Though they fell apart in the back half of the season and missed the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade, the Houston Astros aren’t making any leadership changes this offseason.
The Astros are bringing back both general manager Dana Brown and manager Joe Espada for the 2026 campaign, according to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Both of their contracts run through the 2026 season, however, so speculations about their futures with the organization aren’t likely to go away anytime soon.
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The Astros went 87-75 this season and finished three games back from the Seattle Mariners in the AL West. Houston, however, held a seven-game lead in the division at one point and were in first place last month before dropping six of their last nine games to end the year.
The Astros, who have been to the World Series four times and won twice in the past decade, ended up missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
While the Astros struggled, they dealt with several notable injuries throughout the year — including star Yordan Álvarez being limited to just 48 games. Eight different starters landed on the injured list in total, and starter Luis Garcia, closer Josh Hader, shortstop Jeremy Peña and starter Lance McCullers Jr. were all on the IL during the final stretch of the season.
Espada just finished his second season as the Astros’ manager. He took over for Dusty Baker ahead of the 2024 campaign when Baker retired. Brown was hired before the 2023 season, and took over for James Click — who reportedly had clashes with team owner Jim Crane. Espada declined to talk about his contract at the team’s season-ending news conference.
“I don’t want to talk about my contract right now,” he said, via the Houston Chronicle. “But I will tell you that I am the GM of the Astros.”
The team has lost several notable names in recent years, too, including Justin Verlander, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker. Star pitcher Framber Valdez is set to become a free agent this offseason, too.
Yet despite their steady decline, the Astros are opting to stick with both Brown and Espada for another season. If those two can’t turn things around and get the franchise back in the postseason next fall, though, a teardown and rebuild under different leadership may be the better long-term play in Houston.
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