A day after parting ways with general manager Dana Brown, Houston Astros owner Jim Crane addressed the move and said manager Joe Espada will remain in the role for the remainder of the season.

Before opening a three-game series against the Yankees on Tuesday, the Astros moved on from Brown, whose contract was set to expire at the end of the season. The team described the decision as mutual. Houston announced senior adviser Jeff Bagwell and assistant general managers Charles Cook, Gavin Dickey and Connor Huff will take over Brown’s responsibilities, while Crane will oversee baseball operations during the transition.

“There’s no good time for any of that, you know, when you let someone go,” Crane said outside the Houston clubhouse. “Just out of respect for Dana, we thought that was a time that would give him a little space to regroup. He’s a great talent. He’s been in the business a long time to get settled and to get back to work somewhere else.”

Brown was hired in January 2023 and succeeded James Click, who was fired six days after Houston won its second World Series title.

“We worked together very closely for three and a half years,” Espada said. “He gave me the opportunity to be manager of this team. It was tough. It was a tough conversation, but he was grateful for the opportunity and I’m grateful for our relationship and how we grind through this together, but it was emotional. It was a lot of emotions behind our conversation.”

Brown helped the Astros reach a seventh straight ALCS, which they lost in seven games to the Texas Rangers. Houston lost in a wild-card series to Detroit in 2024 and last season missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016 when it finished three games behind Seattle in the AL West and lost a tiebreaker with the Tigers for final wild-card spot.

“Not everybody’s been able to do it, that’s a good run,” Crane said. “We hope to keep that going. We had a little hiccup last year where we didn’t make the playoffs but we’re right there. I think some few adjustments we can get back to that and some good decisions. Certainly you got to keep working on it but the expectation that I have is that we’re in the playoffs every year. It’s hard to win every year, but to get there.”

The Astros began this year 20-31 but were only 5 1/2 games out of first place in a weak AL West on May 20. Houston (65-66) recovered to win 40 of its next 66 games through a 6-3 win over San Diego on Aug. 7 but entered Tuesday with nine losses in 14 games, including four to the Angels and A’s, though Crane said that performance did not influence his decision to dismiss Brown.

“That didn’t have anything to do with it,” Crane said. “We’re focused on winning the AL, winning the division and that’s our focus but that didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Espada was promoted from bench coach after the 2023 season when Dusty Baker retired. He helped the Astros recover from a 12-24 start to win their seventh AL West crown in eight seasons in 2024 and began Tuesday with a 240-214 record.

“I don’t know where that got mixed up, but that’s the same answer I gave since the first of the year,” Crane said. “We told him we’d deal with that at the end of the season and we’ve never changed that answer all year long.”

Before Crane addressed reporters for nearly 10 minutes, he met with Espada.

“Focus on winning today, that’s how I left that,” Espada said. “My responsibility is to lead this team. We have a very important stretch of games here. So I walk out of our office ready to go.”

Reporting by the Associated Press.

The Florida State Seminoles have a loaded visitor schedule for their season opener this Saturday versus the New Mexico State Aggies, and one of the top offensive tackles in the nation will be there.

Four-star prospect Tyrie Davis-Winn announced on social media that he will be in Tallahassee for the matchup. He is a member of the 2028 recruiting class

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“This Saturday 8/29 I’ll be out in Tallahassee at Florida State University for the first time! 🍢🔥 Can’t wait to meet the coaching staff and experience a game day at Doak Campbell Stadium! #GoNoles #TyWinn ✈️,” Winn said.

Davis-Winn is the nation’s No. 218 overall player and the No. 25 offensive tackle in 247Sports composite rankings. The 6-foot-8, 270-pounder is the No. 8 in Pennsylvania as well.

The Seminoles have strong competition for Davis-Winn. He has scholarship offers from the Ohio State Buckeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions, Texas Longhorns, Texas A&M Aggies, Georgia Bulldogs, Florida Gators, Auburn Tigers, South Carolina Gamecocks, and others.

It’s the first visit for Davis-Winn to see FSU. So, it’s very important that they put their best foot forward, and of course, open the season with a win.

Chelsea are reportedly set to face competition from one of their London rivals for Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Recent reports claimed that the Blues are considering a deal for Argentina and Villa shotstopper Emiliano Martinez in the current transfer window. They are considering replacing their current No. 1, Robert Sanchez, after his error-strewn showing in the Blues’ opening PL game.

Chelsea are not the only club interested, as their London rivals Tottenham are also reportedly exploring a deal for the veteran keeper. According to Argentine journalist Gaston Edul, the Lilywhites are set to provide competition to the Blues for Martinez’s signing.

Aston Villa are ready to part ways with Emi Martinez as they’ve signed Japanese keeper Zion Suzuki as a replacement for the Argentine veteran. The Villans were ready to sell Martinez to Juventus earlier in the window, but that deal didn’t materialize.

Juventus ended up signing Guglielmo Vicario from Spurs instead, which could point to why Tottenham are interested in signing the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner. Antonin Kinsky is the current No.1 of the Roberto De Zerbi-led side; adding a player with Martinez’s experience could help them out massively.

According to reports, Chelsea have been offered the chance to sign Martinez and are currently having internal discussions over the potential deal. Martinez is reportedly open to joining the Blues despite their lack of European football this season.

Pundits like Gary Neville have asked the Blues to go ahead and replace their current No. 1, Robert Sanchez, with a player like Emiliano Martinez to help new manager Xabi Alonso achieve his targets with the squad this season.

Chelsea are set to play Luton Town on Thursday (August 27) in the second round of the EFL Cup. Alonso could consider using Mike Penders ahead of Robert Sanchez in the Cup clash, as the Spanish tactician suggested (via football.london) the Belgian keeper will have an opportunity.

Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso provides Enzo Fernandez update

Speaking ahead of their Cup clash against Luton Town, Alonso responded when asked if Enzo Fernandez would feature for the Blues against the League 1 side. He said:

“Yes, so we expect that he’s involved, he’s trained, he’s training really well, he’s a good professional and he will be involved.”

When asked if he expects Enzo to be a Chelsea player come the end of the transfer window, he said:

“We want to have the best team possible. We know his qualities, he has shown it and we have to wait, but we will think about tomorrow and let’s see how things develop.”