AL WILD CARD SERIES: WHITE SOX VS ASTROS

September 30, 2026

Joe Espada

Daikin Park

Houston Astros

Postgame Press Conference

White Sox - 7, Astros - 3

THE MODERATOR: All right. Who has the first question for Joe?

Q. This series you had to burn through a lot of pitchers. Just how tough was that just to navigate this with the bullpen game and then Hunter only giving you a couple outs?

JOE ESPADA: Yeah, it was difficult. But again, I'm just proud of how we fought the whole entire time just to get to this point. This looked completely different in May, and the way we got back and we fought back and we set our goal to win this division and we accomplished that. We wanted to play deep in October. We came short on that. But just the way our guys stayed together and were able to get this far, extremely proud of our team.

Q. I know it's a total team effort, but can you just talk about what a guy like Altuve means to the franchise and what you get from him?

JOE ESPADA: Yeah, he is our franchise. Right when he hit that home run there, you were expecting him to do something special in a game like today. And he always finds ways to get our crowd going and get our team going. Just watching him play for so many years, I'm just -- incredible. You know, I admire how he goes about it, just consistency in how he prepares himself and how he's able to get big hits in big moments. One of the best I've ever been around.

Q. From your vantage point, what do you think they did best to neutralize Álvarez in these two games?

JOE ESPADA: You know, they pitched him tough. I think they pitched us tough in general. I think as a whole, they came in with a pretty good game plan. They made sure they came in with the objective of not letting Yordan beat them. If I'm on the other side, I would have come in here with the same game plan, not letting Yordan beat you. But I thought they executed really well. We couldn't get our bats going. We had some opportunities but just couldn't get that big hit.

Q. Understanding the game ended five minutes ago. Obviously, your contract is set to expire. Would you like to return and manage the Astros next season?

JOE ESPADA: Absolutely.

Q. Have you been given any indications about your future?

JOE ESPADA: No. You know, Jim has been very clear about his process and when he wants to have that conversation. I respect the process and how blessed I've been of being here for over nine years and experienced so many division titles, Championship Series, you know, World Series, winning one. As a bench coach, as a manager, I have witnessed so many great moments, so obviously I would like to continue enjoying those moments.

Q. Bryan Abreu has obviously gotten a lot of big outs for you in his career, gave up the homer to Meidroth. Wonder what you saw there, but also what he's meant for this franchise.

JOE ESPADA: I'm not going to just go about that specific pitch because it takes away from how incredible he's been through his career. Game on the line, this is the guy you want in the game. It looked like that slider stayed kind of in the middle of the plate. But with the game on the line, that's the guy you want there. But he's been remarkable. He's gotten big outs for so many years, playoffs, World Series. Incredible. I know he's going into his free agent year and he's one of those guys that you want to have in your pen.

Q. If you aren't able to return, how upsetting or disappointing will it be to have it end this way -- I mean, maybe end at all, but especially with the tough loss like this?

JOE ESPADA: You know what? I've been blessed. I've been here for a long time. I've been in a few piles. I've been soaked in champagne. I have created some really great relationships. I have witnessed some Hall of Fame players that I coached and I created. You know, I've been a part of some really special years. I take that -- you know, that's every coach, every manager's dream is just to be able to coach and lead players like this in an organization that gives you the opportunity to always get the best players so you can consistently win divisions and go to the World Series. I've been part of that, and, you know, I'm just blessed just to be part of it.

Q. Do you expect to speak with and meet with Jim Crane in the coming days? And was it hard at all for you to have the season without any kind of contract certainty or anything like that?

JOE ESPADA: I'll answer your second one first. No, it's part of the job. One thing that I've learned is that even if you have, you know, years guaranteed, it doesn't mean that it's a guaranteed contract, right? You still got to win on the baseball field and deliver what the expectations are. So, no, that did not affect me. I'm sure that I will have a conversation here with Jim in the next day or two.

Q. How do you feel like this team is set up going forward -- understanding that there could be some changes this off-season, but how do you feel like this organization is set up going forward?

JOE ESPADA: I do know that -- you know, one thing that they do -- that we do really well is acquiring talented players, right? And we did it through the whole entire season, even injuries, we -- through player development to, you know, getting players on waivers. Like, we always find ways to acquire talent and stay competitive and stay in the mix and stay in a really good position to compete and win the division.

So I'm sure some changes will be discussed, but the heart and soul of this team is still here. As long as Jose Altuve and Yordan Álvarez are here, this is a damn good team.