Astros Owner Jim Crane Retains Joe Espada For Rest Of Season Following GM Ouster

A day after parting ways with general manager Dana Brown, Houston Astros owner Jim Crane addressed the move and said manager Joe Espada will remain in the role for the remainder of the season.

Before opening a three-game series against the Yankees on Tuesday, the Astros moved on from Brown, whose contract was set to expire at the end of the season.

The team described the decision as mutual.

Houston announced senior adviser Jeff Bagwell and assistant general managers Charles Cook, Gavin Dickey and Connor Huff will take over Brown’s responsibilities, while Crane will oversee baseball operations during the transition.

"There’s no good time for any of that, you know, when you let someone go," Crane said outside the Houston clubhouse.

"Just out of respect for Dana, we thought that was a time that would give him a little space to regroup.

He’s a great talent.

He’s been in the business a long time to get settled and to get back to work somewhere else." Brown was hired in January 2023 and succeeded James Click, who was fired six days after Houston won its second World Series title.

"We worked together very closely for three and a half years," Espada said.

"He gave me the opportunity to be manager of this team.

It was tough.

It was a tough conversation, but he was grateful for the opportunity and I’m grateful for our relationship and how we grind through this together, but it was emotional.

It was a lot of emotions behind our conversation." Brown helped the Astros reach a seventh straight ALCS, which they lost in seven games to the Texas Rangers .

Houston lost in a wild-card series to Detroit in 2024 and last season missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016 when it finished three games behind Seattle in the AL West and lost a tiebreaker with the Tigers for final wild-card spot.