30) Joe Espada
Of all the people on this list, Joe Espada is, perhaps, the person without any MLB managerial experience that’s most likely to get a managerial job next offseason.
Espada, 46, was a player from 1996 through 2006, getting up to Triple-A but he never got the call to the majors but he has been a coach in the majors for over a decade and he has had a lot of managerial interviews with other teams.
Currently, he has been Houston’s bench coach since 2018 and he has also been the infield coach for Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, and Alex Bregman, which have been one of the best defensive infields in baseball in recent years.
Prior to joining the Astros, he was the third base coach under Joe Girardi with the New York Yankees from 2015 through 2017. He was a scout for them in 2014 and prior to joining the Yankees, he was the third base coach for the Marlins from 2010 through 2013. Before making it to the majors as a coach, he was a minor league hitting coach and infield coordinator with the Marlins.
Espada was interviewed by both the Mets and A’s this offseason for their managerial openings and he has interviewed for other managerial spots in recent years too. When the Cubs hired David Ross before the 2020 season, Espada interviewed with them and he interviewed with the Astros before they signed Dusty Baker to replace A.J. Hinch.
He also interviewed with the Giants when they hired Gabe Kapler and the Pirates before they hired Derek Shelton. In the previous offseason (2018-2019), he interviewed with the Angels, Blue Jays, and Rangers for their managerial openings.
In other words, it’s just a matter of time before he gets a managerial gig, whether it’s from Dusty Baker retiring in Houston or elsewhere.