Blue Jays: 3 long-term Charlie Montoyo replacements at manager
By Tim Boyle
2) Blue Jays manager replacement for Charlie Montoyo: Joe Espada
A favorite of many to eventually take over a managerial job, Joe Espada remains with the Houston Astros as the bench coach but probably not for long. Every time an opening days pop up in the offseason, his name is mentioned. He was a finalist for the New York Mets gig last winter before the team decided to hire Buck Showalter.
Espada will get his chance to manage eventually. The 46-year-old has held a variety of positions in Major League Baseball and is already familiar with the American League East from his time working in the front office for the New York Yankees.
Exactly what type of manager Espada could become remains a mystery because we haven’t seen him in the role. However, with Dusty Baker passing along plenty of guidance this year, we need to look at him even more favorably.
Espada was not working for the Houston Astros during the 2017 cheating scandal. He joined them a season after and has managed to survive the chaos while remaining MLB’s version of Eric Bieniemy—a highly-acclaimed coach everyone expects to get promoted but has yet to.
At 46-years-old, the timing is right for the Blue Jays to seek him out as first-time manager that has experienced enough winning to lead the current young group of players. George Springer can be the one to introduce him to the rest of the locker room.