Ranking the MLB managerial openings
Roughly a quarter of MLB’s 30 franchises are looking for new managers, and we break down the openings from best to worst.
With MLB playoff action going full steam ahead, there’s a bit of a lull in news from the 20 teams who did not make it to the big dance. Nearly half of those 20 teams watching the playoffs from the outside, however, are looking for a new manager in 2020. Seven teams parted ways with their skipper at the end of the season, while the Philadelphia Phillies continue to vacillate on the future of Gabe Kapler.
There is an interesting mix of job openings around the league this year, ranging from ready-made contenders like the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets to the utterly directionless Pittsburgh Pirates. Unlike last season, when the only job openings were with rebuilding teams like the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers, the crop of openings this season offers some real opportunities to latch right onto a World Series contender for a lucky candidate.
For MLB managerial candidates, there is a certain type of mental calculus that has to go into accepting or interviewing for a new job. Joe Maddon is a virtual lock to take over for the Los Angeles Angels if he says the word. That’s a good job for Maddon, who spent decades with the organization. The Angels job might not be as good an opportunity for a younger manager with no history in the organization.
Candidates interviewing for jobs with rebuilding teams have to consider the state of the farm system and how likely the current general manager figures into the long-term plan. Having a losing record during the lean years of a rebuild doesn’t have to be a kiss of death for a manager, but he needs to have a feel if the team is just looking for a stop-gap measure to get them over the hump.
A job as an MLB manager is one of the hardest gigs to get in professional sports, and taking one bad job can make or break a career. Three of the fired managers from this season, Mickey Callaway, Brad Ausmus and Andy Green will likely never manage again in the big leagues. Finding a way to get into good opportunities, however, can give a manager like Buck Showalter an in for whatever job interview he wants. With all those factors to consider, this is how the current openings stack up.
7. Pittsburgh Pirates
I have no idea what the plan is in Pittsburgh, and I’m not entirely sure the Pirates do either. The Pirates have refused to see the writing on the wall since their loss in the NL Wild Card Game in 2016. Pittsburgh has tried to keep a winning team the last four years without going into a rebuild, but the results have been mixed. The Pirates were 14 games below .500 from 2017 to 2018 before cratering to a 69-93 mark this season.
The Pirates did just enough last season with their 82-79 finish to convince management that there was still reason to be hopeful. This year’s last-place finish and firing of Clint Hurdle should just about be the nail in the coffin for this stretch of competitive baseball in Pittsburgh. The Pirates attempted to remain competitive without spending. This approach resulted in trading Gerrit Cole, Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow for Colin Moran, Joe Musgrove and Chris Archer. Giving up Meadows and Glasnow while they were still making the league minimum looks like a killer blow to the Pirates’ long-term hopes.
Neal Huntington and the Pirates front office deserve credit for finally bringing a winner back to Pittsburgh, but their refusal to accept that a rebuild was in the cards is going to set the franchise back. Huntington’s entire focus the past few seasons was on propping open the window of contention longer than possible, as evidenced by his focus on lower-ceiling, MLB-ready players in the Cole trade. Until there is a set plan in Pittsburgh, this looks like a job where the manager will be set up to fail.