Astros Espada, Brown to Return, Others Not So Much

It was announced this week that the Astros would bring back manager Joe Espada and GM Dana Brown in 2026 after missing the postseason for the first time in what seems like forever. Both are signed through next season and it makes sense that owner Jim Crane will see how things go next year before making any long term decisions on either of his top men.

That didn’t save others from the chopping block as three coaches, one trainer and an assistant general manager were all let go on Thursday.

Hitting coaches Alex Cintrón and Troy Snitker along with Michael Collins, who oversees the catchers, did not have their contracts renewed for next year. Fans who knew the names of Cintrón and Snitker and what they did could be found most of the year on social media calling for their heads with the Astros anemic offense struggling. Whether new hitting coaches can change the fortunes of the team is a different question entirely.

Along with the coaches, neither head athletic trainer Jeremiah Randall nor the assistant GM who oversaw sports medicine and performance, Andrew Ball, will return next season. With the huge number of injuries and re-injuries throughout the season, heads were certainly going to roll among training staff.

Hitting and injuries were the two most glaring issues for the Astros in 2025 and cleaning house this offseason meant hitting those two departments hard.

As much as fans may feel like this is a positive step — and, frankly, addressing everything this winter should be on the table — Randall presided over a well respected training staff that actually won the league’s “best” award back in 2017. Granted, that’s nearly a decade ago, but it’s unlikely they suddenly forgot how to heal people.

As for the hitting, everything from player development to in-game strategy needs to be reviewed. The Astros won a pair of championships due in no small part to their savvy play at the plate. They routinely had stellar strikeout-to-walk ratios along with particularly good clutch hitting numbers. That has gone downhill significantly over the last few seasons.

This probably won’t solve all the Astros problems. In fact, they will need a lot more than just getting rid of assistants to do that. But, it does feel like a step in the right direction, especially fresh off a premature ending to the season.

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