MLB managers on the hot seat
David Schoenfield
ESPN INSIDER
These are strange times in Major League Baseball. No manager has been fired during the season. Only one manager was fired during the 2016 season. I miss the days of irrational owners and front offices impetuously firing managers, even 150 games into a season when your team is in playoff position.
That doesn't mean, however, that some managers won't be canned after the season. Two teams hired a new manager last offseason -- the Diamondbacks and White Sox -- but that's a low figure as well. Does that mean more could lose their jobs this offseason? Possibly, but managers are more like middle managers these days, not CEOs, and with many teams in clear rebuilding phases, managers aren't the fall guys for bad seasons the way they once were. Still, here are some of the men in the dugout who will be on the hot seat:
Terry Collins, New York Mets: He signed a two-year extension after the Mets reached the World Series in 2015, but he's 68, his contract is expiring and the Mets have had a disappointing season, so the crystal ball is pretty clear. Collins isn't to blame for everything that went wrong in 2017, but local media reported back in May that GM Sandy Alderson was irked with several strategic moves Collins had made. He has had only two winning seasons in seven years with the Mets. Few managers last long with an organization with that kind of track record, so expect the Mets to go younger with a new-breed sabermetric-type skipper.
Mike Matheny, St. Louis Cardinals: Matheny's in-game strategy has long been a popular target for criticism on Twitter, but ownership put a lot faith in him last winter when he was signed to a three-year extension that runs through 2020. So that makes him safe, right? Not necessarily.
First, for a franchise that expects to contend for the World Series every season, the Cardinals missed the playoffs last year and only a recent winning streak moved the club back over .500 and into the playoff race. Just a couple of weeks ago, GM John Mozeliak sat in the Wrigley Field visitors dugout and told reporters, "So maybe the broader question is, do attitude and culture need to be something that we look at to either change or shake up? And that's not necessarily something that you can do just do at July 31. That might be something we have to look at hard during the offseason."
A few days after that, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina took a shot at Matheny on Instagram when he posted a quote from Matheny that implied Molina looked tired and wrote, "I'm not tired and the day I feel tired I'll express it myself." It's never a good sign when the face of your franchise is openly criticizing the manager.
Aside from all that is the troubling management of some of the younger players. Kolten Wong has bounced around from starting second baseman to outfielder to bench player and now he's back in good graces. Aledmys Diaz was an All-Star last year and now he's in the minors, as is Stephen Piscotty. There was the odd experiment with Matt Adams playing left field. Look, it's not Matheny's fault Trevor Rosenthal twice forgot to cover first base, but the constant shuffling of roles suggests a manager (or front office) without a strong ability to properly evaluate talent.
Watching from afar, I'm not exactly sure what Matheny brings to the table. If the Cardinals miss the playoffs and finish around .500, don't be surprised if he gets the boot.
Don Mattingly, Miami Marlins: The guy had five consecutive winning seasons with the Dodgers and I feel as if he has done about as well as could be expected given the talent on the Marlins, and he is signed through 2019. But if the Marlins are sold -- hold your breath -- that could mean a clearing out of the front office, and a new ownership group might want to hire its own guy for the dugout as well.
Joe Girardi, New York Yankees: ESPN Yankees writer Andrew Marchand recently wrote that "there are no more excuses" for Girardi and that it's "playoff appearance or pink slip." I didn't realize people have been making excuses for Girardi, who is kind of paint-by-numbers as a tactician and not exactly Mr. Fun, but he never has finished under .500 and did a good job with some overpaid, aging teams. He also hasn't won a playoff game since 2012, and maybe Hank Steinbrenner will remember his bloodline if the Yankees miss the playoffs or even lose the wild-card game. I don't see them falling out of a playoff spot, and it would seem a long shot that Girardi gets fired, but let's imagine him getting fired ... and getting hired by the Mets.
Brad Ausmus, Detroit Tigers: He has to be on shaky ground since his contract is up, the GM who initially hired him is no longer here, the owner who hired him is deceased, and the Tigers are probably entering a rebuilding period that Ausmus might not want to manage through anyway. In my very unscientific study of Twitter criticism, I'd say Ausmus ranks pretty high there as well.
Bryan Price, Cincinnati Reds. To be fair, this team wasn't going to win with John McGraw at the helm. Price has been on the hot seat before and his contract includes only an option for 2018, so it would be easy for the Reds to go another direction. If GM Dick Williams sees a problem, it's that Price -- a longtime pitching coach before getting the managing gig -- has struggled to develop the young pitchers, with this year's rotation historically awful with a 5.99 ERA. He has done some creative and smart things with the bullpen, but if Price's thing is supposed to be pitching, that 5.99 ERA isn't a good sign for job security.
David Schoenfield
ESPN INSIDER
These are strange times in Major League Baseball. No manager has been fired during the season. Only one manager was fired during the 2016 season. I miss the days of irrational owners and front offices impetuously firing managers, even 150 games into a season when your team is in playoff position.
That doesn't mean, however, that some managers won't be canned after the season. Two teams hired a new manager last offseason -- the Diamondbacks and White Sox -- but that's a low figure as well. Does that mean more could lose their jobs this offseason? Possibly, but managers are more like middle managers these days, not CEOs, and with many teams in clear rebuilding phases, managers aren't the fall guys for bad seasons the way they once were. Still, here are some of the men in the dugout who will be on the hot seat:
Terry Collins, New York Mets: He signed a two-year extension after the Mets reached the World Series in 2015, but he's 68, his contract is expiring and the Mets have had a disappointing season, so the crystal ball is pretty clear. Collins isn't to blame for everything that went wrong in 2017, but local media reported back in May that GM Sandy Alderson was irked with several strategic moves Collins had made. He has had only two winning seasons in seven years with the Mets. Few managers last long with an organization with that kind of track record, so expect the Mets to go younger with a new-breed sabermetric-type skipper.
Mike Matheny, St. Louis Cardinals: Matheny's in-game strategy has long been a popular target for criticism on Twitter, but ownership put a lot faith in him last winter when he was signed to a three-year extension that runs through 2020. So that makes him safe, right? Not necessarily.
First, for a franchise that expects to contend for the World Series every season, the Cardinals missed the playoffs last year and only a recent winning streak moved the club back over .500 and into the playoff race. Just a couple of weeks ago, GM John Mozeliak sat in the Wrigley Field visitors dugout and told reporters, "So maybe the broader question is, do attitude and culture need to be something that we look at to either change or shake up? And that's not necessarily something that you can do just do at July 31. That might be something we have to look at hard during the offseason."
A few days after that, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina took a shot at Matheny on Instagram when he posted a quote from Matheny that implied Molina looked tired and wrote, "I'm not tired and the day I feel tired I'll express it myself." It's never a good sign when the face of your franchise is openly criticizing the manager.
Aside from all that is the troubling management of some of the younger players. Kolten Wong has bounced around from starting second baseman to outfielder to bench player and now he's back in good graces. Aledmys Diaz was an All-Star last year and now he's in the minors, as is Stephen Piscotty. There was the odd experiment with Matt Adams playing left field. Look, it's not Matheny's fault Trevor Rosenthal twice forgot to cover first base, but the constant shuffling of roles suggests a manager (or front office) without a strong ability to properly evaluate talent.
Watching from afar, I'm not exactly sure what Matheny brings to the table. If the Cardinals miss the playoffs and finish around .500, don't be surprised if he gets the boot.
Don Mattingly, Miami Marlins: The guy had five consecutive winning seasons with the Dodgers and I feel as if he has done about as well as could be expected given the talent on the Marlins, and he is signed through 2019. But if the Marlins are sold -- hold your breath -- that could mean a clearing out of the front office, and a new ownership group might want to hire its own guy for the dugout as well.
Joe Girardi, New York Yankees: ESPN Yankees writer Andrew Marchand recently wrote that "there are no more excuses" for Girardi and that it's "playoff appearance or pink slip." I didn't realize people have been making excuses for Girardi, who is kind of paint-by-numbers as a tactician and not exactly Mr. Fun, but he never has finished under .500 and did a good job with some overpaid, aging teams. He also hasn't won a playoff game since 2012, and maybe Hank Steinbrenner will remember his bloodline if the Yankees miss the playoffs or even lose the wild-card game. I don't see them falling out of a playoff spot, and it would seem a long shot that Girardi gets fired, but let's imagine him getting fired ... and getting hired by the Mets.
Brad Ausmus, Detroit Tigers: He has to be on shaky ground since his contract is up, the GM who initially hired him is no longer here, the owner who hired him is deceased, and the Tigers are probably entering a rebuilding period that Ausmus might not want to manage through anyway. In my very unscientific study of Twitter criticism, I'd say Ausmus ranks pretty high there as well.
Bryan Price, Cincinnati Reds. To be fair, this team wasn't going to win with John McGraw at the helm. Price has been on the hot seat before and his contract includes only an option for 2018, so it would be easy for the Reds to go another direction. If GM Dick Williams sees a problem, it's that Price -- a longtime pitching coach before getting the managing gig -- has struggled to develop the young pitchers, with this year's rotation historically awful with a 5.99 ERA. He has done some creative and smart things with the bullpen, but if Price's thing is supposed to be pitching, that 5.99 ERA isn't a good sign for job security.
