Here’s his managerial breakdowns
Personal Top Choices for Manager:
1) AJ Hinch—Not much has to be said here. Could step back in immediately and control all aspects of clubhouse. Just the absolute best at what he does. If he’s available, there’s literally no other option for the job. Under contract with Tigers for 5 years but if we called the Tigers you never know, we could possibly work something out. According to my sources, Crane wanted to talk to AJ about the GM position last offseason so bringing him back is on the table.
2) Omar Lopez—Long shot for sure, would be unheard of for them to jump Espada to go to Omar but has most manager experience of any coach on staff. Between minors and coaching WBC team very well, he’d have an extreme rapport with the team.
3) Mark Kotsay—My top choice for the job back in 2020. Bruce Bochy told us then that he wasn’t interested in coaching again quite yet that we should interview Kotsay and we did. Crane himself told me he loved Kotsay then and wanted to hire him but others in the process believed with the scandal coming out they needed someone like Dusty to run the team thru that time. Only one more year under deal with A’s so wouldn’t shock me if A’s allowed him to interview.
4) Rodney Linares—Bench coach for Rays, until 2018 was a lifelong Astros staff member. His father has worked for us for 25-30+ years. He was an amazing manager in minors who helped shaped every single one of the Astros “core” players in their development. Also coached Dominican Republic WBC team. Having been with Rays, is big in analytics and their front office is cutting edge in a lot of things.
5) Joe Espada—The clear cut easiest choice out there as he’s been with the team as bench coach since 2018. Knows the team and organization well. Downfall to me is he’s interviewed for many manager jobs over the years and has yet to be offered one. Begs question as to what’s wrong with him because coming from a successful organization like ours teams should be tripping over themselves outbidding for him. He can also be a bit high maintenance and diva like sometimes (thanks to previous time with the Yankees).