More Managers Likely To Bite the Dust In Coming Weeks

By Dan Schlossberg

Two down and how many more to go?

So far this season, the Chicago White Sox (Pedro Grifol) and Seattle Mariners (Scott Servais) have fired their managers. But a slew of others could be on the same slippery slope.

Miami manager Skip Schumaker is as good as gone, with St. Louis a likely landing spot if the Redbirds determine Oli Marmol doesn’t deserve to return.

And Toronto, another under-performing club, is going to replace John Schneider, probably with bench coach Don Mattingly, who has previous managerial experience.

Colorado rarely makes personnel moves without considerable forethought but Bud Black’s leash is getting shorter by the day.

Both interim managers — Grady Sizemore in Chicago and Dan Wilson in Seattle — have no guarantee they’ll be back either.

The same can be said for Cincinnati’s David Bell, despite the popularity of his surname in that city, and Atlanta’s Brian Snitker, who made some questionable decisions this year regarding his starting rotation and even his in-game strategy.

Braves manager Brian Snitker has kept his club in contention despite devastating injuries.Photo byDan Schlossberg

Snitker has a year to go on his contract and could be allowed to leave on his own terms since he’s been a wildly successful manager (six straight division titles). On the other hand, he’s pushing 70 and is the NL’s oldest manager.

In fact, the only older pilot in the big leagues is former Braves third-base coach Ron Washington. He’s on thin ice in Anaheim, which lost Shohei Ohtani to free agency and Mike Trout to injury, but would be welcomed back to Atlanta even though he’s two years older than Snitker.

And what will the New York Yankees do if Aaron Boone doesn’t lead them to their first world championship since 2009? Ditto the Dodgers and Dave Roberts, especially since L.A. has invested multi millions in an All-Star roster that hasn’t won anything in a full season since — are you sitting down? — 1988.

Another big-market team — the New York Mets — might blame rookie manager Carlos Mendoza if the club misses the playoffs, as they now seem poised to do.

Boston (Alex Cora) and Pittsburgh (Derek Shelton) have already indicating they’re keeping their field generals in place. And Dave Martinez in Washington must have secret pictures of the Lerners that he’s threatening to expose if he’s canned.

The real surprise in all of this is Matt Quatraro, whose name is as forgettable as its spelling. Hired on the cheap last fall, the previously-unknown rookie manager of the Kansas City Royals is heading for a Manager of the Year award, playoffs berth, and who knows how much more? Who woulda thunk it?

At least Craig Counsell seems set; he’s completing the first season of a five-year deal that pays him a record $40 million to manage the Chicago Cubs.

Unfortunately for the North Siders, he left his magic in Milwaukee, where former bench coach Pat Murphy has compiled the biggest bulge of any first-place team.

Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is a national baseball writer for forbes.com and contributor to many magazines, newspapers, and books. His email is ballauthor@gmail.com.