the Rays. They did this with Renteria still under contract. This was a classless move on the part of both the Cubs and Maddon who was seeking another peers job while that man was still employed. It is not comparable to what has happened this offseason since every team you mentioned fired their manager first and are now interviewing replacements,
Btw: The Rays were so miffed I believe they actually filed or at least considered filing a tampering grievance against the Cubs. They believed that the Cubs had actually contacted Maddon prior to his opt-out window opening up.
Is “bilingual” another term for Hispanic?
O o
——
Si
Maddon is bilingual.
Yes English and slurred
A far better balance of hitters and “pitchers”??? Come on, Aaron. Where the stable of hitters could be good—where do you get pitchers with the Arrieta, Lester, Hendricks, Hamels variety——-or even Lackey, Hammel, Quintana, Darvish……………..to date ONLY the 2019 version of Giolito scratches the names I threw out.
Aaron, this is about the one in 50 of your posts that I simply can’t grasp on to.
Again, my comment is comparing the 2014 Cubs and 2019 White Sox. Check out the rosters of each team and tell me which has the better young talent.
In 2014, Rick Renteria had only had a fraction of the core players that would go on to win the 2016 World Series (baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/2014.shtml). Anthony Rizzo was the only full-time starter and he had a tremendous turnaround in 2014 after sucking under Dale Sveum in 2013. Jake Arrieta had his first breakout season as a Cubs starter in 2014. Kyle Hendricks had his first opportunity to start in 2014 after Theo Epstein traded Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel to the A’s that July for Addison Russell who wouldn’t make his Cubs debut until 2015 under Joe Maddon. Renteria managed closer Hector Rondon to his first successful season in that role and also had Pedro Strop and Justin Grimm in his bullpen. Two other top Cubs prospects, Javier Baez and Jorge Soler debuted later in the 2014 season.
Maddon was the one who benefited from the rest of the young core including ROY winner 3B Kris Bryant in 2015. He also saw the MLB debuts of SS Russell and OF/C Kyle Schwarber. Maddon also was the beneficiary of Jon Lester joining the Cubs rotation as a 2015 free agent acquisition along with Hammel also returning as a FA. Theo also signed David Ross to be Lester’s personal catcher. The Cubs also traded for leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler that offseason as well as C Miguel Montero. In 2016, C Willson Contreras and CF Albert Almora made their Cub debuts along with FA acquisitions Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist.
The 2019 White Sox roster (baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/2019.shtml) was stacked with more young core talent than the 2014 Cubs had. It included 3 certain foundation starting position players in LF Eloy Jimenez, 3B Yoan Moncada and SS Tim Anderson along with two potential ones in 1B Jose Abreu and C James McCann. The 2014 Cubs had one certain regular in Rizzo along with partial debut season from Baez and Soler. The White Sox future core rotation isn’t a certainty but Renteria did have a full season from Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez along with a partial one from Dylan Cease. It should also be pointed out that two very strong candidates to be future White Sox starters were lost to Renteria due to TJ surgery including Carlos Rodon and Michael Kopech.
Renteria will also see the MLB debuts of CF Luis Robert and 2B Nick Madrigal in 2020 along with the return of Kopech in the spring and hopefully Rodon by mid-summer. We don’t know yet which FA’s or other trade options he might benefit from but I’m guessing that Abreu returns as a FA along with at least one veteran SP and perhaps a needed core lefty hitter in the form of their next RF or a DH.
It’s clear to me as an unbiased fan of both teams that Renteria had more promising young talent to work with in the 2019 on the southside than what he had in 2014 on the northside. I also feel that Rick Hahn is doing a better job of securing a balance of young talent with the White Sox than what Theo Epstein did with the Cubs. Rick has targeted hitters and pitchers equally in his drafts and trades for prospects while Theo has emphasized hitting more over pitching. He also had the luxury of an owner giving him carte blanche when it comes to FA’s including signing off on the huge deals for Lester, Heyward and Yu Darvish. It remains to be seen if Jerry Reinsdorf will step up for Hahn in the same fashion but it was at least encouraging that the he authorized the huge international signing bonus and penalty to secure Luis Robert while also offering Manny Machado $250MM last offseason. If JR grants RH those kind of dollars this offseason he might land a SP (Dallas Keuchel?), a RF (Yasiel puig) and perhaps another core C (Yasmani Grandal?) That or perhaps RH will toss the entire wad of cash at either Gerrit Cole or potential FA Stephen Strasburg.
“Classless” decision? Lol. Oh please….this is business. Everyone knows how it goes. Jobs and millions of dollars are on the line. A supremely better manager (Maddon) became available, and they capitalized and won the World Series.
They would’ve been stupid to pass up Maddon because of “class,” whatever that even means. Class had nothing to do with it.
Ahh, Aaron you forgot just one littttle point – the Cubs were world champions after doing that horrific dead you are blaming them, for doing.
True enough. We’ll never know what Rick Renteria could have accomplished managing the Cubs from 2015-2019 like Maddon did. What I am convinced of from watching him manage the Cubs in 2014 and the White Sox the past 3 seasons (all while his teams were still in tank mode) is that he would have far more stability with his batting orders and would not be playing musical chairs nearly as much with his position players.
As for running a pitching staff, that responsibility on the southside of Chicago falls on Don Cooper far more than Renteria. RR is a delegator while Maddon’s ego is less inclined to operate that way. Renteria trusts his coaches to do their jobs while Maddon goes through his staff like a warm knife goes through butter.
How many hitting and pitching coaches have the Cubs shuffled through since winning their 2016 championship? I count 3 each. So many Cubs fans are criticizing Theo Epstein for making Maddon the fall guy for the downward trend since 2016. How about blaming Maddon for using his coaching staff as scapegoats as well?
As I said, we’ll never know what Renteria might have done had he had the opportunity to remain the Cubs manager following the last year of their ‘rebuild’ in 2014. We will all have the chance to see what Renteria can do with the White Sox as they begin their own transition from rebuilding to contending starting in 2020.
I’m betting that Renteria will do at least as well as Maddon, especially if he gets the same sort of commitment from his owner. I do trust that Rick Hahn can do as good a job or better than what Theo Epstein has done in securing talent through trades.
The cubs organization owed nothing more than the contractual paychecks to Rick Renteria. They made the right move.
How was the Cubs hiring joe maddon classless. he opted out and they hired him. There was nothing wrong with what they did. Rick Renteria was a terrible manager for the Cubs and still is bad for the white sox
Kapler is liked by FO’s and not liked by fans and media. It’s as simple as that.
Cubs heading towards a rebuild. This is a headache and a paycheck. Not surprised the most talented candidates are declining the interview.
This comment made me laugh out loud.
“Not surprised the most talented candidates are declining the interview.”
Yep, Carlos Beltran and Sam Fuld, the next Connie Mack & Casey Stengel have turned down the Cubs,
Nice try Yankee. Fuld and Beltran have declined all offers but for one each. Fuld may be interested in Phillies only and he may not even want to manage by the way. Beltran is only interested in the Mets. It has nothing to do with the Cubs but nice try
They are nowhere near a rebuild and nothing suggests that they are headed that way. I guess over the past 5 seasons averaging 93.5 wins a years suggests a rebuild which would mean the astros the only team with a high average win total needs to rebuild as well
I would just as soon see the Cubs hire Gabe Kapan as Gabe Kapler.
Kapler said to tell you “off my case toilet face.” He then added “up your nose with a rubber hose.”
It’s Joe Girardi’s job if he wants it . They have to give so many interviews to appease the liberals
Supposed to be lawyers
Of course Girardi wants it. If it was his already they would have made an offer and wrapped it up
They would have to wait til the few days after the world series. nothing will be.said Girardi will likely be the cubs next manager with david ross being his bench coach
I would rather they hire Gabe Kaplan than Gabe Kapler.
You said that already