Sportsbooks surprisingly list Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle as the favourite to be the first to be future-endeavored. Though ‘favourite’ is probably not the most appropriate word, all things considered. This is a race no one wants to win.
Clint Hurdle
The Pirates hired Hurdle in late 2010 after he spent eight years with Colorado – during which he lead the Rockies to their first National League championship and only so far. Hurdle was named the NL Manager of the Year in 2013 when he led the Bucs to their first winning season and playoff trip in more than 20 years. The Pirates clinched another two wild card berths in 2014 and 2015 but failed to reach the postseason in 2016 and finished 3rd in the NL Central Division with a 78-83-1 record.
Bryan Price
On October 4, 2013 the Cincinnati Reds fired the awesomely-named Dusty Baker and promoted pitching coach to the manager position a couple of weeks later. The following season the Reds finished in fourth place in the Central division with a 76-86 record. In 2015 Cinci had the second-worst record in the National League and their worst finish since 1982. And last season they finished dead last in the division, though they did improve on their 2015 record by four wins. Ironically – as in the 1996 hit song and not the actual literary device – the Reds last made the playoffs in Baker’s last season with the team.
Mike Scioscia
Only the amaranthine Greg Popovich has currently coached/managed a sportsball team longer than Mike Scioscia, but sportsbooks name checks the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim manager as one to potentially get the axe first. Scioscia is the Angels’ all-time managerial leader in wins, games managed, and division titles – though Anaheim hasn’t won one of those since 2014 when the Angels last reached the postseason, or an American League Pennant since 2002 when they won their only World Series.
Paul Molitor
Molly was announced as the 13th Minnesota Twins manager in late 2014 and got off to a raucous start. In 2015, the Twinkies posted a winning record for the first time since 2010, but nonetheless were left out of the playoffs for the fifth year in a row. Make that sixth year in a row; the Twins celebrated the 25th anniversary of their 1991 World Series win by finishing last in ALCD with a 59-103 record.
Brad Ausmus
Ausmus succeeded Jim Leyland after the latter retired as Detroit Tigers manager in November 2013. The following year he led the Tigers to their fourth straight divisional title, but that may have been due to some of Leyland’s lingering influence. Ausmus led Detroit to an underwhelming 74-87 record and last place in their division in 2015. In Ausmus’s third season, the Tigers finished in second place in the division with an 86-75 record but missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Andy Green
The manager of the San Diego Padres rounds up the upper tier of managers with best – or should that be worst – odds of getting fired.
