MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 4, 2023

Joe Espada

Houston Astros

Press Conference

Q. This is your first Winter Meetings. What's it been like being here and being the manager and just the responsibility, but also what have been the messages from some of the people you've been coming in contact with?

JOE ESPADA: A lot of excitement, a lot of people I haven't seen in years. The congratulations, a lot of friends that have been on my side for a very long time. Just kind of walking around and taking it all in. It's been an incredible experience.

Q. After the press conference where you got introduced, I'm sure you reached out to a lot of players. Can you give us an overview of what you did from the time that press conference ended to right now in terms of reaching out to players, reaching out to coaches?

JOE ESPADA: Yeah, it's been a busy last couple of weeks. Obviously I called some players, had an opportunity to have lunch and dinner with some of our players. Really wanted to connect. Wanted to make sure that we're all on the same page.

Reached out to the coach, we met, go over our Spring Training goals, kind of our plans. Everything has been -- it's been great. The players are excited. I'm excited. Can't wait to get down to Spring Training and get to work.

Q. Insight on Omar as your bench coach?

JOE ESPADA: I had some conversations with Dana, and Omar obviously was on the top of my list. Just incredible human that he is. Knowledgeable of the game. The way he has managed every player in that clubhouse. I think it was an easy choice when we came down with who are we going to name to be the bench coach. I need someone who I can trust, and I can trust Omar. He's incredible coach, also someone who cares about the Astros organization, been with us for 25 years.

Once we realized that Omar was the right guy for the job, we gave him a call, and he was so excited that he's getting this opportunity.

Q. How are the Astros going to be different under you as a manager, just philosophically, some of the things that you hope to implement, just as far as overall broad strategies or anything as you're going forward?

JOE ESPADA: When it comes to strategy and stuff like that, I think we'll wait and see. I think our team is a dynamic -- our team is dynamic. It's an elite team.

I think my job is going to be just kind of making sure that these players are in a position to succeed, making sure I communicate with them their roles where we stand as an organization.

And I think it just taking the field and playing hard, that's who we are. I think the players expect and know that's what I'm going to ask from them.

When it comes to philosophy, anything like that, it's just putting players in a position to succeed, and you're going to see an exciting team on the field.

Q. I asked this to Carlos Mendoza. How many people have reached out to you since you got the job, and what kind of advice continues to ring through in all those conversations? Is there some message that some of the guys have told you?

JOE ESPADA: Yeah, I hear this a lot: Be you. Humility. You have a great team. Let the guys do their part. Don't try to do too much. That stuff is what you hear. You think that going from bench coach, now you're the manager, now you think that you got to change the whole scheme of things, that's just not the case.

I think the message should be transparency and specific and just making sure that you got the players' back, you put in a position to succeed. That's kind of the message I've heard from a lot of the guys who have managed who are coaching in the Major Leagues.

Q. Who are some of the managers that have reached out to you?

JOE ESPADA: Oh, a lot. Every manager that I have worked for, coaches that I worked with, players that I've coached, high school buddies of mine. So many people who played a role in who I am today, I have heard from them. The advice has been tremendous. The support has been fantastic. Just having that support system next to me, it's been very important.

Q. How has your life changed since then? You did the Dynamo deal. Do you notice a difference now?

JOE ESPADA: Yeah, you know, a little bit busy. Schedule is a little bit busy. I make sure that I stay true to who I am. I stay in the present. Make sure that I'm a good father, good husband. Those things are very important to me.

The job, it's a very important job for me, it is just stay true to who I am and lean on the people, lean on my coaches, lean on the people who are next to me and surround myself with the right people.

Q. Personnel-wise, how do you view your outfield situation going into Spring Training? I would guess specifically Centerfield and left field?

JOE ESPADA: I think we have guys in place that I think can do the job. Jake Meyers, McCormick, Álvarez can still play some left, will play some left. Tucker will cover right field.

I think that the roster that we've seen in the outfield is the guys that I feel comfortable having 'em play throughout the outfield. Now, we're always looking for ways to improve our roster. Dana is always working hard to try and improve our roster. But right now with the players we have in place, I think I feel pretty good about that.

Q. How many bullpen arms do you think you need if you don't re-sign the guys that are free agents?

JOE ESPADA: You know what, I think that right now the ones that we have are solid. I feel really good that we have guys like Bryan Abreu, Pressly, Montero. We saw some really good things from Sousa. So we have the guys.

Now, we're looking for other ways to improve our roster? Absolutely. But I think that we got to let this play out, and I know Dana has a good plan in place, and I'm going to let him execute the game plan.

Q. (Indiscernible)?

JOE ESPADA: I think that's going to just kind of grow and see where we are at in Spring Training. Obviously we'll see how health and protecting him from keeping him in the lineup for as many games as we can. So we'll look at all those things.

But I know Yordan likes to be in the outfield, and it's important for us to open that DH spot for some other guys that can benefit from that DH. So having Yordan play some left will help our club.

Q. Jose Abreu may be a guy that could benefit from DHing a couple times a week. If you wanted to DH Abreu, who could you maybe play at first base?

JOE ESPADA: I think not only Jose but I think there's some players that could benefit from DH. There's some stretches where I think that we can be flexible and get some guys off their feet. But I think Jose can take the majority of those reps at first base. He played a heck of a first base last year.

We're looking at who can back him up there. I really expect him to have a really good year next year, and any conversations with him, he's taking some strides on his body and things that he's doing differently, and I'm really optimistic that he's going to have a really good year next year.

Q. Is it one of those things where you think it was the back last year that really limited him for the first three or four months, and then once he kind of got the treatment he needed, you saw the real Jose Abreu a little bit?

JOE ESPADA: I think so. I think Jose came in and he's a guy that plays every single gay day. He's a gamer. I think he wanted to do that. He probably played through some nagging injuries and stuff like that, but a lot of respect for what he did and how he went about it. Once he took that little breather, we saw a different guy. But I expect him to come no Spring Training ready to go.

Q. Do you expect any of the prospects to play a role in Spring Training where maybe they could break with the club (indiscernible) Arrighetti, Loperfido, any of those guys?

JOE ESPADA: I'm excited about seeing some of those guys. I really am. Because I know at some point we're going to -- those kids come up, and they will play a role on our team.

So but, yeah, some of those guys that I mentioned I'm excited to see them in Spring Training. They're coming. They're good players. Our reports are really good on those guys, so I'm excited to give them an opportunity to see what they can do in Spring Training.

Q. What are you looking for at catcher?

JOE ESPADA: We are having conversations to see what's the best fit. But I'm excited about Yainer getting an opportunity to catch and play and play every day.

Q. What do you do to help him absorb kind of the role that Martín had working with the pitching staff, doing all the reports and those things?

JOE ESPADA: Communication. I've been talking to Yainer once a week. We're going to do some things in January leading into Spring Training to prep him for Spring Training. I don't want us to get to Spring Training and start from scratch.

So this is going to be starting right now having conversations about our staff, how to attack certain lineups, things that we know that we can help him with, receiving, throwing.

So it's a process that we are working on right now as we speak.

Q. What are those conversations like? Do you meet in person, Zoom, on the phone? When you say "I talk to him," talk to him 10 minutes, 15, 20?

JOE ESPADA: Sometimes it's 10, sometimes it's 15, just depending where the conversations takes us. Right now it's phone calls, but I think once we get closer to Spring Training, if he's in Houston, we'll obviously we'll be face-to-face. If not, we'll do some Zoom. But we're going to get him ready to play and be the best catcher that we can get out of Yainer Diaz.

Q. Where is he spending off-season at?

JOE ESPADA: Right now he's in the Dominican Republic training. And he sends videos. We have a trainer over there with those guys. So I feel really good where he's at right now and in the off-season.

Q. (Indiscernible)?

JOE ESPADA: I think that's on the player. I don't think putting a number is fair. I think he will tell us what's a good workload and what's not. I think my job will be to make sure that I put him in a position where he's being the best catcher that we can have. Then he'll go from there, but I know that he's strong, he's mentally fit to do this, and I'm looking forward to see his work behind the plate.

Q. How do you feel about your starting rotation, and are there updates on McCullers and the rest?

JOE ESPADA: I feel really good about those guys. Having JV, Valdez, all those guys, Urquidy. I feel really good about our rotation.

Just having McCullers, who I see a lot when I go to the clubhouse, like seeing his progress, seeing Garcia's progress. I feel really good about hopefully adding them at the -- at some point during the season will be awesome if we could get 'em, at some point when we get 'em back.

Q. Would you like one person to emerge in center field as the everyday guy? Do you think of that more as a time share, kind of mix and match, see who matches up better with that day's pitcher?

JOE ESPADA: I do think that they're both going to get an opportunity to play, and we'll see where it takes us. I don't -- sitting here and saying this is going to be -- somebody's going to get the majority of reps, I think it's too premature for that. I do feel comfortable, with the guys that we have, that both can cover and we could get some solid production out of center field.

Q. Is Dubón included in that number, or would you rather him be a guy you can move around?

JOE ESPADA: Duby is good when he is that Swiss Army player that we got, right, that you can spare someone at second base, can play some short, third, go to center. So that is extremely valuable when we have a player like that.

But, yeah, he's that one guy that can go and get a start in center field, will give you plus defense with some quality at-bats.

Q. You mentioned earlier, you said the words "playing hard," you want the guys to play hard. Do you think there were any issues last year with some guys not playing hard, maybe running to first base or in any other areas?

JOE ESPADA: No. I think when I say hard, it's not allowing complacency to come in. Like seven straight LCSs, we don't want to have that mentality that we know -- this is what winning looks like, yes, but we need to continue to push and be better and continue to be better at doing the small stuff.

Those are the things that I think that as a team last year we -- sometimes we lack on doing the small stuff, doing those things well. I think those are the areas that I need to make sure that we cover and we go over and we get better at.

Q. Is there something you're looking at defensively, talking about the small stuff?

JOE ESPADA: Yeah, on the defensive side, on the bases, anything that will help you win games. Those are the things that we have done really, really well for the last seven years. Those are the things that I want our team to focus on during Spring Training.

Q. How about the pitch clock and holding runners, it seemed like that was an issue?

JOE ESPADA: That will be another area that we will look at. Having that clock did put another element for us to consider, both on the defensive side and also on the offensive side. So it's something that we're looking at. It's something that we could be better at controlling the running game. Also taking advantage on the bases.

Q. With Jeremy Pena, you look at most of his offensive stats, and they were actually better last year than his rookie year, but he obviously the power -- I guess what is kind of the next step for him offensively?

JOE ESPADA: When we talk about Jeremy, people kind of focus on the power, but there's a lot of things that he did really well offensively better than he did last year. I thought that he chased less, he walked more. I thought there was some maturity about his at-bats that you are looking for in a second-year guy.

I think he's going to be that much better hitter in his third year. I think he's going to go back, he's going to find that stroke, he's going to hit for power again.

But, you know, saying that 2022 was better than 2023, I don't really agree with that because I think did he some things offensively that it was encouraging. I think he shows that he can be an offensive threat in a lineup for many years.

Q. He's your fastest sprint speed player. How would you evaluate his base stealing, base running?

JOE ESPADA: Jeremy? You know what, I think he's in there. I think he runs the bases hard. I think he also has awareness and IQ to steal more bases. I think that's something that we as an organization are going to look at now in Spring Training and we could do better at that.

I think that's one of the reasons why we added Dave Clark to our coaching staff. With him and Gary, I feel like putting those two baseball minds together, I think we could do a better job at taking advantage of base running and studying more opposing pitchers and be better running the bases in general.

Q. This is the last season that both Bregman and Altuve are under team control. Does that add more urgency to this year, just knowing that there's a possibility this could be the last season where you have both of those guys playing together?

JOE ESPADA: You know what, for me I just hope they're here for many years to come. They're tremendous players. They mean a lot to our culture and to our winning ways. So the only thing I could say is I hope they're here for many, many more years.

Q. Do you have any sort of update on Kendall? Do you know if he is throwing?

JOE ESPADA: So he is playing catch 90 feet, and things are going okay. The reports seem to be that he's doing okay. But, yeah, he is playing catch, he's doing some physical therapy back in Alabama. But seems like he's progressing well.

Q. What are your overall thoughts on the state of diversity in the coaching and managing roles in MLB?

JOE ESPADA: You know what, I think we are doing a better job. I see that MLB's really trying to push hard for diversity and for inclusion. I think that's very important.

So I think I feel pretty good on the state on that matter right now in MLB.

Q. How much pride do you take in six Latino managers in Major League Baseball right now?

JOE ESPADA: It's exciting. I think it's exciting. I think there is -- I think there will be more to come in the future. I think there's some really qualified coaches out there and Major League coaching staffs that can step in and have these and sit in this chair and do a terrific job.

It's our job, like my job, just to let people know that they're out there. Just like myself, it's taken me awhile to get to this seat, but it just -- you work hard and don't lose faith because it could be done.

Q. What message would you give other Latino coaches who are now in the shoes you were in this last year?

JOE ESPADA: The journey is very much worth staying in it and don't lose faith. Your attitude while you wait is very important. Continue to learn because I think once you get this opportunity to do this, you want to do the best you can, not only for the organization, but for the next generation of Latino coaches who will get an opportunity to do this.

Q. How will Spring Training be run next year and will Omar kind of organize that, and are there any big changes that you'll make about the way that Spring Training is run, you pretty much did it anyway?

JOE ESPADA: Yeah, yeah, but we're talking through some specifics and how can we make it a little more creative, kind of make sure that we go over our things. Right now, once the Winter Meetings are over, I'll dive into that with our coaches, and we'll start talking little bit about the format of Spring Training.

Q. (Indiscernible) what was it like to call him and tell him he's on a Big League staff?

JOE ESPADA: He was excited. He's right there. No, he was excited. I'm really happy for him. He's worked really, really hard, and he's going to be the guy that is going to be doing some of that, a lot of work Spring Training that I've done for the last six, seven years.

I'm going to lean on him. He's that bridge to our player development. He's been around, he knows those players down there. He's earned this opportunity to be here. I'm excited for him and excited for Omar to be right there next to me. And getting Dave Clark back too. I've heard so many great things about him. I'm excited to this coaching staff. They're great people and they care about our players, and I can't wait to get to work.

Q. How did Clark come back around again? How did you connect with him or knew he was interested?

JOE ESPADA: I talked to players. I talked to a ton of people. I know Clarky for -- from a long time. I like his dynamic, I like his presence. He's got this energy about him that I think it's -- our players need. And once I sat down and we went out to lunch and we talked, I'm like, man, this guy, he's sharp, this guy, this is what we need in our clubhouse.

Q. Hopefully you have a long career, a bunch more press conferences like this, but is there a question you wish you were asked more?

JOE ESPADA: A question that I wish somebody would ask me more?

Q. Yeah. In a bunch of these press conferences that you'll have in your future?

JOE ESPADA: No, this is my first formal press conference like this. So maybe if you ask me that question maybe in a couple of weeks, maybe I can answer for you. But right now this is the questions that I'm getting, so maybe I'll have an answer for you later on.

Q. There's been a lot of title inflation in --

JOE ESPADA: Title what?

Q. Title inflation. Like, you're not just a GM, you're now the president of baseball operations. What do you think managers should be called?

JOE ESPADA: (Laughing.) Managers.

Q. Why?

JOE ESPADA: Because that's what we are, the manager of the team. And I kind of grow into that culture of the manager is the manager of the team, so I'm okay with being called the manager.

Q. Are you going to have any rules or anything for the guys that they might have to adjust to or anything you're a stickler about, the way they wear a uniform or anything like that?

JOE ESPADA: No, our players, they respect the name on front of their jersey, and that's all I care about. We're Houston Astros, our community, the people that come and support every day. As long as you're respecting the game and you respect our fans and respect the people that come to watch us, that's my biggest rule. Follow those rules.