San Francisco Giants: Is Joe Espada emerging as the managerial favorite?

The San Francisco Giants are beginning to narrow down their managerial search and it appears as though Houston Astros bench coach Joe Espada has emerged as one of the favorites.

The San Francisco Giants will say goodbye to manager Bruce Bochy this offseason and further welcome in a new era of Giants baseball. And it appears as though Houston Astros bench coach Joe Espada is among the team’s top replacement options.

It was reported on Wednesday by MLB Network’s Jon Heyman that the Giants had spoken to Espada on the phone in an interview with the Astros staff member. As we know, Espada’s schedule is pretty full right now as Houston gets set for Game 3 of the World Series on Friday.

For that reason, it’s been difficult for teams to get in contact with him. However, it seems as though the Giants have been able to work something out.

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported earlier on Thursday that the Giants were expected to meet with Espada in person later in the day after originally speaking with him on the phone.

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This is big news for a Giants team that had been connected to names such as Mark Kotsay and Will Venable in recent weeks.

Even bigger news is the fact that the Chicago Cubs have officially settled their managerial search with the hiring of former big-league catcher David Ross. Espada was considered a front-runner for the position making that hire good news for San Francisco.

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The 44-year-old doesn’t have managerial experience at the MLB level, but he’s essentially done everything else to this point. He’s worked as a hitting coach, bench coach, infield coach, third-base coach, he’s managed in the minors, and he’s even led the Puerto Rican national team in each of the last two World Baseball Classics.

Espada even has front office experience having served as a special assistant to New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman during the 2014 season. Out of the individuals who the Giants have been connected to so far, he’s certainly one of the most qualified.

Apart from the aforementioned Kotsay and Venable, the Giants have interview internal candidates in Hensley Meulens and Ron Wotus and external candidates in Gabe Kapler, Pedro Grifol, and Matt Quatraro.

Of the seven, Kapler is the only one with prior managerial experience at the MLB level having spent the past two seasons as the skipper of the Philadelphia Phillies. And it’s not as if he found too much success during his time in the ‘City of Brotherly Love.’