With Firing of Mets’ Callaway, Managerial Merry-Go-Round Spins Again

While eight teams remain in the postseason, seven who missed out are busy searching for their next skipper. On Thursday, the Mets’ Mickey Callaway joined the ranks of the unemployed, getting the axe after just two seasons at the helm. He’s the fourth manager fired since late September with at least a year remaining on his contract, after the Padres’ Andy Green, the Pirates’ Clint Hurdle, and the Angels’ Brad Ausmus. Meanwhile, two former World Series winners, the Giants’ Bruce Bochy and the Royals’ Ned Yost, have retired, and a third ex-champion, Joe Maddon, parted ways with the Cubs after his contract expired. At this writing, the fate of the Phillies’ Gabe Kapler still hangs in the balance.

What follows here is a roundup of each vacancy, including a list of reported candidates that may not be comprehensive, since all of this is attempting to hit several moving targets. I’ve attempted to distinguish them from those whose candidacies are merely speculative. The teams are listed in order of 2019 records.

Mets (86-76)

What happened: Callaway was hired by general manager Sandy Alderson, who took a leave of absence in mid-2018 due to a recurrence of cancer and decided not to return to the job. Former agent Brodie Van Wagenen was hired last November, and he made a series of splashy moves, many of which ultimately set the Mets back (particularly the trade of two former first-round picks for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz). The holdover manager did not mesh with an increasingly analytically inclined front office — at one point, Callaway boasted, “I bet 85% of our decisions go against the analytics,” a statement that stood out given his often glaring in-game mistakes, many centered around a bullpen that ranked among the league’s worst.

Contrary to expectations given his reputation during his 2013-17 tenure as pitching coach in Cleveland, Callaway did not offer much hands-on help for his pitching staff. And he certainly didn’t endear himself to the media when he engaged in a verbal altercation with Newsday reporter Tim Healey in late June, the same altercation during which pitcher Jason Vargas threatened Healey with physical violence.

To be fair, Callaway was probably hamstrung by directives from above, such as those regarding Diaz’s usage. His us-against-them style may have paid off to some degree. The Mets were 40-50 at the All-Star break, by which point pitching coach Dave Eiland and bullpen coach Chuck Hernandez had already been fired. Callaway was clearly next, but a 46-26 second half driven by improved starting pitching fueled a run at a Wild Card berth that ultimately fell short. Callaway was fired with one year still remaining on his deal.

Top candidates: The New York Post’s Mike Puma and MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo have both suggested that Luis Rojas, the team’s quality control coach, could be the top internal candidate. He’s the son of longtime former manager Felipe Alou. But as this move is a fresh one, so far most names tossed around have been speculative; Puma’s article listed just about every unemployed ex-manager who’s still upright, including Maddon, whose price may be out of the Wilpons’ range. One particularly intriguing name from elsewhere is that of ex-Met Carlos Beltrán, who earned All-Star honors five times during a 2005-11 run that was “not always smooth,” as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal delicately put it:

The bilingual Beltran, who retired after the 2017 World Series, is widely viewed within the game as a future manager. He interviewed for the Yankees’ opening that went to Aaron Boone, and he spent the past season as a special advisor to Yankees GM Brian Cashman.

Cubs (84-78)

What happened: It wasn’t hard to see this one coming as of last fall, when president of baseball operations Theo Epstein ruled out an extension to Maddon’s five-year, $25 million deal following a sour ending to the 2018 season; in less than a week, the Cubs went from first place atop the NL Central to home for the winter. The 65-year-old skipper spent this season on the hot seat, and while the Cubs built a 2 1/2-game division lead with a 25-14 start, they went just 59-64 thereafter and slipped out of the second Wild Card spot by losing 10 of their final 12 games.

Some bad breaks injury-wise (most notably Javier Báez), dreadful high-leverage bullpen performances (most notably by Craig Kimbrel), and inconsistent starting pitching down the stretch played into the slide. So did Epstein’s failure to bolster the roster substantially this past winter, after previously spotty results via free agency led one of the Ricketts family’s billionaires to claim there was no money. As so often happens, a manager is offered up in sacrifice in order to spare the necks of his superiors.

Top candidates: The early list includes three internal candidates: former Cubs catcher David Ross (who played under Maddon in 2015-16 and is currently a special assistant to the front office), current bench coach Mark Loretta, and first base coach Will Venable, none of whom have any managerial experience, minor or major. Epstein has hinted that he has at least one candidate currently serving as coach on a playoff team, which could mean Cardinals pitching coach Mike Maddux, previously a candidate for the Cubs’ managerial job that went to Rick Renteria in 2014, or Astros bench coach Joe Espada, who was a candidate to replace Girardi in New York following the 2017 season. Raul Ibañez, currently a special advisor to the Dodgers, is a known candidate. Joe Girardi, who spent 1989-92 and 2000-02 with the Cubs and has 11 years of managerial experience including a World Series ring, has publicly expressed interest, though the Cubs have not confirmed his involvement.

Giants (77-85)

What happened: In February, the going-on-64-year-old Bochy announced that he would retire at the end of this season, bringing to a close a two-decade career with the Padres (1995-2006) and Giants (2007-19), encompassing eight trips to the playoffs, four pennants (don’t forget that 1998 one with San Diego), and three championships. His departure gives Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, an outsider who arrived from the rival Dodgers last fall, a chance to tab his own man while continuing a rebuilding effort that has yet to devolve into the slash-and-burn style of the Astros or Cubs. The Giants were 12 games below .500 by the end of May (22-34), but they went 33-19 in July and were still at .500 as late as August 25 (65-65) before limping to the finish line like… well, like a 64-year-old ex-catcher.

Top candidates: Two members of Bochy’s staff, third base coach Ron Wotus and bench coach Hensley Meulens, are known candidates. The 58-year-old Wotus spent seven years managing in the Giants’ minor league chain and has been on the major league staff since 1998, serving as bench coach to Dusty Baker, Alou, and Bochy. Meulens, who speaks five languages thanks in part to a 16-year-playing career that took him from Curaçao to the US, Japan, Korea, and Mexico, has managed in the minors and abroad, including for the Netherlands team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He’s been on the Giants’ staff since 2010, initially as hitting coach before becoming bench coach in ’17, when Wotus moved to third. He was a candidate to replace Girardi in 2017.

Zaidi reportedly said he’ll likely have six-to-eight external candidates as well. Ibañez is one, as is Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren, who managed the A’s from 2007-11 while Zaidi was in their front office; the pair reunited in Los Angeles. Former A’s third baseman Eric Chavez and longtime catcher Josh Bard could be candidates as well. Chavez briefly managed the Angels’ Salt Lake City affiliate in late 2018 and surfaced as a candidate to replace Mike Scioscia but lost out to Ausmus, then spent the past year as a special assistant for GM Billy Eppler. Bard has spent the past two years as the Yankees’ bench coach under Boone.

Angels (72-90)

What happened: Aside from an MVP-caliber season by Mike Trout, a rebound by Kole Calhoun, a successful return from Tommy John surgery on the offensive side by Shohei Ohtani, and the sudden evolution of Tommy La Stella from journeyman to All-Star, very little went right for the Angels in Ausmus’ lone year at the helm. Injuries to Justin Upton, Andrelton Simmons, Andrew Heaney, La Stella, Trout, and more were compounded by the tragic death of Tyler Skaggs on July 1. While the Angels carried a 56-54 record into August, they posted the AL’s second-worst record the rest of the way (16-36).

Ausmus was fired on Monday with two years still remaining on his deal — significant timing, since Maddon was let go over the weekend given that The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported last week that the Angels “would consider moving on” from Ausmus to bring back Maddon, who spent 31 years in the Angels’ organization, including 12 on the big league staff following stints as a minor league player, scout, manager, and hitting instructor. Similarly, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that “a number of sources believe Maddon to the Angels is likely to happen.”

Top candidates: Even with the Maddon rumors swirling, Eppler said he’s planning a full search. At this point, the other candidates are based on connecting dots rather than confirmed reports. Girardi, who managed the Yankees while Eppler served as their director of professional scouting and then assistant general manager, makes sense as a candidate. Likewise Espada, a 44-year-old Puerto Rico native who spent nine years as a minor league player (1996-2005) and has since served as a minor and major league coach as well as a special assistant to Cashman in 2014, Eppler’s final year in the organization; he interviewed for the Angels’ job last year as well as previous openings with the Twins, Rangers, Blue Jays, and Yankees. Chavez could be a candidate again, as could Dino Ebel, the Dodgers’ current third base coach. After a six-year playing career in the minors (1988-94), Ebel managed in both the Dodgers’ system (1997-2004) and that of the Angels (’05) before joining Scioscia’s staff; he spent 2006-13 and ’18 as the team’s third base coach, and ’14-17 as their bench coach.

Padres (70-92)

What happened: The first of this year’s teams to change managers, the Padres fired Greene on September 21 after nearly four seasons full of consistent player turnover en route to a 274-366 (.428) record, including a 28-51 mark (27-44 under Green) from July 1 onward. The Padres have now posted nine straight losing seasons, but they’ve spent big money on Wil Myers, Eric Hosmer, and Manny Machado, that while GM A.J. Preller has accumulated a stockpile of young talent, from rookie superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. and budding ace Chris Paddack to a farm system that ranks second on THE BOARD. Green couldn’t fight the perception that much of the clubhouse had stopped responding to his style of leadership and that the development of some of the young players had stagnated.

Top candidates: Almost immediately after Green was fired, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the team’s list of candidates includes Bochy (despite his declaration of retirement), the 60-year-old Scioscia (who spent 19 years at the helm in Anaheim, taking the team to seven playoff berths, and winning the 2002 World Series), former Rangers manager and current Braves coach Ron Washington (who won two pennants during his 2007-14 run in Texas), and potential first-timers Moises Alou (who has already withdrawn his name from consideration due to family reasons) and Loretta, who played for the Padres from 2003-05 and spent nine years in their front office as a special assistant after retiring in ’09. Phil Nevin, a former Padre (1999-2005) who managed in the Tigers and Diamondbacks systems from 2010-16 and then spent a seasons on the Giants’ staff before becoming the Yankees’ third base coach, will get an interview. Rod Barajas, who served as the team’s interim manager after Green’s firing, and who previously piloted the team’s Triple-A El Paso affiliate from 2016-18, could as well. Maddon has not been directly linked to the job, but given the team’s up-and-coming status and his experience in working with analytically inclined front offices, it’s not hard to imagine this being a situation that could appeal.

Pirates (69-93)

What happened: Hurdle helmed the Pirates for nine seasons and led them out of a particularly bleak period. In 2013, his third year on the job, the Pirates snapped a 20-year string of sub-.500 seasons, won 94 games and claimed a Wild Card berth. The increasingly analytically-inclined Bucs earned Wild Card berths in each of the next two years as well, winning as many as 98 games in 2015 and finishing 82-79 as recently as last year. They plunged to 69-93 this year, however, their worst record since 2010. Injuries were a problem, and both on the field and within the clubhouse, their players were involved in numerous altercations, including multiple ones involving pitchers Keone Kela and Kyle Crick, some of them including coaches. Hurdle, who had two years on his contract, believed that he was coming back for 2020, but he was fired on the final day of the season.

Top candidates: MLB.com’s Jon Morosi reported that the team would likely consider Twins bench coach Derek Shelton, who worked with general manager Neal Huntington in the Indians’ front office from 2005-07. Jason Kendall, the team’s star catcher from 1996-2004, has publicly expressed interest; he has no managerial experience but after retiring in 2012, spent six seasons as a special assignment coach for the Royals. Broadcaster John Wehner, who spent eight of his 11 major league seasons (1991-96 and 2000-01) with the Pirates, and who more recently made headlines publicly griping about the Red’s Derek Dietrich, has spoken up as well.

Of the seven names floated by The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel, Jeff Banister seems like an obvious candidate given that he spent 29 years with the organization as a player, minor league coach, manager, and field coordinator, and then as the team’s bench coach from late 2010 through ’14, when he worked as an intermediary between the front office and players in communicating information on infield positioning and opponent tendencies. He left the organization to manage the Rangers for four seasons, and won AL West titles in the first two, with 88 and then 95 wins before a pair of sub-.500 finishes; he was dismissed with 10 games remaining last season.

Royals (59-103)

What happened: Like Hurdle in Pittsburgh, Yost led the Royals out of darkness; when he took over in mid-2010, the team was amid its 14th losing season in 15 years. In 2013, he led the Royals to 86 wins, then won back-to-back pennants the next two seasons, ending a 28-year postseason drought; in the latter year, the Royals won their first World Series since 1985. As they descended back into .500 territory, key players like Wade Davis and Jarrod Dyson were dealt away, and when Lorenzo Cain, Hosmer, and Mike Moustakas departed via free agency following the 2017 season, the team plummeted, losing 207 games over the past two years. A few weeks after he turned 65, and after owner David Glass agreed to sell the team to John Sherman for $1 billion, Yost announced his retirement.

Top candidates: Former Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, who spent the past year as a special advisor for player development, is considered to be the top candidate. While he began his tenure with four straight postseason appearances (2012-15, with a pennant in ’13), he made some baffling in-game decisions in the postseason, earned criticism for his handling of young players, and appeared increasingly out of step by the end of his tenure in mid-2018. Other candidates are bench coach Dale Sveum and quality control/catching coach Pedro Grifol. Sveum served as interim manager when Yost was dismissed from the postseason-bound 2008 Brewers and then as full-time manager for the Cubs in 2012-13, during which they lost 197 games. Grifol managed in the Mariners’ system from 2003-05 and again in ’12, spending seven more years working in player development and one on their big league staff before joining the Royals, for whom he’s also served as a special assignment and hitting coach. Given that the team isn’t expected to hire a manager until the franchise sale is completed in November, thy could miss out on external candidates who are in the running for other jobs.

No doubt there are more names who will surface, particularly once we hear of Kapler’s fate and as teams fall by the wayside during the postseason.