White Sox: Go Get Joe Espada
There are plenty of options for the South Side but their manager search should end with the Astros’ bench coach
This past Tuesday, the Miami Marlins named Skip Schumaker the 16th manager in their 29-year history.
You can guess Miami is happy with the hire, but no one should be happier with that news than the Chicago White Sox.
The reason being, one of the finalists for the Marlins job was Astros’ bench coach Joe Espada, who happens to be a finalist to land a gig on the South Side. As evidenced in the video above, the 47-year-old Puerto Rican has been one of the most sought-after coaches in the last few years, having been considered for openings in San Francisco and for the New York Mets.
Espada even flirted with an earlier opportunity to come to Chicago. In the Cubs' most recent search for a manager in 2019, Espada was a finalist before David Ross was offered the position.
The false starts should be done at this point for Espada. Now is the time for this promising first-time skipper to get out from behind the scenes and lead a baseball team and what better opportunity exists for Espada than with the White Sox?
A Sharpened Sword
Joe Espada went into coaching as soon as his professional baseball career ended, joining the Marlins organization as a hitting coach for their Class-A team, the Greensboro Grasshoppers, in 2006.
Since then, Espada has worked his way up steadily, finally maing it to the majors in 2010 when Miami named him its third base coach.
Espada has also coached in the World Baseball Classic for his native country of Puerto Rico before joining the New York Yankees in 2015 as their infield coach and third base coach.
In 2017, Espada joined the Astros to take on his highest role yet as bench coach. In H-Town Espada has been a part of an historic run of success both in the American League and throughout Major League Baseball.
This past Sunday the Astros finished a series sweep in New York, wrapping up the American League Championship Series against the Yankees. The win marked the Astros’ sixth straight appearance in the league championship series and their appearance in the World Series, which begins tonight on their home field against the Philadelphia Phillies (7 pm central, FOX), marks the at-time controversial franchise’s fourth appearance in the Fall Classic in six seasons.
Sangre Nueva
Sangre nueva translates to “new blood” from Spanish to English. Many would say sangre nueva is just what the Sox need in their new manager.
Coming off a disappointing 2022 campaign that saw them finish at 81-81, the Sox learned the hard way just how much change was needed in their organization and the chance for that came as Tony La Russa stepped down from his role as manager.
Sox fans are tired of hearing about all the talent the club has and the promise it has for the future, they want that talent and promise to translate to winning as soon as possible. This young core made two straight postseasons in 2020 and 2021 — a feat that was accomplished for only the second time in franchise history — but in 2022 they took a step back.
Blame for the middling season that just passed could be laid on injuries or player inconsistencies but at the end of the day, the bill comes due, and that bill goes to the manager. La Russa didn’t seem to be up for such responsibility at this point of his life.
Was La Russa was the main culprit in the abysmal way this season unraveled for the South Siders? There was a lot of evidence to back that theory up.
From the outrage at sporadic and questionable line-up decisions — like having Leury Garcia, owner of a career .644 on-base plus slugging, bat third in the lineup — to the embarrassing moment of intentionally walking Trea Turner with a 1-2 count in an eventual loss to the Dodgers.
A large portion of the White Sox faithful were calling for the firing of La Russa during mid-season but that never seemed like a possibility. It should be noted that two ‘22 playoff teams, the NL champion Phillies and AL wild card Toronto, each fired their managers during the season.
It may be late but it’s not never, so it’s time for the Sox brass to make the right decision in the choice of the club’s next skipper.
Espada is a young and savvy candidate who, like my co-host Miles Porter said in last week's episode of WARR’s “At Bat Podcast,” is very familiar with winning as he has been around it for most of his major league career.
Ever since Ozzie Guillen was fired in 2011, the White Sox have played a managerial version of musical chairs. This is a chance for them to get the position right for years to come.
As The World Turns
With the Astros in the World Series, if the White Sox do choose to go the Espada route it’ll still be at least a week or so, some time after the Fall Classic wraps, before we come to a conclusion to this situation.
The wait could be worth it. Who knows, maybe Espada can come to the South Side with a ring and a blueprint to winning more.
Saul Rodriguez is WARR Media’s associate producer and host of WARR’s “AT BAT PODCAST”