Joe Espada already losing Astros players in clubhouse after disastrous start as manager

The Houston Astros have been a consistent World Series contender since they won it all in 2017. They always made moves to make them better and keep their championship window wide open. It appears that the Astros' luck has run out this season.

Entering Sunday, the Astros are 14-25 on the season, the second-worst record in the American League, and sit in last place in the AL West division. It certainly doesn't help that the team was hammered with injuries. This comes in the team's first year with Joe Espada as manager. With Dusty Baker's contract expired after the 2023 season, the legendary manager announced his retirement. Espada seemed like a great option, as he had been with the team since 2018 and was considered for other managerial vacancies throughout the years.

Even though it's only been over a month into the 2024 season, things have gone poorly for Espada -- he has lost some of his players.

According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, Espada has already received complaints from "two prominent players" on the Astros about the manager's communication skills.

"The Houston Astros plan to give rookie manager Joe Espada plenty of time to see if they turn their season around, particularly with their pitching injuries, but two prominent players have privately expressed complaints about Espada’s communication skills in recent weeks," writes Nightengale.

'Two prominent' Astros players have complained about Joe Espada's communication skills

Nightengale states that the two unnamed players complained about Espada's communication skills in private. But the insider states that the Astros still plan to give Espada time to allow the team to break out of their slump. After all, they do have over 100 games remaining this season.

If the Astros are unable to turn things around, and if Espada is let go, Nightengale notes that there will be two big-name candidates on the market next winter -- Alex Cora of the Boston Red Sox and Skip Schumaker of the Miami Marlins. Both managers' contracts expire at the end of this season.

Espada has had a tough start to the year, most of which has to do with injuries. The starting rotation has particularly been hit hard, with Famber Valdez, Christian Javier, Justin Verlander, and Jose Urquidy have all been on the injured list this season. Add that with players like Alex Bregman and Jose Abreu underperforming at the plate and you have a recipe for disaster for the Astros and Espada.

The Astros will exercise patience with Espada, but given the team's reputation in the past seven seasons as World Series contenders, he will have to turn things around at some point this year.