10 managers whose seats are hot, lukewarm or cooler than you’d think
We’re approaching firing season for baseball’s no-thanks job, and of the 30 managers, it appears there are about the usual number of candidates this year for potential pink slips. There are none that are known to be certain goners, but in three cases, the seats seem just a bit warmer than the others on the list.
Terry Collins in something of a surprise may need to get back into the playoffs to manage the last year of his New York Mets contract following a disappointing, injury-ravaged first 4 ½ months. Arizona Diamondbacks second-year manager Chip Hale has been hearing rumors about his job status since early summer, and while that may seem harsh since he had such an excellent first year in 2015, the reported tenuousness of his job may be reality. And Robin Ventura, in his fifth year for the most loyal of all owners, Jerry Reinsdorf, is in the midst of a fourth straight so-so or sub-par season after a great start in year one, which could test anyone’s loyalty, maybe even Reinsdorf’s.
Putting aside interim Brian Snitker, who’s made a nice impression as the interim guy in Atlanta, those are the three managers who seem like they’re most in jeopardy. For the moment, anyway. But there are a few more that may have a worry or two, and a couple more whose words may be allayed by their bosses words below. In other words, it’s a typical year for these 30 men who are on a treacherous course.
Here’s a closer rundown of the skippers on seats that range from hot to lukewarm to cooler than you might suspect.
1. Collins (60-60), Mets. It’s pretty hard to believe Collins could be on the hot seat mere months after getting the Mets to their fifth World Series. But it didn’t look good when GM Sandy Alderson wouldn’t even comment on Collins’ apparent faux pas not to challenge a last game-play when he had nothing to lose (though Jay Bruce did appear out, thanks to a great throw by J.D. Martinez, and it didn’t appear to be an obvious block, either). It would have been easy enough when questioned by reporters for Alderson to acknowledge the seeming mistake, and move on. But maybe he was afraid of what else he might say.
Collins has done a very good job overall in Queens, but the injury-wracked 2016 team has been a disappointment to this point, Alderson isn’t one to easily overlook attention-to-detail type mistakes (even if it was a 50-to-1 shot the called would be overturned) and the buzz around town is that Collins could be jeopardy. After Alderson made clear in his book two springs ago that he might well have let Collins go in 2014 if not for ownership’s insistence on keeping Collins, it seemed likely last year that he needed to get into the playoffs to survive. Well, he made it all the way to the Series, managing superbly right up until that series. Fair or not, it looks like he needs another nice second-half turnaround at a time when the team is doing no better than treading water. It may not help one of Collins’ biggest front office boosters, Paul DePodesta, is now an executive with the Cleveland Browns.
On the plus side, Collins still has the seeming respect of his players, and he recently gathered them after another loss to remind them, “We are not throwing in the towel, just because David (Wright) and (Yoenis Cespedes) aren’t here.” Collins, who loves his job, has taken it all like the big boy he is. And he’s proven to be a fit for New York, the media and all the rest. “I’ll do the best I can—end of story,” Collins said in a typical comment. Anyway, his chat with the players was a needed reminder, and the Mets still do have time. If he does go, though, some will be clamoring for popular, feisty 1986 Met Wally Backman to be elevated from his Triple-A Las Vegas managing job. But Alderson would seem more likely to turn to someone like Bud Black, who was Alderson’s choice in San Diego to replace Bruce Bochy.
(Photo by Carlos Herrera/Icon Sportswire)
2. Hale (50-70), D-backs. It doesn’t seem fair at all that Hale’s even on this list. But that’s the way this job is, and like Collins, he understands that. Hale had a terrific first year in 2015 in which he received universal praise (and a one-year extension through 2017) for the D-backs improving 15 games while playing as hard as anyone in the league. But things have turned south, to the surprise of many (I had them as a wild card team), but especially the higherups there. “I don’t think anything else could go wrong,” GM Dave Stewart said in a phone interview about the season. “I never saw this coming.” Stewart wasn’t necessarily putting any blame on Hale there. He’s simply surprised. Stewart himself has a team option at the end of this month, as Jack Magruder of Today’s Knuckleball and Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reported on (more on that below), but two years is when new GMs are barely getting started.
Hale, meanwhile, has seemed to be under the gun almost since June, which is only a year and a half into his tenure. There were rumors going back to June that Hale would be let go if the D-backs were swept by the Marlins (they weren’t). Nothing happened back then, nor a few weeks later, when Stewart rerouted from Missoula, Mont. farm team to Cincinnati to meet with Hale around the time it was reported by Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network and FOX Sports that a change at manager was a consideration. The message at that time from Stewart turned out to be about the type of improvement he’d like to see, especially from the young guys. So it was mainly a pep talk. Yet, there still is that feeling from Tony La Russa on down that this team isn’t as bad as its record.
“This team shouldn’t be 20 games under,” one D-backs person said.
With that being the prevailing belief, it’s no surprise they seem to be monitoring the situation, and evaluating everything, including Hale. “We’re going to continue to look at Chip and watch through the course of the year,” Stewart said. “It’s been a tough year.” Hale obviously can’t be blamed for the misguided Shelby Miller trade or any of the injuries that have killed this low-revenue, top-heavy team. The problem is that it appears his bosses believe that they shouldn’t be nearly this bad, even with all the injuries (lately they’ve killed the Mets but no one else). They have received some very nice years from Jean Segura, Welington Castillo, Brandon Drury, Yasmany Tomas, an excellent year from Jake Lamb and for the most part the usual year from Paul Goldschmidt after an uncharacteristically slow start. There’s been a decent amount of turnover in Arizona in recent years, which could work in Hale’s favor, or against him if they continue the trend.
3. Ventura (57-62), White Sox. GM Rick Hahn said that whatever they decide, it will be decided amicably. That’s probably true, and all very nice, but it doesn’t necessarily bode well for Ventura, who recently said he’d like to keep going. This one may actually have hurt more than last year, when several key acquisitions didn’t do the trick. This time, they actually started 23-10 and looked like they might well make it an all-Chicago World Series. Ventura, a beloved player on the South Side with no previous managerial experience but the preferred calm temperament after the volatile Ozzie Guillen, was a surprise choice who got off to a great start but hasn’t fulfilled that first-year promise. Bench coach Rick Renteria looks like a possible replacement, though not Guillen.
4. Brian Snitker (35-48), Braves interim. The great organizational man is said to have done a very nice job under the circumstances after taking over for Fredi Gonzalez (9-28 to start the year), and Braves people tell you he will receive “serious consideration.” It’ll be nice to see his loyalty rewarded, and maybe it will be. But no one expected him to manage next year when he took the job, and no one can be shocked if they wind up making a change.
5. Mike Scioscia (50-70), Angels. Outside L.A. (or technically Anaheim), a lot of stat-inclined executives around the game don’t get why Scioscia is still there, don’t understand it one bit. And it has nothing to do with the record this year. It’s about the belief that Scioscia has not adapted, that he’s supremely old school in a new-school game. Scioscia could not get along with ex-Angels GM Jerry Dipoto, driving Dipoto out and to the in-division rival Mariners. But new GM Billy Eppler says everything’s great with Scioscia, that they have a great rapport, and that Scioscia has been terrific in terms of communication in one of the most difficult seasons in club history (they lost an entire rotation shortly into the season, including top starters Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney). And Eppler says flat out, “I don’t see any reason why Mike Scioscia would not be managing the Angels next year. He’s been served a great deal of adversity, and he’s managed to keep everything positive, and kept fighting. A lot of people would have approached the situation with a less positive attitude, and Mike did not. Everything’s been great from that standpoint.” Eppler seems to have done a great job fostering a positive work environment, but their season was wrecked early. So it’s tough to blame Scioscia, even for the 11-game losing streak that buried them further. He also happens to have two more years to go on the most expensive managerial contract in baseball history.
6. Brad Ausmus (63-57), Tigers. Some were clamoring for his head early in the year, but Tigers people will tell you they never got that close to making a switch. And they are glad they didn’t. Ausmus is another who’s weathered a lot of injuries. And Tigers GM Al Avila told Today’s Knuckleball, “I think he’s done a good job. He’s definitely not on the hot seat, no.” That’s the kind of vote of confidence you can take to the bank.
7. Kevin Cash (50-69), Rays. Rays owner Stu Sternberg told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that firing Cash is not even a consideration, Nor should it be. They just didn’t have the horses again. That certainly isn’t the doing of Cash, who has the second longest managerial contract in baseball (five years).
(Icon Sportswire)
8. Paul Molitor (49-71), Twins. They will very likely have a new GM and a new regime, but team owner Jim Pohlad has made clear he wants Molitor to stay. Like Hale in Arizona, he had a terrific year of overachievement his first year, making the second year look even worse than it actually was. There’s no denying this one was pretty bad. But no one is blaming the Hall of Famer Molitor.
9. Bryan Price (50-69), Reds. After a dreadful start, the Reds have settled in and played surprisingly well, even winning six straight series following the All-Star break to creep close to the Brewers. He’s been a company man who’s followed the plan and put distance between that one bad moment where he blew up at a mild-mannered Reds reporter. There’s been no public discourse about his job status, so until there’s proof otherwise, he seems likely to make it to 2017 despite managing in the last year of his contract this year.
10, Walt Weiss (58-63), Rockies. He’s also in the last year of his deal, but the Rockies have outstripped expectations, thanks to some dynamic offensive players. Weiss is liked by his players and beloved by ownership, which are two more big pluses. While GM Jeff Bridich didn’t hire Weiss (the predecessor Dan O’Dowd did), he kept him after a difficult 2015 season, and there’s no evidence to this point he’d make a change now, not after a much better one.
http://www.todaysknuckleball.com/in...rs-whose-seat-hot-lukewarm-cooler-youd-think/
We’re approaching firing season for baseball’s no-thanks job, and of the 30 managers, it appears there are about the usual number of candidates this year for potential pink slips. There are none that are known to be certain goners, but in three cases, the seats seem just a bit warmer than the others on the list.
Terry Collins in something of a surprise may need to get back into the playoffs to manage the last year of his New York Mets contract following a disappointing, injury-ravaged first 4 ½ months. Arizona Diamondbacks second-year manager Chip Hale has been hearing rumors about his job status since early summer, and while that may seem harsh since he had such an excellent first year in 2015, the reported tenuousness of his job may be reality. And Robin Ventura, in his fifth year for the most loyal of all owners, Jerry Reinsdorf, is in the midst of a fourth straight so-so or sub-par season after a great start in year one, which could test anyone’s loyalty, maybe even Reinsdorf’s.
Putting aside interim Brian Snitker, who’s made a nice impression as the interim guy in Atlanta, those are the three managers who seem like they’re most in jeopardy. For the moment, anyway. But there are a few more that may have a worry or two, and a couple more whose words may be allayed by their bosses words below. In other words, it’s a typical year for these 30 men who are on a treacherous course.
Here’s a closer rundown of the skippers on seats that range from hot to lukewarm to cooler than you might suspect.
1. Collins (60-60), Mets. It’s pretty hard to believe Collins could be on the hot seat mere months after getting the Mets to their fifth World Series. But it didn’t look good when GM Sandy Alderson wouldn’t even comment on Collins’ apparent faux pas not to challenge a last game-play when he had nothing to lose (though Jay Bruce did appear out, thanks to a great throw by J.D. Martinez, and it didn’t appear to be an obvious block, either). It would have been easy enough when questioned by reporters for Alderson to acknowledge the seeming mistake, and move on. But maybe he was afraid of what else he might say.
Collins has done a very good job overall in Queens, but the injury-wracked 2016 team has been a disappointment to this point, Alderson isn’t one to easily overlook attention-to-detail type mistakes (even if it was a 50-to-1 shot the called would be overturned) and the buzz around town is that Collins could be jeopardy. After Alderson made clear in his book two springs ago that he might well have let Collins go in 2014 if not for ownership’s insistence on keeping Collins, it seemed likely last year that he needed to get into the playoffs to survive. Well, he made it all the way to the Series, managing superbly right up until that series. Fair or not, it looks like he needs another nice second-half turnaround at a time when the team is doing no better than treading water. It may not help one of Collins’ biggest front office boosters, Paul DePodesta, is now an executive with the Cleveland Browns.
On the plus side, Collins still has the seeming respect of his players, and he recently gathered them after another loss to remind them, “We are not throwing in the towel, just because David (Wright) and (Yoenis Cespedes) aren’t here.” Collins, who loves his job, has taken it all like the big boy he is. And he’s proven to be a fit for New York, the media and all the rest. “I’ll do the best I can—end of story,” Collins said in a typical comment. Anyway, his chat with the players was a needed reminder, and the Mets still do have time. If he does go, though, some will be clamoring for popular, feisty 1986 Met Wally Backman to be elevated from his Triple-A Las Vegas managing job. But Alderson would seem more likely to turn to someone like Bud Black, who was Alderson’s choice in San Diego to replace Bruce Bochy.
(Photo by Carlos Herrera/Icon Sportswire)
2. Hale (50-70), D-backs. It doesn’t seem fair at all that Hale’s even on this list. But that’s the way this job is, and like Collins, he understands that. Hale had a terrific first year in 2015 in which he received universal praise (and a one-year extension through 2017) for the D-backs improving 15 games while playing as hard as anyone in the league. But things have turned south, to the surprise of many (I had them as a wild card team), but especially the higherups there. “I don’t think anything else could go wrong,” GM Dave Stewart said in a phone interview about the season. “I never saw this coming.” Stewart wasn’t necessarily putting any blame on Hale there. He’s simply surprised. Stewart himself has a team option at the end of this month, as Jack Magruder of Today’s Knuckleball and Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reported on (more on that below), but two years is when new GMs are barely getting started.
Hale, meanwhile, has seemed to be under the gun almost since June, which is only a year and a half into his tenure. There were rumors going back to June that Hale would be let go if the D-backs were swept by the Marlins (they weren’t). Nothing happened back then, nor a few weeks later, when Stewart rerouted from Missoula, Mont. farm team to Cincinnati to meet with Hale around the time it was reported by Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network and FOX Sports that a change at manager was a consideration. The message at that time from Stewart turned out to be about the type of improvement he’d like to see, especially from the young guys. So it was mainly a pep talk. Yet, there still is that feeling from Tony La Russa on down that this team isn’t as bad as its record.
“This team shouldn’t be 20 games under,” one D-backs person said.
With that being the prevailing belief, it’s no surprise they seem to be monitoring the situation, and evaluating everything, including Hale. “We’re going to continue to look at Chip and watch through the course of the year,” Stewart said. “It’s been a tough year.” Hale obviously can’t be blamed for the misguided Shelby Miller trade or any of the injuries that have killed this low-revenue, top-heavy team. The problem is that it appears his bosses believe that they shouldn’t be nearly this bad, even with all the injuries (lately they’ve killed the Mets but no one else). They have received some very nice years from Jean Segura, Welington Castillo, Brandon Drury, Yasmany Tomas, an excellent year from Jake Lamb and for the most part the usual year from Paul Goldschmidt after an uncharacteristically slow start. There’s been a decent amount of turnover in Arizona in recent years, which could work in Hale’s favor, or against him if they continue the trend.
3. Ventura (57-62), White Sox. GM Rick Hahn said that whatever they decide, it will be decided amicably. That’s probably true, and all very nice, but it doesn’t necessarily bode well for Ventura, who recently said he’d like to keep going. This one may actually have hurt more than last year, when several key acquisitions didn’t do the trick. This time, they actually started 23-10 and looked like they might well make it an all-Chicago World Series. Ventura, a beloved player on the South Side with no previous managerial experience but the preferred calm temperament after the volatile Ozzie Guillen, was a surprise choice who got off to a great start but hasn’t fulfilled that first-year promise. Bench coach Rick Renteria looks like a possible replacement, though not Guillen.
4. Brian Snitker (35-48), Braves interim. The great organizational man is said to have done a very nice job under the circumstances after taking over for Fredi Gonzalez (9-28 to start the year), and Braves people tell you he will receive “serious consideration.” It’ll be nice to see his loyalty rewarded, and maybe it will be. But no one expected him to manage next year when he took the job, and no one can be shocked if they wind up making a change.
5. Mike Scioscia (50-70), Angels. Outside L.A. (or technically Anaheim), a lot of stat-inclined executives around the game don’t get why Scioscia is still there, don’t understand it one bit. And it has nothing to do with the record this year. It’s about the belief that Scioscia has not adapted, that he’s supremely old school in a new-school game. Scioscia could not get along with ex-Angels GM Jerry Dipoto, driving Dipoto out and to the in-division rival Mariners. But new GM Billy Eppler says everything’s great with Scioscia, that they have a great rapport, and that Scioscia has been terrific in terms of communication in one of the most difficult seasons in club history (they lost an entire rotation shortly into the season, including top starters Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney). And Eppler says flat out, “I don’t see any reason why Mike Scioscia would not be managing the Angels next year. He’s been served a great deal of adversity, and he’s managed to keep everything positive, and kept fighting. A lot of people would have approached the situation with a less positive attitude, and Mike did not. Everything’s been great from that standpoint.” Eppler seems to have done a great job fostering a positive work environment, but their season was wrecked early. So it’s tough to blame Scioscia, even for the 11-game losing streak that buried them further. He also happens to have two more years to go on the most expensive managerial contract in baseball history.
6. Brad Ausmus (63-57), Tigers. Some were clamoring for his head early in the year, but Tigers people will tell you they never got that close to making a switch. And they are glad they didn’t. Ausmus is another who’s weathered a lot of injuries. And Tigers GM Al Avila told Today’s Knuckleball, “I think he’s done a good job. He’s definitely not on the hot seat, no.” That’s the kind of vote of confidence you can take to the bank.
7. Kevin Cash (50-69), Rays. Rays owner Stu Sternberg told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that firing Cash is not even a consideration, Nor should it be. They just didn’t have the horses again. That certainly isn’t the doing of Cash, who has the second longest managerial contract in baseball (five years).
(Icon Sportswire)
8. Paul Molitor (49-71), Twins. They will very likely have a new GM and a new regime, but team owner Jim Pohlad has made clear he wants Molitor to stay. Like Hale in Arizona, he had a terrific year of overachievement his first year, making the second year look even worse than it actually was. There’s no denying this one was pretty bad. But no one is blaming the Hall of Famer Molitor.
9. Bryan Price (50-69), Reds. After a dreadful start, the Reds have settled in and played surprisingly well, even winning six straight series following the All-Star break to creep close to the Brewers. He’s been a company man who’s followed the plan and put distance between that one bad moment where he blew up at a mild-mannered Reds reporter. There’s been no public discourse about his job status, so until there’s proof otherwise, he seems likely to make it to 2017 despite managing in the last year of his contract this year.
10, Walt Weiss (58-63), Rockies. He’s also in the last year of his deal, but the Rockies have outstripped expectations, thanks to some dynamic offensive players. Weiss is liked by his players and beloved by ownership, which are two more big pluses. While GM Jeff Bridich didn’t hire Weiss (the predecessor Dan O’Dowd did), he kept him after a difficult 2015 season, and there’s no evidence to this point he’d make a change now, not after a much better one.
http://www.todaysknuckleball.com/in...rs-whose-seat-hot-lukewarm-cooler-youd-think/