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00:00Did Joe Espada's seat just get hotter this week while sitting on the couch?
00:04We'll talk about that.
00:05It's the drive.
00:06Fellas are out today, though.
00:08I'm Luke Morrow alongside B. Scott.
00:10T. Mill with us on the other side of the glass as well.
00:13And you, too, you can join the conversation throughout 713-572-4610.
00:18Tell you what, March Madness here on day one, getting a little mad early on.
00:22We got High Point down by one with Wisconsin in the final minute of that game.
00:28High Point has hung tough.
00:30They're a 12 seed.
00:30They're within one on Wisconsin final minute.
00:33South Florida has battled back.
00:35That's a six-point game with a minute to go.
00:37Another 11 seed South Florida against Louisville.
00:40And then Siena up 11 on number one Duke with one minute to play in the first half.
00:46That would be huge.
00:47What the hell is Duke doing?
00:49I so regret not doing any research on High Point or Siena.
00:54Dude, I so just assumed that Wisconsin would handle business against High Point.
00:59And certainly Duke, right?
01:01I talked earlier about the charm of the tournament being the one seeds, the Dukes and Arizonas of the world.
01:06Yeah.
01:07The Floridas of the world.
01:08Like, I did not.
01:10I don't.
01:11Like, and this is what people come to see, right?
01:14Absolutely.
01:14Like, this is what a lot of people come to see.
01:16I just didn't think they would see it.
01:17I just assumed we would kind of mosey our way through this early part of the tournament.
01:22But, uh, what if I told you?
01:25What if I told you?
01:26Not so fast, my friend.
01:29Not so fast.
01:30I just said in the top of the show, like 40 minutes ago, I was not expecting many upsets early.
01:34All these top seeds would advance.
01:36And maybe it still works out that way.
01:37But at least we got some interesting games here coming down the stretch in the early window today.
01:42Yeah.
01:43High point.
01:43I got nothing on Siena.
01:44I mean, I grew up in kind of in that area.
01:47I'm familiar with the school, but I know nothing about that program.
01:49High Point, though.
01:50This is their third straight tournament.
01:51They got, they've always been a fun team to watch.
01:53Fun offense.
01:54Shoot a lot of threes.
01:55And their coach actually left to go be the coach in waiting at Creighton, which I always thought was odd.
01:59Like, you're already a head coach.
02:01McDermott's not all that old at Creighton.
02:02I don't know how much, how long you have to wait around.
02:04But that always seemed weird to me to leave a head coaching job to go hope to get a head
02:08coaching job years down the road.
02:09Yeah, there's got to be a back story there.
02:11Yeah, right?
02:11You know, something's going on there.
02:14Yeah, you just led the team to the tournament back-to-back years.
02:16And like, yeah, you know what?
02:17I'm going to go wait around over here at Creighton.
02:19Even though it's obviously a better job.
02:20Anyways, the new coach has taken them to the tournament.
02:22And now they're within one of Wisconsin a minute to go there.
02:24So, we'll keep you up to date.
02:26If you have Duke in your national championship, you're already sweating it out here 20 minutes in.
02:30Yeah.
02:31So, they're down 11 to number 16, Siena.
02:35But also, that's what you get for picking Duke.
02:37That's true.
02:38Right.
02:38That's what you get for picking Duke.
02:39That's right.
02:40I have Duke in my Elite Eight, so it wouldn't, you know, shatter my bracket.
02:44I don't have them in the Final Four.
02:45Obviously, it would hurt.
02:46But I would love to see them lose this game.
02:48Yeah.
02:48It would be great.
02:49It's so weird.
02:50Like, it's almost like so many of us growing up, like, if you grew up in any portion of the
02:5590s or before, certainly.
02:57But even the early 2000s, it's like, you're kind of trained to hate Duke.
03:01Yeah.
03:02To dislike Duke.
03:03Even when they have kind of a likable team or some likable guys, like, there's nothing about the actual team
03:09itself that I've got anything against.
03:10I kind of even like that the Boozer twins are there after.
03:13Because I remember, obviously, Carlos Boozer.
03:15So, that's kind of cool to me.
03:17But it's Duke.
03:18So, I'm just like, I rooted against Carlos Boozer when he was there.
03:21I'm going to root against his sons because that's just what we do.
03:24I know.
03:24I have to admit, when Zion was there, that team, like, RJ Barrett, I was like, this is kind of
03:28a fun team.
03:29I kind of like him.
03:29Yeah, I kind of like him.
03:30But it's Duke, so I can't.
03:32So, I can't.
03:32Yeah.
03:33I just didn't hate him as much as I usually did.
03:34Yeah.
03:35I saw JJ Redick last night.
03:36I was like, eh, the hell on, man.
03:38Yeah.
03:39Yeah.
03:39So, it's just kind of the thing.
03:41But look at them.
03:42Down 11 with a minute left in the first half.
03:45Yeah.
03:45Who would have thunk it?
03:46I know.
03:46Still a lot of time, obviously.
03:47But to be down 11 at half, usually you see these teams start slow.
03:51But by 10 minutes into the game, they get it going.
03:53As opposed to being down double digits at halftime.
03:56Hit them in the mouth.
03:57For sure.
03:57Hit them in the mouth, for sure.
03:59They've given up 43 points to Siena here in the first half.
04:02Siena might put 100 on them.
04:03What is happening?
04:04And Duke's a team, they just, I think that was an air ball three.
04:06They don't shoot a lot of threes, but their center is injured now.
04:09So, it really, I guess, has really thrown them out of whack.
04:12They like to play inside.
04:14And they're missing a part of that.
04:16High Point just took the lead on Wisconsin, by the way, with like 10 seconds left.
04:18So, we might get our first upset here early.
04:21Wisconsin could be in trouble.
04:23But getting back to what I teased here to begin the segment, did Joe Espada's seat get even hotter this
04:28week while just sitting at home doing nothing?
04:31And that's because of what happened in the World Baseball Classic as Omar Lopez led Team Venezuela to the title
04:37in the WBC.
04:39First off, are you a WBC, you a World Baseball Classic guy?
04:43I love baseball.
04:44And look, I know Tyler hates the WBC because Jose Altuve got hurt a few years ago.
04:50You know, it's like, it's the thing.
04:51And other Astros.
04:52Well, right, and other Astros got hurt.
04:55But the thing is, it's just so much fun.
04:57It's so much fun.
04:59And they don't do it like, to me, I just, I wish MLB could capture even just a little bit
05:06of the energy that's in the World Baseball Classic.
05:09I was enthralled.
05:11Absolutely a World Baseball Classic guy.
05:12Yeah, it's fun.
05:13I was into it the last couple games, semifinals, the finals.
05:16I jumped onto the Italian bandwagon because they were a fun team.
05:19And, of course, those are my roots.
05:20I am Italian.
05:21So I was all in on that and their shenanigans.
05:24But I'm typically not a World Baseball Classic guy.
05:26And I didn't really pay attention, like I said, to the last few games.
05:28But the championship was fun.
05:30And even though it was Team USA, I don't know if this is like anti-patriotism to admit.
05:35Like, you know, I almost found myself kind of rooting for Venezuela because they just obviously cared about it a
05:39lot more.
05:39And they were into it.
05:40And when they won, they were like crying.
05:41And I was like, you know what?
05:42Good for them.
05:43I don't think Team USA would have the same reaction.
05:45Like, these guys really wanted it.
05:46They won.
05:47And Omar Lopez was the leading manager there for Venezuela.
05:51And I already saw this conversation.
05:52So I can only imagine what it's going to be like when the season starts and the Astros go into
05:56a losing streak or something.
05:57But I've already seen Astro fans online, at least, saying, that's our next manager.
06:02Like, forget Joe Espada.
06:04Omar Lopez, the right-hand man, the bench coach.
06:06He's been with the Astros for two decades, helped find Altuve, so on and so forth.
06:09Like, this is the guy that should be leading us after just winning this championship for Team Venezuela.
06:15Do you think, I would almost compare it to, in football, I get worried for the head coach when they
06:21bring in a coordinator or an assistant with head coaching experience prior.
06:25Like, even our guy Aaron Glenn in New York, they went and the organization hired Frank Reich this year.
06:30Yeah.
06:31If I'm Aaron Glenn, I'm like, oh, shoot, if we start slow, are they going to replace me with this
06:34three-time head coach?
06:36There's an obvious candidate to do so with, right?
06:38Right.
06:38So then now I get a little more worried.
06:40Has that now happened for Joe Espada and the Astros, where if they start slow, if they're underperforming a few
06:45months into the season, whatever it might be,
06:48suddenly the Astros have more of a reason to look over and be like, hey, you know what?
06:51We got this guy over here.
06:52Why not just promote him?
06:53So I think that Joe Espada has the confidence of the organization.
06:57I think that Joe, and especially the folks that matter, which is ultimately Jim Crane, you know,
07:02I don't think Dana Brown's firing Joe Espada, whether he wanted to or not, that's going to be a Jim
07:07Crane type of thing.
07:09I think that Joe Espada has also gained the respect of Astros fans, by and large, over the last couple
07:15of years.
07:15I think there were some people that were skeptical, and I think there were some moments early on,
07:19especially in his first season, where it was like, I'm not really sure.
07:22But by the end of his first season, and even last season, I think he's been perfectly fine.
07:27Joe Espada has been perfectly fine.
07:29The interesting part about it is that it does look like they've got another guy on the staff that's very
07:35much capable of being a manager.
07:37And so it's almost like a good, for the Astros, it's like a good problem to have because you've got
07:43a guy that you've got confidence in,
07:46but sort of in the background here, you've also got another guy that you feel is qualified
07:52or certainly would feel comfortable if he were to fill that role.
07:55So you've kind of got two guys that could be your manager on your staff.
07:58It's a good thing for the Astros.
08:00If I'm Joe Espada, I do wonder, or I do wonder myself, if Joe Espada watches and is like,
08:06oh man, the world got to see what a lot of us already know.
08:09Because I don't think the Astros learned anything about Omar Lopez per se.
08:12I think they know Omar Lopez pretty well, but the world got to see it.
08:17It was, you know, Venezuela wasn't supposed to be in this position either, right?
08:22And so the fact that he was able to manage a Venezuelan team to a World Baseball Classic championship here
08:30in this case,
08:31or how do they do it? Is it a medal? I don't even know.
08:34I know.
08:34I watch the baseball, but I'm not into the pomp and circumstance of it all, right?
08:37So like, I just like to watch people go crazy.
08:40Everybody's clearly drinking and having a good time and doing chants, and everybody's into the baseball.
08:45So it's really fun.
08:46Even the baseball players, actually.
08:47Unlike, you know, the Americans sometimes in Major League Baseball.
08:51But either way, like, I think people, the public, got a chance to see Omar Lopez in action in a
08:58way that they don't normally get to do so.
09:00And I do wonder how that makes folks feel, you know, if it would make anybody nervous to think, man,
09:08I hope everything goes right.
09:10You know, like, if I'm a spot, I'm confident in what I can do.
09:13I'm confident in myself as a manager and my performance so far.
09:16But it's also true that we didn't go to the postseason last year and that there's going to be some
09:23angst about that and some urgency to get back there.
09:26You know, it's not like we're going to just be okay with, all right, now we're not a postseason contender
09:31year in and year out anymore.
09:32And what's the difference now?
09:34So, yeah, I think it's at least worth looking over your shoulder a little bit, even if I'm cool with
09:40what Joe Spott has been.
09:42Yeah, right.
09:43I guess it depends on, yeah, like you said, how confident he is.
09:46I am a spotted defender.
09:48I think he's done a good job the last two years when you figure, like, in year one, they led
09:52the league in pinch hitting.
09:54And I think it was, like, even relievers used or whatever, just all the different pieces.
09:57And he tried to do as much as he could to get as much as he could out of that
10:00team.
10:01And then this past year, too, when you look at the different injuries they've had the last two years.
10:05And also, I've always complained about the roster construction.
10:07You had no lefty hitters last year.
10:09And now even this season, they put on his plate that once Pena gets healthy, he's going to have to
10:13navigate this whole scenario where you have too many infielders and not enough spots.
10:17And you've got to keep all these guys happy.
10:18And you've got to keep them all fresh and make sure their timing is sharp when they're getting enough at
10:22-bats.
10:22He's going to have to deal with that.
10:23We'll see how good of a job he does.
10:25But my point being is he hasn't had the easiest job in these three years.
10:29He's had a lot of adversity thrown his way with injuries and whatnot.
10:33And this past year, they almost made the playoffs, even though Jordan played a third, I think it was, a
10:38third of the season.
10:40I think he's gotten as much as he could out of this team the last two years.
10:43And so, kind of like Imei, too.
10:46Maybe I'm off on this.
10:47I always feel like the public perception is a lot different than behind closed doors.
10:51where it seems like, just based off of social media, which is probably not very scientific,
10:58but it seems like the Astros fans have always been displeased with Joe Espada, want him gone, think he's on
11:02the hot seat.
11:03I don't know if behind the closed doors in the organization, if there's any sort of pressure like that that
11:08these fans believe there is.
11:10Yeah.
11:11So, the issue, it's so weird because the issues with the Astros are not specific to Joe Espada.
11:16They just aren't.
11:18There are injuries.
11:19There's mismanagement.
11:20The fact that the injuries happen to begin with is a poor injury luck thing.
11:24But then how they've managed the injuries, I don't think is a Joe Espada issue, right?
11:29The fact that they have seen more talent leave than come in, you know, so they've got an attrition issue.
11:38So, there's reasons to be frustrated about the state of the Astros, if you will.
11:43But Joe Espada just feels like both an easy and the wrong target for those frustrations, if you're an Astros
11:51fan.
11:51Yeah, which is usually the case.
11:52The manager, the head coach, they always are the ones that get blamed and easiest to replace.
11:56And the techs are already rolling in.
11:57Fire Espada.
11:58I couldn't disagree more.
11:59I've wanted Espada fired for two years.
12:01Yeah, I see.
12:02I don't get it.
12:02I don't get it.
12:03I want a reliable left-handed bat outside of Jordan Alvarez, right?
12:11Like, I want some thump in the outfield.
12:13You know, I want clear and decisive roles for my infield.
12:17You know, I'd like a backup catcher to speak of.
12:20It's true.
12:20These types of things, you know, it's not really – I don't get the Joe Espada hate.
12:25I don't get it.
12:25Me either.
12:26I'm on your side.
12:26I'm with you.
12:27I've said, I think Dana Brown deserves more of the criticism than Joe Espada for the last couple years.
12:32And then also, there's part, as you already alluded to, you never want to be the guy that replaces the
12:36guy.
12:36And even though Dusty Baker might not have been the guy, these Astro teams are not as good as the
12:42previous, whatever it was,
12:43seven or eight Astro teams that Espada stepped into.
12:46So, kind of tough timing for him there.
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