The Astros made it official on Monday naming Joe Espada as their new manager and successor to Dusty Baker. Espada spent seven years as the team's bench coach, taking over for Alex Cora when he left for Boston. As the team's bench coach, Espada has become well liked by players and staff, which should serve him well in his tenure.

But, despite the continuity his hiring provides and the still deep roster the Astros have, Espada will have to navigate more than his fair share of complicated situations.Here are five of them right out of the gate.

Playing guys Dusty Baker did not.

Espada's day one catcher should be Yainer Diaz, and his opening day center fielder, Chas McCormick. Those are two fairly substantive changes from Baker's clubhouse. Baker was not high, for whatever reason, on McCormick, relegating him to a platoon roll in center and left for most of the year. McCormick responded as one of the better hitters on the ballclub. Likewise, Diaz, the rookie catcher who got less than a third of the starts behind veteran Martin Maldonado, performed incredibly well when he did get opportunities, particularly at the plate.

Assuming McCormick comes back healthy, and barring a trade, two of last year's question marks should be settled in Spring Training, but will it be an improvement? Anything offensively will be better than Maldonado, but his vaunted "coach-on-the-field" approach made him a favorite of pitchers. And can Diaz produce over the entire 162-game schedule? Additionally, will McCormick's improvements hold, both at the plate and in the field? Espada is about to find out.

Managing Jose Abreu's workload.

It was clear the team's big offseason opposition was better after he took time off midseason. He also seemed to play better when he had some rest. Abreu proved in the postseason that he can still contribute at a high level, but load management will absolutely need to be considered for the veteran. Espada will need to balance the need for Abreu's bat with preservation of his skills for the postseason while convincing Abreu that is what is best for the team even if he has been an ironman throughout his career.

Stabilizing the batting order.

Just as critical will be finding a spot for Abreu in the lineup that makes sense over a full season. Baker moved guys around often, trying to find the right magic, but it often produced questionable results. Will there be a full-time hitter in the two spot? Will they bat Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker back to back despite both being left-handed bats? Can they find a way to get production out of the bottom of the order? These are all questions Espada will deal with immediately. Solidifying his batting lineup after Jose Altuve in the leadoff spot will provide consistency for his players and, hopefully, their numbers will reflect that.

Juggling the starting lineup.

The Astros have a somewhat odd "problem" when it comes to pitching. Yes, they are likely to lose three of their regulars in the bullpen, but they fully expect to get back two of their starters at some point during the season. After Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier, Espada will have a pitching rotation that may include Jose Urquidy, Luis Garcia, Hunter Brown, Lance McCullers, Jr. and J.P. France. We aren't mathematicians, but that looks like eight possible starters. Even with a possible six-man rotation to take wear and tear off of Verlander, that's one too many even if you ignore minor league prospect Spencer Arrighetti, which you shouldn't.

It's reasonable to wonder if either someone might be traded or potentially moved into the bullpen. Some of that will be on GM Dana Brown, but Espada will have to figure out how to make it work.

Improving the defense.

For the entire "golden era" of Astros baseball, if there was one thing that could be counted on, it was the team's outstanding defense...until 2023. In virtually every statistical category, the defense took a step back even as Mauricio Dubon racked up his first ever Gold Glove. It's telling that Dubon, as a utility player, was the only Astro honored with that award for defense.

Espada has been the guy to oversee much of the team's defensive approach in the field, so it would see he could also fix it. The Astros will also be a season into the rule changes and new first baseman that could have had some impact on their play in the field. Continuity should help, but if they are going to get back to their eighth straight ALCS, they will need to defend much better than they did this year.