30. John Schneider — Toronto Blue Jays
There’s a good chance the casual baseball fan outside of the Toronto area has never heard of Montoyo. The longtime manager of the Triple-A Durham Bulls, Montoyo is set to lead the Blue Jays towards the postseason in Year 4 as manager. After a tough first year with the club (67-95), Montoyo helped lead a young team to the expanded postseason in ’20. The Jays entered sooner than expected, and were set for a huge year in 2021.
The Blue Jays finished 91-71 despite playing over half of their home games away from Canada. Toronto finished one game out of a playoff spot, but made even more improvements to its roster this past offseason (Kevin Gausman and Matt Chapman). With sky-high expectations, Montoyo will be tasked with guiding a star-studded roster back into the title picture…
Update: After beginning the year 46-42, Montoyo was fired and replaced by John Schneider. Barring a deep run in the postseason, Schneider will likely not be retained as manager in 2023.
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29. Phil Nevin — Los Angeles Angels
A three-time Manager of the Year, Joe Maddon has enjoyed success at each stop of his managerial career — other than with the Angels. While managing Tampa Bay, Maddon led the Rays to the World Series in 2008 and posted five 90-win seasons. Maddon then went to Chicago and led the Cubs to three-straight NLCS appearances — and famously won the 2016 World Series.
With the Angels, Maddon led a team that has two generational talents in their prime — Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. After starting the season 27-17, the Angels lost 12-straight games leading to Maddon’s dismissal. Former MLB player Phil Nevin is now the interim manager. Before joining the Angels, Nevin managed in the Minors for seven years and spent four years as the third base coach for the Yankees.
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28. Mark Kotsay — Oakland Athletics
After seeing longtime manager Bob Melvin travel south to San Diego, the A’s were left to search for a manager for the first time since 2012. Oakland’s brass landed on former Athletic utility man Mark Kotsay, who played on the team for four seasons (’04-’07) during a lengthy 17-year career.
Kotsay has been put in the unenviable position of ushering in a new era of Oakland Athletic baseball. There is a severe lack of talent on this team. However, that does infer the front office will be a bit more lenient on Kotsay’s early results. Kotsay will have free reign to experiment with a team that is entering ’22 with zero expectations.
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27. Rob Thomson — Philadelphia Phillies
After a two-year hiatus, Joe Girardi returned to manage the Phillies. Girardi proved himself while in New York, leading the Bronx Bombers to the 2009 World Series title and posting an overall record of 910-710 over 10 seasons. In his first two years with the Phillies, the club failed to make the postseason — and went 110-112 overall. Girardi was fired after the Phillies started the 2022 season 22-29. Enter, Rob Thomson. Thomson has served as Philadelphia’s bench coach the past five seasons and was a coach for the Yankees from 2008-2017. Let’s see what he can do as a manager.
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26. Oliver Marmol — St. Louis Cardinals
With Mike Shildt given his walking papers, the Cardinals turned to a familiar face to fill their vacated managerial role. Oliver Marmol is a former Cardinals draft pick who was a member of the organization from ’07-’10. In ’17, the Cardinals named Marmol the team’s first base coach and he’s been working for the club ever since — most recently as the bench coach.
Marmol has some big shoes to fill in St. Louis. Shildt reached the postseason in all three seasons he coached the team, and was still fired following a 90-win campaign. If Marmol can’t get the job done, the Cardinals could be back in the market for a manager in just a few months.
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25. Derek Shelton — Pittsburgh Pirates
Following Clint Hurdle’s tenure coming an end following the ’19 season, Derek Shelton was tapped as the team’s replacement. Since joining the club, Shelton has led the Pirates to an 80-142 record with consecutive last-place finishes in the NL Central. Of course, the blame can’t solely be placed on Shelton’s managerial skills.
Pittsburgh’s front office has seemingly traded away all of its most talented players. The Pirates already boast one of the least talented rosters in the league, and it could get even worse if the team does indeed follow through with trading star CF Bryan Reynolds. You have to feel for Shelton. He wasn’t put in a position to succeed with this team.
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24. Brandon Hyde — Baltimore Orioles
When Brandon Hyde took the Baltimore job in 2019, he was inheriting arguably the worst roster in all of baseball. The ’17 Orioles managed to lose 117 games with the highly-regarded Buck Showalter as manager. Baltimore improved by seven wins in his first year, and flirted with a .500 record in the shortened 2020 season (25-35).
Hyde’s Orioles fell back down to Earth last year. Playing in the most stacked division in baseball, Baltimore finished a distant fifth with a 52-110 record. It’s not easy to stack wins when pitted against the Rays, Red Sox, Yankees and Blue Jays on a nightly basis. Another 100-plus loss season seems to be in the cards.
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23. Chris Woodward — Texas Rangers
Chris Woodward is a name you could see fly up these ranks in a year time. Woodward took over in Texas back in 2019. Equipped with a middling roster, the Rangers finished Woodard’s first season with a record of 78-84. As a new skipper, Woodward boasted natural leadership skills and a knack for making sound in-game decisions. His early results inspired hope in Ranger fans that the team’s future looked bright.
Not to be overlooked, Woodward also apparently played a part in Texas’ huge offseason. According to the $300 million man Corey Seager, one of the main appeals to signing with the Rangers was the chance to play for Woodward. The two worked together on the Dodgers when Woodward was the team’s third base coach. Playing a part in one of the league’s biggest offseason signings is certainly a notch on Woodward’s resume.
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22. Torey Lovullo — Arizona Diamondbacks
It feels like an eternity ago when Arizona skipper Torey Lovullo was named the NL Manager of the Year. In his first year as manager, Lovullo led the team to a 93-69 record which culminated in their most recent postseason appearance. Lovullo followed that year up with back-to-back winning seasons, but seems to have lost his way ever since.
The Diamondbacks aren’t built to contend with the other NL West powers, so fans would like to see more playing time delved out to the team’s younger players. However, Lovullo has kept his allegiance to Arizona’s veterans — stunting the development of other players on the club.
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21. Mike Matheny — Kansas City Royals
Following six-straight winning seasons, Mike Matheny was canned by the Cardinals while in the midst of a 47-46 campaign. Matheny enjoyed massive success in St. Louis despite joining the team a year after Albert Pujols left for the Angels. With little expectations, Matheny guided the Cardinals to an NL Pennant in his second year as manager. Overall, Matheny led St. Louis to three division titles and four postseason appearances.
With his Cardinals tenure cut short, Matheny took a year off before rebounding with the Kansas City Royals. Taking over for an upstart team, Matheny led the Royals to a respectable 26-34 record in the ’20 season. He followed that up with a 74-win campaign in ’21, besting most offseason projections made for the Royals. Matheny is especially adept at developing young players. He could have the Royals in playoff contention as soon as this year.
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20. David Bell — Cincinnati Reds
Following in father Buddy’s footsteps as a manager, Bell has proved he is a capable coach through his first two years with the Reds. Bell’s squad finished with just 75 wins in Year 1, and reached the postseason the following season. In ’21, Bell’s Reds finished with the best record among NL teams that didn’t qualify for the postseason. Bell seems to be well-liked by his players and he certainly doesn’t lack passion — as evidenced by 16 ejections over three years.
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19. David Ross — Chicago Cubs
The third-year skipper led Chicago to an NL Central crown in ’20 before finishing just 71-91 last year. Expectations are low for the Cubs entering ’22 with a roster which pales in comparison to the division front-runners (Milwaukee and St. Louis). Though, anything lower than a third-place finish would be a disappointment. Given his track record, Ross should be able to manage his team to more wins than the lowly Pirates or Reds.
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18. Tony La Russa — Chicago White Sox
The White Sox shocked many people around the sport a while ago when they fired Rick Renteria and replaced him with Tony La Russa. A Hall of Fame manager with three World Series titles — one with Oakland, two with St. Louis — La Russa hadn’t managed a game since 2011. Now 77 years old, there are questions about whether the game has passed the HoF manager by and if he is the right fit for a young team. Last season, La Russa’s club finished with 93 wins and captured the AL Central crown. A World Series favorite entering 2022, it is now or never for La Russa and the Sox.
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17. Don Mattingly — Miami Marlins
Don Mattingly was on top of the world following his first winning season with the Marlins in 2020. Miami’s surprise playoff appearance was a shock for many pundits who had the Marlins tapped as the worst team in the NL East. However, Miami’s strong ’20 led to a higher level of expectations the following year — expectations that the Marlins weren’t able to fulfill. Miami stumbled its way to a 67-95 mark.
Perhaps most concerning was how the Marlins finished the season. Miami limped to a 43-69 record over the last four months of the year, and looked lifeless throughout the way. The game may have passed Mattingly by.
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16. Rocco Baldelli — Minnesota Twins
Last season, it all came crashing down for a Twins team which massively underperformed. Minnesota got off to a rocky start, and wasn’t able to find its footing en route to a 73-89 season. Though injuries can be partly to blame, Baldelli is not exempt from criticism. Every team in the league deals with nagging ailments throughout the year. Baldelli (and the Twins front office) weren’t able to find suitable replacements to rescue the season. With Carlos Correa now in tow, another down year from the Twins could lead to the end of Baldelli’s tenure.
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15. Bud Black — Colorado Rockies
Yet another manager who hasn’t gotten a whole lot of help from his front office. Bud Black had the Rockies on the rise when he first took over the team in 2017. After enduring six-straight losing seasons, Black led Colorado to an 87-75 record (and the team’s first postseason appearance in nearly a decade) in Year 1 as skipper. The following year, the Rockies were even better finishing with a 91-71 record and a memorable Wild Card victory over the Chicago Cubs.
And then, the Rockies decided they should start giving away all of their best players. Franchise stalwart Nolan Arenado was jettisoned to St. Louis, while two-time batting champ D.J. Lemahieu signed a modest deal in free agency with the New York Yankees. This past offseason, All-Star shortstop Trevor Story signed a massive deal with the Boston Red Sox after the Rockies refused to trade him prior to last year’s deadline. Colorado hasn’t had a winning season in three years, but the blame certainly can’t all be placed on their manager.
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14. Aaron Boone — New York Yankees
It would be an exaggeration to say Aaron Boone has failed as the New York Yankees’ manager. After all, Boone has led the Yankees to playoff berths in each of his four seasons as skipper — including two 100-win campaigns. In all likelihood, the Yankees will be competing for an AL East crown in ’22 and will have their sights on even more. That being said, it is fair to say the Yankees have disappointed a bit over the last few years.
New York has boasted a top-two roster (Dodgers) over the last several years and have no World Series appearances to show for it. Boone has been a fall guy for a team that hasn’t been able to win the big one. The Yankees faithful have grown restless of coming up short in the postseason each year. It’s time for Boone to make it happen in October.
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13. Scott Servais — Seattle Mariners
It’s been a roller coaster ride for Seattle manager Scott Servais over his tenure with the team. When Servais signed on to take over for the M’s in 2016, he had inherited a team that was brimming with talent. However, the stoic skipper watched as Seattle cut cost and shipped off names like Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, and Ketel Marte to different ball clubs.
In just a few years time, Servais’ Mariners had gone from a contender to a rebuilding team. In 2021, Seattle exceeded all expectations with a memorable 90-win season. As a result, the Mariners went out and splurged in the offseason by acquiring AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray and power-hitting outfielder Jesse Winker. All eyes will be on Servais as the M’s try to clinch their first postseason appearance since 2001.
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12. Dave Martinez — Washington Nationals
Martinez’s first year in Washington was close to a disaster. The team won a disappointing 82 games and failed to make the postseason. Then, the 2019 season started off as a nightmare. Pundits and fans alike were calling for Martinez to be fired. However, Washington held pat and Martinez led the Nationals on an incredible run to the World Series title. Trying to bring his team to the postseason in ’22 will be a very tall task with the Nats in the middle of a rebuild. Barring a 50-win season, however, Martinez’s job should be safe.
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11. Gabe Kapler — San Francisco Giants
Entering last season, the jury was still out on Gabe Kapler. San Francisco’s manager was entering his fourth season overall, and second with the Giants. In two seasons with the Phillies, Kapler went 161-163. In Year 1 with the Giants, Kapler’s team outperformed expectations and finished 29-31. In ’21, Kapler was named the National League Manager of the Year after leading his club to an MLB-best 107-55 record. Despite San Francisco losing in the NLDS — to the 106-win Dodgers — the season was a massive success. Kapler cannot be overlooked much longer.
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10. Craig Counsell — Milwaukee Brewers
Counsell has been wonderful in Milwaukee. After his team went 61-76 during his interim season, Counsell led the Brewers to more success each of the next three years — winning 73, 86, and 96 games. Milwaukee has reached the postseason four years in a row, and is coming off a 95-win season in ’21. Counsell has a great feel for the game and is one of the more sound decision-makers in the sport. It is clear Counsell is the real deal.
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9. Buck Showalter– New York Mets
Is Buck Showalter the right man to lead the Mets back to the postseason? A three-time Manager of the Year, Showalter returns to the dugout after a three-year hiatus. The last time Showalter was a manager in the league, in 2018, his Baltimore Orioles finished 47-115. Showalter has won over 1,500 games during his career, and he is no stranger to pressure — or the New York media — having spent four years managing the Yankees in the 1990s.
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8. Brian Snitker — Atlanta Braves
The 2018 NL Manager of the Year, Snitker improved the Braves’ record each of his first four years in charge, and had Atlanta one win away from the World Series in 2020. In 2021, Snitker and his players found a way to win that one game that evaded them in ’20 — knocking the Dodgers off in Game 6 of the NLCS — and would go on to defeat the Houston Astros in the World Series. Snitker has led Atlanta to four-straight division titles and is once again the favorite in ’22.
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7. Dusty Baker — Houston Astros
Before taking over for the dismissed AJ Hinch, Dusty Baker last coached in 2017 when he led the Nationals to a 97-win season. In fact, Baker’s last four seasons as a manager had finished with between 90-97 wins. The knock on Baker is that he has never won it all. Fair or not, that will be what he is ultimately judged upon. In his first year with the Astros, Baker saw his team finish the regular season with a losing record (29-31)…only to reach Game 7 of the ALCS. Last year, Baker’s Astros won the American League Pennant before falling to Atlanta in the World Series.
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6. AJ Hinch — Detroit Tigers
The disgraced former manager of the Houston Astros is back in the league and ready for Year 2 in Detroit. AJ Hinch was in charge of the Astros when they won the 2017 World Series — at the same time the team used an elaborate cheating scheme during games. Hinch was hired by the Tigers following his one-year suspension, and has provided the franchise with some solid managing. There is no doubt Hinch is a good manager — perhaps one of the best — but until he wins without a cheating club, he will not crack our top-5.
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5. Kevin Cash — Tampa Bay
Kevin Cash is a very good coach. After leading the Rays to 90 victories in 2018, Cash coached Tampa to 96 wins and a spot in the postseason in Year 5. Two years ago, Cash led a Rays team that won an American League-best 40 games and represented the AL in the World Series. Unfortunately for the star manager, his decision to pull an unhittable Blake Snell from Game 6 marred his year. Cash’s team responded by winning the AL East (and 100 games) in ’21 — ultimately losing to Boston in the ALDS. Cash is a great manager who will be around for a long time.
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4. Alex Cora — Boston Red Sox
One can’t ask for a better managerial debut than Cora, who guided the Red Sox to 108 wins and a World Series title in 2018. Unfortunately for Cora and the Boston Red Sox, the ’19 season represented a massive step back. Then, the Red Sox parted ways with Cora due to his involvement in the Astros’ cheating scandal and subsequent year-long suspension. After spending the 2020 season away from baseball, Cora was re-hired by the Sox ahead of the ’21 season…and Boston made an improbable run to the ALCS, knocking off both the Yankees and Rays along the way.
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3. Dave Roberts — Los Angeles Dodgers
In six seasons in charge of the Dodgers (entering 2022), Roberts has won 542 games — including 106 in ’19 and ’21 — led the club to five NLCS appearances, three trips to the World Series, and a World Series title. After a few years of people questioning some of Roberts’ decisions in the postseason, Los Angeles’ skipper silenced his critics in the 2020 postseason. Roberts displayed a deft touch with the club’s pitching staff and in pinch-hitter situations en route to the Dodgers first title since 1988. With a new contract in place, Roberts should enter ’22 with some weight off his shoulders.
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2. Terry Francona — Cleveland Guardians
In eight years with the Red Sox, Terry Francona’s team never won less than 86 games in a season. During his tenure, Boston won two World Series and established itself as an annual contender. Now entering his 10th year in Cleveland, Francona is hoping to lead his team back to the postseason for a sixth time. Cleveland’s skipper has led the team to five 90-plus-win seasons — including 102 in 2017 — and one American League pennant.
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1. Bob Melvin — San Diego Padres
From 2011-2021, Bob Melvin patrolled Oakland’s dugout and somewhat flew under the national radar. Melvin led the A’s to back-to-back 97-win seasons in 2018-19 and a third-straight trip to the postseason in ’20. Despite dealing with financial limitations, Melvin has consistently proven he can manage with the best of them. As he enters his first season in charge of the Padres, Melvin will look to usurp two of the best teams in baseball — the Dodgers and Giants — in hopes of making a push for the World Series.
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