Five Baseball Managers Likely To Be On The Hot Seat In 2017

Three managers will be spending their first Opening Day 2017 with their new teams, and each one is hoping to get off to a good start to relieve some of the pressure that comes with the job. Last year saw two managers take over teams that would eventually reach the playoffs, as Dusty Baker took over the helm of the Washington Nationals and Dave Roberts replaced Don Mattingly as skipper of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On the other extreme, some managers may be experiencing in 2017 what will be their last Opening Day with their current clubs. The dismissals could come as early as after the first month, considering that last year the Atlanta Braves fired Freddie Gonzalez after just game 35 on May 17.

Gonzalez and his Atlanta club got off to a terrible start, losing their first nine games. By the time Gonzalez was relieved of his duties, the Braves had won nine and lost 26.

Like the Braves, the Twins under manager Paul Molitor opened the season with a nine game losing streak. Minnesota kept Molitor as the skipper, but he will likely not be given that much rope this year. If the Twins start the season as poorly as they did 2016, the Minnesota front office may have to part with the popular Minnesota native and former Twins Hall of Famer.

Some die hard St.Louis fans were calling for the dismissal of Mike Matheny last year, when the Cardinals failed for the first time this decade to qualify for the postseason. Matheny has an impressive record during his tenure in the Archway, but there will be extra pressure because of the expected success of the city’s long time rival on the North Side of Chicago.

Cincinnati manager Bryan Price might have gotten the axe last year had the club not shown some improvement in the second half of the season. His teams have lost over ninety games in both of his seasons as skipper of the Reds, who are in the middle of rebuilding. Price somehow survived after his verbal, profanity-laced tirade back in 2015, but he may be on a much shorter leash this year if the Reds start poorly.

Mike Scioscia, the long time manager of the Los Angeles Angels, did win a World Series title for Anaheim. That high point, however, occurred over a decade ago, and since then Scioscia has not come close to returning to the Fall Classic. The Angels continue to have one of the highest payrolls in baseball, so they will not tolerate many more losing seasons before making a change.

In spite of reaching the postseason the last two Octobers, Buck Schowalter might be on the hot seat this season in Baltimore. He suffered much criticism in the Orioles Wild Card game against Toronto, a ten inning affair in which Schowalter failed to use closer Zack Britton.

While that decision will be forgotten if the Orioles get off to a great start, Schowalter’s history might indicate that he could be dismissed. He has managed four clubs in his career, including his current reign in Baltimore. He was in charge of the Yankees for four seasons and spent three with Diamondbacks, which earned their only World Series Championship under his stewardship.

He then spent four years with Texas, and he is now entering his eighth year with Baltimore. This current stint is twice as long as any tenure he enjoyed with any of the other three clubs, so a change could very well take place this year.

Changes in the dugout are inevitable during any baseball season, since the manager is the one who usually has to take the fall for a struggling or underachieving team. Expect to see some replacements again once the 2017 season commences.

https://youtu.be/C0qBiUlsIh4