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The MLB managerial hot seat index: Who's next to go?
Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus Raj Mehta/USA TODAY Sports

The MLB managerial hot seat index: Who's next to go?

In the high-demand, ever-changing world of coaching in professional sports, it's a fair assessment that every head coaching job is a temporary one. The window to show and prove is quick and short, and in the wide-open terrain of Major League Baseball, that is especially true. The 2017 MLB season saw three brand-new managers christened a year after five teams moved on from their managers the season prior. That is just over a quarter of MLB teams that have changed their on-field management in the last two years alone.

As 2017 draws closer to a close, there will be even more changes to come. From a mixture of teams whose seasons have simply went awry to a handful of managers who have been in danger of the ice breaking beneath them for some time, changes are afoot.

Which specific managers could be fired this offseason — or potentially before it —and what has landed them at this point? Which are foregone conclusions, and who still has time to save face? Here’s a look around at a handful of managers having rough seasons, differentiating where there is simply smoke from where there truly is fire.

Nothing to see here, keep it moving


The Giants are struggling, but Bruce Bochy isn't on the hot seat. John Hefti/USA TODAY Sports

Bruce Bochy, Giants: The Giants are experiencing their worst season in nearly a generation and are so far in the distance behind the NL West-leading Dodgers that they probably should be more concerned about L.A. lapping them than trying to keep pace. With that said, there is nothing to worry about for Bochy, who remains as secure in his position as any manager in the game. Three World Series titles can buy quite a few mulligans, especially in an aberration of a year like the one San Francisco is spiraling through.

Bob Melvin, Athletics: Even by their own shifty standards, the A’s are going through a prolonged rebuilding effort currently. This is an endeavor led by the front office as opposed to a failure to launch from the dugout. Melvin is the right guy to keep the stables in line as the A’s prepare to endure their third straight 90-loss season. He remains one of the better bench operators in the game and should be well off the hook here given his limited tools with which to work.

Time is running short, but there is still some on the clock


Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was fired once before by the club. Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports

John Gibbons, Blue Jays: Gibbons has been here before and took the long walk from the Blue Jays already back in 2008. However, his most recent stint in Toronto has been vastly more successful, guiding the Jays to postseason appearances in each of the last two seasons.

While that does earn him high marks, Toronto has failed to get over the hump in the previous two American League Championship Series, going a combined 3-8. Ultimately, the combination of the rash of injuries that have spread across this year’s roster and unavoidable free agent losses take some of the blame off of Gibbons, but next year could easily be a do-or-die season, especially with a new GM in Ross Atkins, who has yet to make his own, personal managerial hire.

The seat is getting hotter


It's been a difficult year for manager Don Mattingly and the Miami Marlins. John Hefti/USA TODAY Sports

Mike Matheny, Cardinals: While he was awarded a three-year extension prior to the season, the move should be taken as part due diligence to avoid having a lame duck manager and part not being quite ready to move on yet. But as the Cardinals continue to straddle the path of mediocrity throughout the summer, accountability is going to be cast around the organization by newly minted President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak and owner Bill DeWitt II this winter. If the Cardinals miss the postseason for the second time in as many years, the spotlight on Matheny will glow brighter and brighter.

One thing that works in Matheny’s favor is that he is favored by the DeWitts and draws high marks for his character as well. However, rumors of an increasingly unenthusiastic clubhouse, coupled by some very public comments made by franchise cornerstone catcher Yadier Molina against comments Matheny made regarding him being potentially fatigued, could force the issue of cutting the manager's time shorter.

Don Mattingly, Marlins: The Marlins wasted little time in bringing Mattingly aboard after his departure from L.A. following the 2015 season. Things have been slow to turn around in Miami still, despite having a talented everyday lineup and the hefty $300 million investment in Giancarlo Stanton at the heart of it.

The untimely death of Jose Fernandez was a seismic setback in both the club’s potential and its internal morale; it was also a crisis that Mattingly handled masterfully. This sample size should afford him more time to get things together, but a cocktail of unpredictable factors in current owner Jeffrey Loria (who has never been slow to jettison an underwhelming manager) and the shifts that could be coming to the organization’s ownership as a whole, it should not surprise if Mattingly’s ground becomes shaky underneath him.

Time’s up


New York Mets manager Terry Collins could call it quits if the team doesn't can him. Jake Roth/USA TODAY Sports

Brad Ausmus, Tigers: The writing has been all over the wall here for a while, and the time has finally come. Ausmus narrowly hung on to the position for another year after an underwhelming 2016 and did nothing to inspire any faith in that decision this year. The Tigers have fallen into the spiral of preparing to sell off and unload the big-ticket contracts that litter their roster currently, and a rebuilding effort is set to take place. One of the first moves to fully signal that movement will be the release of Ausmus, who will miss the playoffs for the third straight season this year with a payroll that checked in at No. 4 in the majors on opening day.

Terry Collins, Mets: In all actuality, Collins may just walk away on his own accord. He is MLB's oldest manager at 68, in the last year of his contract and has hinted at the fact that his time in the dugout was coming to a close soon, regardless of on-field results. The Mets are a team that could still feasibly compete next year if they can tweak a few things in their roster this winter, and getting in a new manager on the bench to lead the way is a logical step to help that effort along.

Pete Mackanin, Phillies: The Phillies are a project, to say the least. In many regards, it is no more Mackanin’s fault that the Phillies' prolonged rebuilding effort continues to ebb and flow than it was the man whom he replaced in dugout, Ryne Sandberg. This will mark the sixth straight season in which the Phils finish .500 or (much) worse, and they are pace to lose 105 games this summer, the organization’s worst season since 1961.

While the summer’s regression is one factor that works against an encore being afforded Mackanin, there is also the fact that the reshuffling of the front office last year happened with him in place already. General manager Matt Klentak and President of Baseball Ops Andy MacPhail will likely be more moved than ever to get a handpicked option in house to help stamp their era of guiding the club.

Bryan Price, Reds: It would be prudent for Reds upper management to send an intern to grab a few boxes in advance for Price, as it is time to move on in Cincy. Although the Reds are amid a decidedly intense rebuilding effort, the club is on its way to a third straight 90-loss season and has never won more than 76 games with Price at the helm.

Although he has been a highly regarded pitching coach in the past and the Reds have a handful of young arms who could benefit from growing with him, it appears he is outside of his depth as a full-blown manager. With much of the heavy lifting of Reds' retooling behind them, this winter would be a prime time to get a new leader in house.

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