Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
Joe Espada has had a pretty good excuse for not meeting with the Giants until today.
The Astros bench coach has been busy — the World Series tends to occupy your time a bit.
Espada, who already had done a phone interview with Farhan Zaidi, will meet in person with the Giants in San Francisco on Thursday, according to MLB.com. He’s among eight known candidates to succeed Bruce Bochy, the others being: Hensley Meulens, Ron Wotus, Mark Kotsay, Pedro Grifol, Will Venable, Gable Kapler and Matt Quatraro.
Espada missed out on the Cubs’ job, which went to David Ross, and also is in the mix for the Pirates’ gig.
The 44-year-old from Puerto Rico has never been a big-league manager but has plenty of experience in a variety of roles with impressive organizations. He came up with the Marlins before moving on to the Yankees in 2014, first as a front-office executive, an assistant to GM Brian Cashman. The following season he moved back onto the field, becoming their third-base coach.
He left in 2017 to sit in Houston’s dugout as bench coach, where he’s resided in baseball’s most analytically minded organization since. The Giants had to wait to officially hire Zaidi last season because of the Dodgers’ World Series run; perhaps that is happening again with Zaidi’s first huge hire.
Zaidi and the Giants have not been in a rush through this process, other managers getting scooped up as San Francisco interviews the 8-10 candidates Zaidi pledged they would. Thursday there were expected to be three manager announcements: Ross to the Cubs, Joe Girardi to the Phillies and Jayce Tinger to the Padres. If the Giants want Espada, they would have to ensure Pittsburgh doesn’t get him first.
For Espada, after San Francisco he’ll be off to Washington for Friday’s Game 3 of the World Series.
