This morning it was revealed that Houston Astros’ bench coach Joe Espada was flying to Chicago for a second interview with the Cubs. With several reports lately saying David Ross is the favorite for the job, what does it mean that Espada is coming in for a second go at it?
Joe Espada is on his way to Chicago for a second managerial interview with the Cubs, per a source. Cubs were clearly impressed with what they heard last week from the Astros bench coach.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) October 20, 2019
This second interview is likely because Ross was the favorite, but Espada made both Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer think twice about Ross. I also think it could mean Espada passed Ross as the favorite. We already know Espada left Theo and Jed impressed, something we haven’t heard from any of the other interviews. In fact, we haven’t heard many leaks from the Cubs perspective on how things went outside of Espada.
Houston source tells me Astros coach Joe Espada had a sensational interview w/Cubs front office. “He gave Theo + Jed a lot to think about. They really liked him + came away exceptionally impressed. Was it enough to overcome David Ross’s relationship w/Theo and Jed? We’ll see.”
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) October 17, 2019
From the jump, I believed (as did many others) that Ross had the leg up. If you’ve read anything from Chicago Style Sports in the past two weeks you’d know that. I also have thought Espada is the best option – and no, not because Ross is inexperienced.
With Ross being the favorite, I think this is the Cubs double-checking their decisions.
THIS IS A GOOD THING!
There has been a sense that the front office “pre-approved” David Ross without truly giving others the opportunity to get the job. While this happens with front offices all the time, this does not appear to be the case here.
I believe the Cubs will have made a decision on their next manager by the end of this interview. It will certainly either be, Ross or Espada and while Rossy’s been playing for the home team all along – Espada is getting last raps.
