Think back to when the New York Yankees announced Joe Girardi would not return as manager for the 2018 season. One of the top internal candidates was third-base coach Joe Espada. Remember that? Good. Now forget about it, because Espada is no longer on the board.
Instead, Espada has joined the Houston Astros as their new bench coach -- a position that came available at the conclusion of the World Series, with Alex Cora heading off to the Boston Red Sox to become their new manager:
Yankees 3B Coach Joe Espada is the Astros new Bench Coach. Will be a managerial candidate in the next few years.
— Sweeny Murti (@YankeesWFAN) November 2, 2017
Presumably the Yankees had already decided Espada wasn't the right individual to fill their managerial vacancy. As such, this probably doesn't impact them too much.
Nonetheless, it's a neat promotion for Espada, who now gets to try to help the Astros repeat and joins the team a day after they won the World Series.
