With Baseball Entering Memorial Day Weekend, Here Are The MLB Managers Most Likely To Be Fired During The Season
Cole Burston. Getty Images.Memorial Day weekend is a benchmark for Major League Baseball. The season is a third over and teams can start to have an understanding of what kind of squad they have. Teams like the Guardians and the Mets are underachieving and filled with question marks but that's more the exception. It's clear the Dodgers, Braves and Rays are awesome and the Royals and A's fucking suck.
This is also when you start to see managers get canned. It obviously can happen before this. Cal Ripken Sr. got fired after the 1988 Orioles started 0-6. They wound up starting the season 0-21 so I don't how much of it was poor Cal Sr's fault but he was the first scapegoat. Another early firing was Yogi Berra on the 1985 Yankees. He was given a promise by George Steinbrenner before the season that he'd get a full year no matter what. The Yankees started off 6-10 and Yogi was gone. He was so pissed, he refused to come back to Yankee Stadium for 15 years.
Every manager in 2023 escaped a super early firing this year but now we are in a zone when teams can start getting that axe sharpened. I will say that we've seen a major shift in the game as far as managers not getting fired mid-season as much. In 1991, eight managers got fired during the season. In 2021, not a single one did. But the Blue Jays and Phillies both made mid-season managerial changes and both teams make the playoffs. Could that lead to a change to more managers getting the boot this year? Here are the managers I think are most likely to get fired.
John Schneider, Toronto Blue Jays
Predicted Date He'll Get Fired: June 22nd
Honestly, this could happen any day. He's in some real big trouble. If the hot seat wasn't warm enough, tell me it won't be boiling after this stretch: @Twins, Brewers, @Mets, Astros, Twins, @Orioles and @Rangers. That's a terrifying stretch. Everything is going against Schneider. They have high expectations and play in the toughest division in baseball (all of sports?). He's the one guy on this list that could be fired tomorrow and it shouldn't shock anyone.
Archie Carpenter. Shutterstock Images.David Bell, Cincinnati Reds
Predicted Date He Gets Fired: June 29th
It seems that the teams most likely to fire managers are teams that are expected to be competitive and fall short. I just don't see Buck Showalter, Bob Melvin or Terry Francona get canned during the season. They've earned too much respect from their long careers. Bell is in a different spot. The Reds were supposed to be bad. They kinda are at 22-29. I just think they could get even worse pretty quickly.
The upcoming schedule does them few favors. In just the next 30 days, they have series against Boston, Milwaukee, Dodgers, Astros, Braves and Orioles. This is a Reds team that lost 100 games last year while we are seeing guys like Hunter Greene starting to level up, I am not sure it's enough to save Bell. His contract is up at the end of the season. Would it shock anyone if the horseshit Reds ownership tries to use him as a scapegoat?
Bill Greenblatt. Shutterstock Images.Oli Marmol, St. Louis Cardinals
Predicted Date He Gets Fired: July 9th
The Cardinals are similar to the Pittsburgh Steelers in that they are built on stability. Whether it be Red Schoedienst, Whitey Herzog, Tony LaRussa or Mike Matheny, Cardinal managers typically get long leashes. That all seemed to change when they stunningly fired Mike Shildt after the 2021 season. They gave rookie manager Marmol the shot and the Cards did fine last year.They did win 92 games but also failed to win a playoff game.
It's bee a wild shitshow this year in St. Louis. They started 10-24 and go back and forth each week if they want Willson Contreras to catch. They had hightly touted prospect Jordan Walker called up for the month of April until they realized he can't play defense. They have been playing better of late but still sit at 23-30. They are fortunate to play in the abysmal NL Central but is there any way Marmol can survive another losing stretch? They've lost 3 of the last 5…
Mike Carlson. Getty Images.Rob Thomson, Philadelphia Phillies
Predicted Date He Gets Fired: August 14th
Thomson can save himself pretty easily. They go on a decent run and get above .500 and I think he'll be OK. Bryce Harper is back and his schedule isn't impossible. He also did bring his team to the World Series last year so he'll manage the All-Star Game. But can you tell me if the Phillies are sitting at 50-55, people aren't going to start getting really frustrated as the playoffs become more and more out of reach? He's the least likely guy on this list to get the axe during the season but none of these guys are safe. They could each be an 8 game losing streak from carrying out their belongings in a cardboard box.