Reviewing and Ranking All 30 MLB Managers

Happy Spring Training! This is a fun piece I'm doing for the first time ever to kick off baseball season. I'll be giving a short analysis of all 30 MLB managers with rankings at the end. Feel free to read all of them or just scroll to the teams you care about. Even if you're not the biggest baseball fan, we can all look forward to some warm weather in the coming weeks.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Torey Lovullo

(Entering 10th Season)

What a roller coaster it’s been for Lovullo’s Diamondbacks since he took the reins in 2017. He has led the team to 5 winning seasons, 4 losing seasons, 2 playoff berths, and 1 National League pennant. Ironically, their best season was his first in 2017 (93-69) that unfortunately ended in an NLDS stomping by their division rival Dodgers. They have not had a 90 win season since, and their 2023 NL champion team won a mere 84 games. If it wasn’t for the expanding playoffs, they would’ve never made it in at all. He’s already the longest-tenured manager in D-Backs history. I don’t see him going anywhere soon. His ownership is notoriously cheap, but he keeps the team around .500 with what he has.

Athletics: Mark Kotsay

(Entering 5th Season)

The journeyman outfielder turned MLB manager has worn the brunt of this John Fisher created storm. The hurricane-level disaster that is the Athletics only continues to become more self-destructive, ripping apart and uprooting everything the franchise worked for. Kotsay appears to be their bridge guy, taking the helm in 2022 and has yet to conjure up a single winning season. He has a knack for developing young, talented hitters (Jacob Wilson, Lawrence Butler, Nick Kurtz), but he doesn’t know a lick about pitching. The team ERA has been above 4.00 since he took over, and they are victims of the longball more than almost anyone in the league. For a franchise that was once managed by the great Connie Mack, this situation is disgraceful. That’s not a knock to Kotsay, though.

Atlanta Braves: Walt Weiss

(Entering 1st Season)

One thing I like about the Braves is their continuity with the coaching staff. They try to keep a natural progression of internal promotion. Too bad they don't do that for their players, but that's besides the point. I'm not too sure how to feel about Walt stepping into this role, though. It’s comparable to Fredi Gonzalez taking over after Bobby Cox retired. You don’t want to be the first guy after Bobby Cox. You don’t want to be the first guy after Brian Snitker either. However, Weiss is a guy who is already well-liked around the clubhouse. Maybe things will go well for him, but this roster has so many holes and not a lot of cap space to patch them with. He did not have a winning season in his 4 years as the Rockies manager once upon a time.

Baltimore Orioles: Craig Albernaz

(Entering 1st Season)

The Orioles' window closed as quickly as it opened. What once was a promising roster full of young stars turned into a plateaued pool of development and a starting rotation of guys aged 35+. Now begins yet another retooling for Baltimore, but they tabbed a rising star to get them through it. Albernaz has received some pretty high praise from his former teams (Giants and Guardians) which is always a good sign. When your team is full of young players in need of development, you need a player-friendly coach to train them up. He has professional playing experience in both the Tigers and Rays organizations before pursuing full time coaching. He's a bit unproven, but anything is an upgrade for Baltimore.

Boston Red Sox: Alex Cora

(Entering 8th Season)

If you look back at Cora's resume, you would think he is a very accomplished manager. He has two World Series rings: one with Houston as the bench coach and one with Boston as the manager. That sounds great until you realize those two championships were in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Do you remember the significance of those years? This guy was heavily involved in the sign-stealing scandal that took place. In my book, those championships count for nothing. He's leading this team out of their most recent rebuild, and they're starting to compete again. He's a very smart and experienced manager, so maybe they can win a ring legitimately this time. I think they're in for another great season under his leadership.

Chicago Cubs: Craig Counsell

(Entering 3rd Season)

I always thought Counsell was a very smart guy, but when he ditched his long-time Brewers for their rival in 2024, I was a bit confused. He was a great middle infielder and slap hitter during his playing days, and the Brewers loved him so much they made him their manager shortly after he retired. They had a great run under him too, but he decided to leave for greener pastures. The grass, however, is not always greener. The Cubs have been beat out by the Brewers for the division time and time again, and he just can't seem to get over the hump. That's been the theme of his career.

Chicago White Sox: Will Venable

(Entering 2nd Season)

Much like the Kotsay situation, Will Venable appears to be their bridge guy. Venable was rewarded with another year of coaching after the White Sox didn't break their own record of 121 losses in a season. That should honestly earn him a lifetime contract. In all seriousness, this team is really bad. There's not much else he can do other than to stop the bleeding as much as possible. The Sox have a very good farm system, which is encouraging, but MLB prospects take a long time to develop. They're not plug and play like they are in the NBA or NFL. They have a long way to go, and one friendly manager isn't going to be a gamechanger.

Cincinnati Reds: Terry Francona

(Entering 2nd Season)

It's good to see Tito back in the dugout. A series of health scares that forced him into retirement after 11 seasons in Cleveland including one World Series appearance. They lost Game 7 in 2016 to the Chicago Cubs. He led them to a winning season and their first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Unfortunately, they had to play the Dodgers in the Wild Card round. It went how we all expected it to go. It was an encouraging season nonetheless, and I trust Tito to restore some glory to this great franchise. They haven't won a playoff series since 1990, and the Big Red Machine has been a big fat letdown for many years. Maybe this is the turning of a page.

Cleveland Guardians: Stephen Vogt

(Entering 3rd Season)

It's a rewarding feeling when the guy you hire wins two awards in his first two seasons. Cleveland fans should be ecstatic about their small market team somehow making the playoffs every year. I think some credit is due to the 2x AL Manager of the Year, Stephen Vogt. Is it beginner's luck, or is he just that good? He was a journeyman catcher for about a decade before pursuing coaching, and he's found a home in Cleveland. Even after shipping off their best players for basically nothing, they repeated as division champions once again. As a catcher, he spent a lot of time with pitchers. It's no surprise the Guardians have an elite staff. The offense needs a little (or a lot) of work, but I think they will always be a solid team under this fiery competitor.

Colorado Rockies: Warren Schaeffer

(Entering 1st Season)

Shaeffer filled in as the interim manager in 2024 after Bud Black finally got the pink slip. I began to wonder how many losing seasons it would take before they finally fired the guy. Turns out the answer was 6 in a row. Now Schaeffer inherits a trainwreck and is tasked with cleaning up the mess. The Rockies posted a franchise-worst 119 losses last season, and the pitching let up an astronomical 1021 total runs. I truly don't think I've ever seen a worse performance from a professional baseball team. Needless to say, there isn't really much to report on for their new manager. He doesn't have much of a professional resume, and his 36-86 record last year doesn't exactly give me any hope.

Detroit Tigers: A.J. Hinch

(Entering 6th Season)

Ah yes, Alex Cora's partner in crime. The 2017 Astros manager was suspended all of 2020 for his involvement in the sign-stealing scandal and was subsequently fired. A struggling Detroit franchise picked him up, hoping to provide some veteran wisdom to a young locker room. Their investment paid off, and the Tigers are steadily improving since they hired in him in 2021 including two postseason berths in the last two years. Hinch isn't exactly afraid to speak his mind, and that may rub some players and umpires the wrong way. Some players embrace it, and the ones that do are rewarded. They play harder, run faster, and pitch better when they lean into his style of coaching. If he gets some help from team ownership, Hinch could create a scary good and finally consistent Tigers team.

Houston Astros: Joe Espada

(Entering 3rd Season)

It's hard to be the first guy after Dusty Baker. The Astros missed the postseason for the first time since 2016 despite having the same record as the Tigers. Detroit also eliminated this team in the 2025 Wild Card round, and the Astros hardly recovered from that astonishing defeat. Espada doesn't really seem to be the motivating type either. The hustle and grit once shown by this team now looks to be a bit lethargic, and the end of this very impressive Houston run might be drawing near. Astros ownership also said they haven't begun negotiations for extending his contract, which is set to expire at the end of the season. It seems to me like they're giving him one last chance but aren't very confident.

Kansas City Royals: Matt Quatraro

(Entering 4th Season)

Big Q led this team to an impressive turnaround in his second season. They went 56-106 in 2023 before going 86-76 in 2024 to clinch a playoff spot. The Royals came up just short in 2025, but they still finished above .500. I can't rip him too hard for missing the playoffs because this team was plagued with injuries. Star pitchers like Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic missed considerable time, and the offense did not pick up the slack. In 2024, the Royals skated by in close games because the pitching was lights out. It was hard to hit any of these crafty junk throwers. KC didn't have that same luxury last year, and the offense was still pretty dismal. They need to get their big bats going, and perhaps Quatraro needs to start making some calls to big time free agents.

Los Angeles Angels: Kurt Suzuki

(Entering 1st Season)

I always loved Suzuki as a player. He was a journeyman catcher, but he made a difference everywhere he went. He played for the Braves for a few seasons before settling on the Angels and retiring with them. Now, they've brought him back as their manager. Several players like CF Jo Adell were teammates with Suzuki in Anaheim just a few seasons ago. They expressed their excitement for the opportunity to play for him and not just alongside him this year. The front office has made a flurry of offseason moves to bolster their pitching depth and in hopes that Suzuki can develop them. As a catcher, you naturally understand a lot about pitchers too. He's what they need: a nice guy who's also smart and competitive. I like this pick.

Los Angeles Dodgers: Dave Roberts

(Entering 11th Season)

One of the best around. The Dodgers have made the playoffs every season under Roberts, and in that time they have been to 5 World Series and won 3 of them. They also won the division every single season except for that SF Giants fluke in 2021. Roberts has a good system in place with an ownership that's willing to spend and help him out. He knows which players to play, where to put them, and when to put them in. Even if you don't like the Dodgers, you have to recognize that they simply want it more than anybody else. This guy wants to win. His secret weapon is pitching coach Mark Prior, who I think is the true mastermind behind many of their operations.

Miami Marlins: Clayton McCullough

(Entering 2nd Season)

It's hard to be the manager of a team when you don't even know who will be on your team. The Marlins are notorious for having a good thing going and then blowing it up for seemingly no good reason. It was impressive that McCullough led this ragtag, injury-riddled team to 79 wins and 3rd place in a pretty good NL East division. Team ownership has once against started dishing off some of their best pitchers for more prospects, and it is too early to judge this team. Take note of this: McCullough predicted LHP Ryan Weathers to "have a breakout year" in 2026. Just a month after that bold prediction, they shipped him off to the Yankees. Maybe if he likes a player, he should keep it on the low before the front office uses his quotes for leverage.

Milwaukee Brewers: Pat Murphy

(Entering 3rd Season)

Murphy served as the Brewers bench coach for nearly a decade before accepting the job as Manager. Hometown hero Craig Counsell dipped out on his longtime franchise to become the Cubs' skipper in 2024, and things were looking bleak in Milwaukee. Pat Murphy, however, had something to say to the doubters. The Brewers won 93 games to clinch the division in 2024, and in 2025 they won an MLB-best 97 games. They came up just short of a World Series appearance via sweep by the LA Dodgers in the NLCS, but their continued success in the midst of constant turnover is impressive. Murphy might be a bit too old to be the long-term solution for this franchise, but they have a decent window with him at the helm. They're gearing up for another great season.

Minnesota Twins: Derek Shelton

(Entering 1st Season)

Bad luck or bad owners? The former Pirates Manager did not have a single winning season with the club in his 5 full years, and he was fired quickly into the 2025 season when they faced a 12-26 record. Now, we have to take this information with a grain of salt because the Pirates are one of the worst run franchises in all of professional sports. It may not have entirely been his fault. Shelton re-enters a familiar environment, as he served as the Twins bench coach for 2 seasons. His task is to somehow save the Twins. The team is going through franchise and farm-wide changes with many new faces in coaching positions, and even the roster is undergoing its own retooling. They dipped their feet in a rebuild towards the end of last season but stopped there. Is Shelton the savior or the tank commander of this team? We will have to wait and see.

New York Mets: Carlos Mendoza

(Entering 3rd Season)

I'll take "What are the Mets doing now?" for 200, Alex. I can't answer that question yet but check back in a few weeks when I start my MLB standings predictions. The hype of the 2024 OMG Mets left as quickly as it came, and this team began to unravel more and more each day. Before the 2025 season, the Mets loaded up on pitching talent and inked OF Juan Soto to a 15-year, $765 million contract. Worth every penny? Probably not, but it sends a dedicated message to the fans. The problem is that I don't think Mendoza entirely knows what he's doing. He says all the wrong things, the players don't like him, and he believes in some players too much while others aren't believed in enough. This locker room is in disarray with the big personalities beginning to clash. He better show some leadership soon before he gets the boot.

New York Yankees: Aaron Boone

(Entering 9th Season)

If you followed along with my NFL predictions, I said that NY Giants coach Brian Daboll should get fired this past season. He did. I'm going to say the same thing this year about Aaron Boone. I have never seen so much talent wasted on a team like I have with the Yankees for the past decade. Before getting smacked by the Dodgers in the 2024 World Series, the Yankees' last WS appearance was in 2009. A lot has gone wrong in that time. For a franchise with such a dominant history and led by many brilliant baseball minds, I hate to say that Boone is not one of them. He makes terrible judgment calls, argues all the time, and doesn't win the ultimate goal of sports: a championship. He refuses to play star 1B Ben Rice and constantly picks the reliever who keeps giving up runs to pitch every game. If I was a Yankees fan, I'd be seething. He's a player's coach though, so maybe he'll stick around a bit longer.

Philadelphia Phillies: Rob Thomson

(Entering 4th Season)

When Thomson took over mid-way through 2022, he led the Phillies straight to the World Series. They just barely lost to the Houston Astros, but it was a great turnaround for a team that had struggled mightily. The Gabe Kepler and Joe Girardi experiments went terribly for this team, so Thomson seems like a savior. He's a good manager, I'll give him that, but the Phillies have yet to get over the hump. In fact, they have only regressed each year. Their record may improve but their playoff performances get worse. Star players are only aging, franchise cornerstones keep leaving, and Thomson needs to get the young guys to play at an elite level. I don't think he's in danger of losing his job by any means, but he just has to show me something more before I fully believe in the Fightin' Phils.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Don Kelly

(Entering 1st Season)

Much like Schaeffer and the Rockies, I don't count interim years as your first. 2026 will be Kelly's first full season with the Pirates, and maybe having a younger face in the dugout will boost this team's morale. The Pirates have a lot of young players, and at only 46 years old, Kelly is a good fit. Playing without the weight of expectation can boost productivity. You got nothing to lose! The Pirates lose all the time anyways so, who cares? They have a bunch of new names on the roster, and there are position battles all over the field. I'm excited to watch how this team shakes out. It's the classic "throw something at the wall and see if it sticks" strategy. There's a time and place for it, I guess.

San Diego Padres: Craig Stammen

(Entering 1st Season)

The Padres are a peculiar case. They had one of the most loaded rosters of any team around, yet they've only appeared in one NLCS since this championship window opened in 2020. Former Manager Mike Shildt stepped down after another embarrassing playoff elimination last season. The Padres looked inward to hire former pitcher Craig Stammen to fill Shildt's shoes. He last pitched for the club in 2022, so many players still on the roster were once his teammates. It's a similar situation to the Angels and Kurt Suzuki. I don't know too much about the guy yet, but he seems to be confident and well-liked by fans and players. There are glaring holes in this roster heading into the season, so I'm curious to see how Stammen navigates the many potholes on the road to much-needed success.

San Francisco Giants: Tony Vitello

(Entering 1st Season)

"And did I hear you say he was meetin' you here today? To take you to his mansion in the sky..." Tony Vitello decided to leave the glitz and glamor of SEC baseball to go coach in, San Francisco? Yep, Vitello leaves behind a championship-winning program at Tennessee to help revive this Giants franchise. Besides that fluke year in 2021, this team has struggled to get above .500. They consistently have extremely talented players but all of them seemingly underperform. SS Willy Adames finally ended their 20 year draught without a 30-HR hitter. Barry Bonds was the last Giants player to do so in 2004. Vitello is an incredible coach, and I expect him to jumpstart these talented players. He knows how to manage a bullpen and inspires grit, toughness, and even a bit of villainy from his players.

Seattle Mariners: Dan Wilson

(Entering 2nd Season)

Wilson took over extremely late in 2024, and his first full season as Manager in 2025 did not disappoint. The M's won the AL West for the first time since 2001 and booked their ticket to the ALCS under his leadership. They came up short of their first ever WS appearance following a Game 7 defeat to Toronto. Throughout the regular season, though, the offense erupted in the wake of pitching injuries. A lot of credit is due to Wilson for knowing how to shake up the lineup and navigate the bullpen when his workhorse starters weren't healthy. I will tip my cap to the front office for their rare but lucrative deadline moves to bring in 1B Josh Naylor and 3B Eugenio Suarez to catapult this team into contention. I trust Wilson to command this team to back-to-back AL West titles.

St. Louis Cardinals: Oliver Marmol

(Entering 5th Season)

Unpopular opinion: I disagreed with this decision from the beginning. The Cardinals fired Mike Shildt in 2021 over "philosophical differences" despite making the playoffs every season of his 3-year tenure in STL. The Red Birds would then make the playoffs again in 2022 thanks to an explosive farewell tour by Albert Pujols but were swept by the Phillies first round. They have failed to make the postseason since, and they have struggled to keep their heads above water. Their young superstars are not developing to original expectations, and pitching has been a disaster. Attendance continues to slip as the Cards fail to play up to their historical reputation. I'm not sure what it is, but I just don't like the guy as a Manager. I think he could be out the door very soon.

Tampa Bay Rays: Kevin Cash

(Entering 12th Season)

The best analogy I can give for the Rays is a slot machine. Their performance is totally random from one year to the next. They'll win 100 games and make the World Series before losing that many in return the next season. Kevin Cash has seen it all. The Rays have a milder case of Marlins-syndrome, meaning their best players stick around to enjoy some success before getting shipped off for more prospects. This team is always competitive, and Cash popularized the "Bullpen Game" in the regular season. That used to only be a last-ditch effort in the playoffs to win a game, but he thought we should do it every game. It works, sometimes. He's a good Manager that makes a few bonehead mistakes, but he's not working with the best roster this season. He'll need to be on point.

Texas Rangers: Skip Schumaker

(Entering 1st Season)

Skip will always be a Cardinal in my mind, but his short managerial career featured 1 playoff appearance in 2023 with the Marlins. 2024 was pretty bad and got him fired, but let's focus on the positives. Bruce Bochy managed this team for 3 years and won their first ever World Series title in 2023. It was nothing but a hangover after that, and he departed the team following the end of the 2025 season. Schumaker takes the reins of a pretty old roster, but I think it's the right move. He's a former player and not too far removed from his playing days. Current players respect that. As a former player, he knows what the day-to-day life and demands are to perform at this level. The Rangers need their established veterans to play up to their potential, and I think Schumaker will get that out of them.

Toronto Blue Jays: John Schneider

(Entering 4th Season)

The ebb and flow of the Blue Jays has been mostly stabilized by Schneider. They used to make a surprise run to the ALCS before crashing back down to 5th place in the division and somehow build back up. There was no strategy. It was an ever-changing roster with an occasional stroke of luck. But now, they have a system in place. They have a competitive culture with some continuity to it. Those who doubted the Jays (me and probably you too) ate their words when they took the mighty Dodgers to Game 7 of the World Series. Schneider is really the only other manager I've seen besides Dave Martinez (WSH 2019) to outduel Dave Roberts. The Dodgers won this series, but it was pure luck. Schneider played every card he had perfectly. The Jays only got better this offseason too. Buckle up.

Washington Nationals: Blake Butera

(Entering 1st Season)

I'm noticing a trend here. A lot of rebuilding teams are hiring younger and younger managers to relate to the players. Is this the new fad? I'm not sure how effective it truly is, but maybe players are growing tired of the old guys telling them what to do. Butera is just 33 years old. He's young enough to play on this team if he wants to. He'd fit right in, as many players on the current roster are around 25 years old. The Nats boast a dazzling young core of players that will certainly start making a difference soon. They need a lot of help in with their pitching staff, but their Starting 8 in the field is set for years to come. Will Butera reap the rewards of his labor, or is he just their bridge to a better, more experienced manager down the road?

RANKINGS

Tenured Managers

1. Dave Roberts (LAD)

2. Pat Murphy (MIL)

3. John Schneider (TOR)

4. Alex Cora (BOS)

5. Rob Thomson (PHI)

6. A.J. Hinch (DET)

7. Terry Francona (CIN)

8. Stephen Vogt (CLE)

9. Dan Wilson (SEA)

10. Torey Lovullo (ARZ)

11. Craig Counsell (CHC)

12. Aaron Boone (NYY)

13. Kevin Cash (TB)

14. Matt Quatraro (KC)

15. Clayton McCullough (MIA)

16. Carlos Mendoza (NYM)

17. Joe Espada (HOU)

18. Oliver Marmol (STL)

19. Mark Kotsay (ATH)

20. Will Venable (CWS)

Rookie Managers

1. Tony Vitello (SF)

2. Walt Weiss (ATL)

3. Kurt Suzuki (LAA)

4. Craig Albernaz (BAL)

5. Craig Stammen (SD)

6. Derek Shelton (MIN)

7. Skip Schumaker (TEX)

8. Don Kelly (PIT)

9. Warren Schaeffer (COL)

10. Blake Butera (WSH)