If Don Mattingly is fired after the Dodgers’ NLDS loss, these are five potential candidates to replace him
Another Major League Baseball season meant another set of lofty expectations for the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, the Dodgers were unable to get it done once again in the postseason as they fell in five games to the New York Mets in the NLCS. Though it may be unfair, someone is going to have to take the fall for not meeting expectations yet again and that someone may very well be manager Don Mattingly.
Despite the fact that Mattingly hasn’t even been that terrible in terms of his management of this team, the front office of the Dodgers is going to look for a scapegoat for the loss and Mattingly is the most obvious candidate. Recent reports have said that Mattingly expects to return for next season, but that doesn’t meant that the front office in Los Angeles is going to feel quite the same after another premature exit from the playoffs.
The Dodgers are such a special case in terms of situation in Major League Baseball. Not only do they come from an enormous market that brings expectations solely based on geographical location, but they also boast one of the highest payrolls in the league. When you have that kind of talent, that big of an investment, and that type of fan-base that comes from a big market, it basically becomes World Series or bust. And it’s been bust for Mattingly up to this point.
It might not even be the best idea to drop Mattingly, either. The Dodgers skipper has done just as good of a job as any as dealing with the huge personalities on his team and leading them to regular season success, though that hasn’t translated into the postseason. He’s also done an admirable job of dealing with his team’s shortcomings, most notably a notoriously shaky bullpen.
However, everything about the Dodgers seems to scream that the fact that Mattingly didn’t deliver a World Series for yet another year means that the front office is going to push him out. Whether that means they allow him to frame it as taking a job elsewhere or just outright fire him, it seems in all likelihood that this is the end of the road for Mattingly in L.A.
If that is indeed the case, it’s time for the Dodgers to start thinking about their future and who they want to manage the team. Looking at the landscape, these are five potential candidates to fill the void that would be left by Mattingly as Dodgers manager:
Next: No. 5 Bud Black
5. Bud Black
Bud Black was most recently the manager of the San Diego Padres before being fired in June 2015 in his ninth season with the team. Over his eight-plus seasons with the Padres, Black had a losing record and never found a great deal of success as the team’s skipper, though he did capture National League Manager of the Year honors back in 2010.
Given his run with the Padres, it may seem strange that the Dodgers would even consider Black as a possible candidate to replace Mattingly. However, Black was never dealing with the payroll, talent, and other resources in San Diego that he would be with the Dodgers. Moreover, he’s a progressive guy who knows how to maximize talent, something that the Los Angeles front office certainly covets in a candidate.
Black wouldn’t necessarily be a perfect candidate for the Dodgers, but he’s someone who is available and would make a great deal of sense in the position. He made the most of a bad situation in San Diego and somehow had marginal success with that level of talent. Seeing what he could do with a team like the Dodgers would be intriguing to say the least and something worth experimenting with if you’re the Dodgers.
Next: No. 4 Tim Bogar
4. Tim Bogar
After bouncing around the league coaching for a variety of teams over his career, Tim Bogar finally got his first crack at managerial duties in Major League Baseball last season when he was given the interim position with the Texas Rangers. He only managed 22 games for the Rangers, but Bogar was impressive in picking up the pieces at the end of the year and went 14-8.
However, Bogar wasn’t picked up to be the permanent manager of the Rangers and has since been working with the Los Angeles Angels. When Jerry Dipoto left the Angels organization for the Seattle Mariners, Bogar was left in flux to a degree, though many have surmised that he could take over as the Mariners’ skipper next season.
That being said, there’s a chance that the Dodgers have the payroll and the prowess to pull him away from Dipoto and the Mariners if he’s the guy that they want. He’s a guy who has been around success during his time with the league and has shown that he can manage at a high level, even if the sample size is extremely limited. He’s an interesting bit of new blood that the Dodgers could add to the organization if they so desire.
Next: No. 3 Ron Roenicke
3. Ron Roenicke
Perhaps the easiest candidate to come by for the Dodgers would be to look in-house and promote Ron Roenicke to manager if the organization chooses to let Mattingly go. Roenicke was hired as the third-base coach for the Dodgers earlier this season after being fired by the Milwaukee Brewers early in the season after a slow start. Subsequently, the option of simply promoting Roenicke to take Mattingly’s former post is one available to the organization.
Though Roenicke may not be a young manager that the front office can completely control, promoting him from within the organization would have its benefits for the Dodgers as they look to move forward. Promoting him would instill some sense of faith in Roenicke from the front office, meaning that the front office may be able to persuade him how they please in some situations.
Moreover, Roenicke isn’t a bad manager by any stretch. He had a winning record overall with the Brewers over his time as a manager in Milwaukee and took his teams to the postseason. Managing a team with the roster, talent, and bankroll of the Dodgers could allow him to succeed once again and the Dodgers at least will have the opportunity to call him up to be the manager.
Next: No. 2 Bo Porter
2. Bo Porter
Bo Porter has been all around Major League Baseball as a coach in manager over the past decade. Most recently, Porter was the third-base coach for the Atlanta Braves after he was fired from his position as the manager of the Houston Astros at the end of the 2014 season.
There’s no way to sugarcoat the fact that Porter’s record in Houston was extremely lackluster. In just under two full seasons, Porter amassed only 110 wins while his teams lost 190 games, good for only a .367 winning percentage. However, it’s important to note that, at that time for the Astros, losing was kind of the point.
Porter was serving as manager in Houston while they were busy building the team that took them to the postseason in 2015 in their farm system. They were designed to be a pretty sub-par team to help build up their feeder system and then capitalize on it once those players developed. The thing is, Porter never got to the latter stage of that process.
Porter is a young guy who would be willing to be nudged in certain directions by the Dodgers front office, but he’s also a guy who has more than paid his dues and proven he deserves a legitimate chance to succeed in this league.
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1. Bruce Bochy
Make no mistake; going after current San Francisco Giants manager is swinging for the fences for the Dodgers in just about every way imaginable. However, the thing about swinging for the fences is that, if you make contact and get a hit, you’re more often than not going to hit a home run. That remains true in this instance with the Dodgers and Bochy.
Bochy started managing in 1995 with the Padres, but his real rise to prominence has been since taking over the Giants in 2007. Since then, Bochy has had an unbelievable run of success as a manager. He’s 751-707 since beginning his tenure with the Giants and has gone an incredible 34-14 in the postseason. Oh yeah, Boch has also won three World Series since he arrived in San Francisco.
There’s no doubt that the Giants have had talent for Bochy to manage, but he’s never been a situation like the one he’d be in if he were to come to Los Angeles. He would be able to essentially have his pick at any player available with the Dodgers’ bankroll and that’s an incredibly scary thought considering how talented of a manager he’s already proven to be.
Who knows how much or what it’d take to lure him out of San Francisco, but, if the Dodgers are smart, they’ll pay it twice over if it means landing Bochy.