Next Week Could Be A Purge Of MLB Managers

Rob Tringali. Getty Images.

Not a single MLB manager has been fired yet this season. That's not saying there hasn't been some teams that have been major failures. The Rockies, A's and Royals have all lost 100 games. The Cardinals, Mets and Padres all came into the season with playoff expectations. They all might finish under .500. With no one getting canned and so many teams not fulfilling their promise, some heads might roll when the season ends Sunday.

Here are the teams I think will make a change next week. I will say I wrote a blog earlier this year about managers I thought could get fired during the season and I was VERY wrong so take all of this with the appropriate grain of salt.

The Olds

Terry Francona, Guardians

Buck Showalter, Mets

Bob Melvin, Padres

Francona is only on this list because he said he is stepping down. He is still one of the best managers in all of baseball but has some major health concerns. It is obviously his choice but that Guardians job will be open by Monday. 

Showalter and especially Melvin look absolutely miserable and/or checked out.

Buck hasn't looked much happier. Both the Padres and Mets have had stories about their clubhouse come out in the past weeks. Both addressed a poor work ethic. The Padres piece blamed Manny Machado as being a bad example. The Mets article has Tommy Pham saying the Mets position players were the laziest players he's ever been around. There is nothing more damning to a manager than something that can be controlled like a lack of effort. I also don't think you see stuff that leak out when a manager is going to stick around.

My prediction? Both guys step down right after the season.

Bill Greenblatt. Shutterstock Images.

In Big Trouble

Oli Marmol, Cardinals

Phil Nevin, Angels

Gabe Kapler, Giants

Bud Black, Rockies

Marmol is the most obvious guy to get fired since the season started so poorly for the Cardinals. They were good last year winning 93 games but this year has been a disaster since April. Maybe it was losing Yadi Molina and Albert Pujols in that clubhouse. Adam Wainwright becoming the worst pitcher in baseball didn't help. But even the way that Wilson Contreras was handled was bizarre. The Cardinals don't fire managers often but they fired Mike Shildt for far less a couple years ago.

The Angels may be the worst organization in baseball. Who knows what they will do next? But it does seem like Phil Nevin's time at the helm is coming to an end. His contract is also up at the end of the year. The Angels need to tear everything down and start from scratch. Start with the manager (and GM Perry Minasian) on Monday morning. 

Two weeks ago, Gabe Kapler would not have been on this list. But they have been in a total free fall going 20-31 since getting themselves in decent shape for the Wild Card in August. Then word came out yesterday that the team plays Bob Marley songs after losses and the team is more obsessed with playing a card game called Pusoy than preparing for the opposing pitcher. The article even named Joe Peterson as one of the biggest culprits. Stories like that don't get out unless a manager is in deep shit.

Bud Black is a very good manager but five losing seasons in a row is tough to defend. Especially when they are having the worst season in franchise history this year.

John Angelillo. Shutterstock Images.

Probably Safe. Maybe?

Aaron Boone, Yankees

Pedro Grifol, White Sox

Yankee fans (like Hubbs, Tommy and Marty) blame Brian Cashman far more than Aaron Boone. I don't think they are wrong but that doesn't mean Boone is going a good job. I guess the Yankees ownership loves him too. I never thought I'd see the day where a Yankee manager wins a total of 3 ALCS games over the course of 6 years and then barely finishes above .500 keep his job. But here we are.

Kenyan Middleton and Lance Lynn have both said how bad the White Sox clubhouse is after they were traded. It sounds like complete chaos. I do think only being there for one season may save Grifol but managers have been fired after only one season before. Look at Rick Renteria with the Cubs or Ron Roenicke and Bobby Valentine with the Red Sox. They all only lasted one season.

If you want more talk about managers, check out the discussion I had with Carl last night. It's even more fun because it was right after Seiya Suzuki dropped that fly ball costing the Cubs the game.