Josue Espada (born August 30, 1975) is a Puerto Rican

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and former minor league player who is the current bench coach of the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB). He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Espada was the third base coach for the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fra ...

. He then joined the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

as a special assistant to

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Brian Cashman Brian McGuire Cashman (born July 3, 1967) is an American baseball executive for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. He has served as the General Manager and Senior Vice President of the Yankees since 1998. During Cashman's tenure as ge ...

in 2014. Prior to the 2015 season, Espada was named the Yankees' third base coach. The Astros hired Espada after the 2017 season.

Playing career

Espada attended the

University of Mobile The University of Mobile is a private, Baptist university in Mobile, Alabama. It is affiliated with the Alabama Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). History The university was founded in 1961 by the Alabama Baptist State under t ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the Mobile Rams. He set a Mobile record with a .442 batting average. The

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

selected Espada in the second round, with the 45th overall selection, of the 1996 Major League Baseball draft. The

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

selected Espada from the Athletics in the 1998 Rule 5 draft, but he failed to make the Twins'

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

roster and was returned to the Athletics. Espada played in Oakland's system through the 2000 season. A

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who i ...

in 2001, Espada signed with the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

, and was traded to the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

for Juan Acevedo in August 2001. He later played for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, Texas Rangers, and

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home ve ...

organizations. In 2004, Espada played for the Pensacola Pelicans in the

Central Baseball League The Central Baseball League, formerly the Texas–Louisiana League, was a independent baseball league whose member teams were not affiliated with any Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises. In 1991, potential owners, Dallas businessman Byron P ...

, an

independent baseball league An independent baseball league is a professional baseball organization in the United States or Canada that is not overseen by Major League Baseball and is outside the Minor League Baseball clubs affiliated to it. The Northern League (baseball, 19 ...

. He retired after the 2005 season, reaching Triple-A, but never playing in the majors.

Coaching career

After retiring, Espada became a

in the Marlins' organization. He served as the hitting coach of the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

in 2006 and for the Jupiter Hammerheads of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A followi ...

in 2007. Espada spent the next two seasons as the Marlins' minor league infield coordinator. Joey Espada 2011

The Marlins named Espada as their third base coach prior to the 2010 season. He also coached for the

Puerto Rican national baseball team The Puerto Rico national baseball team ( es, Selección de béisbol de Puerto Rico) is the national baseball team of Puerto Rico. The men's senior team is currently ranked 13th in the world. Puerto Rico is the incumbent Pan American and Centr ...

during the

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike t ...

. Espada served as the Marlins' third base coach through the 2013 season. After the season, he was reassigned to manage Jupiter, as the Marlins wanted Espada to gain managerial experience. Instead, Espada took a job with the

as a special assistant to

. On January 11, 2015, the Yankees hired Espada to be the team's new infield coach and third base coach. He manages the Gigantes de Carolina of the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente in winter baseball. Espada again coached the Puerto Rican team in the

2017 World Baseball Classic The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to March 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts ...

. The

hired Espada after the 2017 season to become their bench coach. He interviewed for the Texas Rangers' managerial position after the 2018 season and for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

' managerial position after the 2019 season. In

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

, the Astros won 106 games, the second-highest total in franchise history. They advanced to the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...

and defeated the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

in six games to give Espada his first career

title.

Personal life

Espada is married to Pamela Dearth, the sister of Brandon Hyde's wife. The Espadas live in

Fulshear, Texas Fulshear ( ) is a city in northwest Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, and is located on the western edge of the metropolitan area. The population was 16,856 as of the 2020 census. History Before Texas Independence The history of Fulshea ...

, with their two daughters.

References

External links

MLB.com biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Espada, Joey 1975 births Living people Baseball infielders Calgary Cannons players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Frisco RoughRiders players Houston Astros coaches Huntsville Stars players Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball third base coaches Memphis Redbirds players Miami Marlins coaches Midland RockHounds players Minor league baseball coaches Mobile Rams baseball players Montgomery Biscuits players New York Yankees coaches New York Yankees executives Omaha Royals players Palm Beach Cardinals players Pensacola Pelicans players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Canada Sacramento River Cats players Southern Oregon Timberjacks players Vancouver Canadians players Visalia Oaks players West Michigan Whitecaps players Mat-Su Miners players People from Santurce, Puerto Rico