If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times: I am not a proponent of people losing their jobs. I seldom root for managers to be fired in MLB, unless they've done something heinous off the field that calls their character into question. Alas, MLB owners don't think like I do — a fact I take great pride in, but I digress — so a streak of poor play could well put the job of their team's manager in jeopardy, whether fair or not.
Here are four managers who might not occupy the dugout much longer.
Carlos Mendoza, New York Mets
How much slack will Mendoza be given in New York? On one hand, the Mets are currently in playoff position and it would take a pretty disastrous collapse over the next month-ish for them to fall fully out of Wild Card positioning.
With that being said... the last month-ish has already been pretty disastrous and the fact the Mets have to look over their shoulder at the Cincinnati Reds in the WC while the Phillies run away with the division isn't a great feeling. The Mets are 9-13 after the All-Star break and it actually feels worse than that because they're 2-11 in their past 13 games, both wins coming over teams under .500.
This team has been streaky all year. A hot stretch to close the regular season could quickly bring Mendoza back into the good graces of the fanbase and owner Steve Cohen. But as it stands, the public is souring on a season, and a manager, it had high hopes for not long ago.
Bob Melvin, San Francisco Giants
Melvin is an estabished manager in baseball... but that doesn't mean he's immune to critcism, and his second year in San Francisco has looked an awful lot like his first; middling, with no real chance at success in the NL West. Even after acquiring Rafael Devers in the shock trade of the season, San Francisco has fallen flat.
That's not all Melvin's fault; the roster still has some real holes. But when a team makes a win-now trade like the Devers deal, then doesn't win now... a lot of the blame falls on the manager, whether warranted or not. If this team fails to win half of its games for a second season under Melvin, it'll be hard to get excited about the future under his tutelage.
Matt Quatraro, Kansas City Royals
How quickly a good season can be forgotten. Last year, the Royals recorded their first winning season since winning a World Series in 2015, then won a playoff series and looked competitive against the eventual AL Champion New York Yankees. But just a year removed, the Royals are scuffling along at .500 and have just a shouting chance at a playoff spot.
Manager Matt Quatraro is in his third season, and will have experienced pretty much every level of success (or lack thereof): in his first year, the Royals went 56-106, posting the second-worst record in baseball. Last year, they were legitamately good and appeared on a path to consistent contention. Now they're about as average as possible.
How will the front office judge those three years as a whole? Is one year of success enough to instill confidence that Quatraro is the manager of the future? Quatraro is putting together one of the stranger managerial resumes in the league.
Aaron Boone, New York Yankees
Yankees fans have fired Aaron Boone like 20 times in the past three weeks, but the actual decision-makers for the Yankees have fired him... zero times. Boone's job might not actually be on the line, despite what fans say about him, and despite a slow start to the second half of the season that's caused the Yanks to fall dangerously close to not being in playoff position.
Then you zoom out and realize this team has one of the best run differentials in baseball, is just three games out of the top Wild Card spot and still has the best hitter in the league and things don't feel so bad anymore. Or maybe they still do. I don't want to tell you what to freak out about. But my gut tells me the Yankees will be okay.