ESPN's MLB Insider Discusses Benefit of Seattle Mariners Interview with Joe Espada

As we learned earlier this week, the Seattle Mariners are set to interview now-former Houston Astros manager Joe Espada for their vacant managerial opening.

Initially, I was skeptical of the interview, but I've become more open-minded to it since then as we've heard about some of the dysfunction around the Astros organization. 

And we spoke to ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney on the most recent episode of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast to get his perspective on why it makes sense to interview Espada.

"There are two reasons why the Mariners should talk to Joe Espada. One, as I mentioned, I think he's a great baseball guy. He's got a ton of experience. He's got managerial experience. And you and I have talked about how they need someone who has experience.

But the other thing too is you get to, in your conversations, and this isn't only about the Mariners. In this particular situation, every time a team brings in a candidate from outside the organization, they get a peek under the hood of what the other teams are doing. And in the Mariners case, this is a peek under the hood of what a division rival is doing. And you can ask questions about, 'okay, how did they handle this? How do they handle this situation? You know, is Jeff Bagwell, in fact, heavily involved? Is Jim Crane making the decisions day to day? Is it true that this trade was killed at the deadline for the Mariners (Astros) front office? It's a great opportunity to learn more intel about your, I mean, I don't mean to use this word callously, is it you get to learn more about your enemy?"

And in addition to that, Olney was asked about the flip side of things: What about the intel that Espada can provide on the Mariners. How exactly are they viewed on the outside?

"That's exactly right. And that's 100%. That's a great point. It really is three-pronged. You can, because you're going to get his observations about your team. And here's the thing, is that Joe's been around the block. There probably would be some first-time candidates who'd be super polite and political. And I think Joe's been around long enough to know he's going to be asked to give honest opinions. And I know him well enough to know. I mean, I don't think he gives dishonest opinions, let me put it that way. I think he's pretty direct."

The 51-year-old Espada, of Puerto Rico, spent three years with the Astros as their skipper, but he also served on staff under former managers AJ Hinch and Dusty Baker. In his three years as manager, he went 256-229, winning two division titles. His team went just 81-81 this season, but he navigated several injuries to win the division.

The Mariners won the American League West in 2025, which was the only season that Espada didn't win it.

The M's have no set timeline to find a new manager, and it's important to get this hire right. However, the longer they wait, the bigger risk they run in letting the likely MLB lockout impact things down the road.

Seattle went 76-86 this season, moving on from Dan Wilson at the conclusion of the disappointing season.

The Astros were beaten by the Chicago White Sox in the wild card round of the playoffs, getting swept in two games.