The Seattle Mariners have received permission to talk to Houston Astros manager Joe Espada about their vacancy, a source confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.
Espada's contract with the Astros runs through the end of October, and he has said that he'd like to return after winning two American League West titles with Houston in the past three seasons.
The Mariners fired Dan Wilson last month after finishing third in the AL West with a 76-86 record, five games behind the Astros.
Espada, 51, is 256-229 as manager of the Astros, including an 81-81 mark this season as Houston became the first team in MLB history to reach the playoffs without a winning record. He has been with the team since 2018, when he was hired as bench coach, and won a World Series in 2022.
The Mariners, who won the AL West in 2025 and came within one win of reaching the World Series, struggled on offense this season, and general manager Jerry Dipoto has said the franchise needs "something new" as its tries "to find the right person."
"Most of what we've done in recent years especially has been insular," Dipoto said at his end-of-season news conference last month. "I think this year's failure requires that we look outside to find someone who might be able to poke holes in what we're doing and help us see something that perhaps we're blind to."
The Mariners getting permission to interview Espada was first reported by MLB.com.