FootyChatter.com

MLB Rob Thomson joined Alex Cora as MLB managers to have been fired in the last week. Norm Hall / Getty Images Has there ever been a worse time to be a big league manager? In the wake of the Philadelphia Phillies becoming the second team in the past week to fire their skipper, the question isn’t just a sentence in a column. It’s bounced around the game since Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora was shockingly fired — along with five coaches — on Saturday night after just 27 games. Rob Thomson, who the Phillies fired on Tuesday, exited with the best winning percentage (. 568) for a Phillies manager since the 19th century. Advertisement Yes, this is a highly competitive, highly sought-after profession. But what, some fear, is becoming of it? There is so much time left in the season. And if you talk to the Boston and Philadelphia front offices, that’s the point in making these firings early. The clubs can still turn things around, make an adjustment, or — the most likely scenario — the big league rosters full of established players just start to play better. What a novel concept. Patience, it seems, is only a virtue when front offices are espousing their own plan. Then they can talk about seeing the bigger picture and giving time for players and systems to flourish. Isn’t it funny how, when a should-be contending roster struggles out of the gate and people start getting concerned, no one has any problem with a bold strike then? Blame the manager. Well, the middle manager really. It used to be that executives would circle Memorial Day as the time to really take stock in records, stats and managerial performance. Last season, the Pittsburgh Pirates fired manager Derek Shelton on May 8. The Baltimore Orioles dismissed Brandon Hyde nine days later. This year, two high-profile teams dismissed their manager in April. What’s next, spring training? In all seriousness, why would anyone want to do this job? Pros: It’s well-paid — starting salary is around $1 million — and you’re on TV. Cons: There’s no job security, you have no say over your roster and you will be blamed for your team underperforming. (You probably won’t get much credit if they win either — sorry! ) Cora is being paid for two more years after signing a lucrative three-year extension in 2024. Managers, even new ones, generally get three-year deals. But even that has gone by the wayside at times. The Astros hired veteran Dusty Baker following their sign-stealing scandal to a one-year deal with an option for 2021. The Angels, who have had a revolving door in the dugout, hired first-time manager Kurt Suzuki this winter on a one-year deal. Advertisement It sounds more like an audition than a powerful role that, at its best, manages a clubhouse and fosters a culture. And don’t get any manager — current or former — started on lineups. There are guys who say they’d quit tomorrow if they couldn’t make out their lineup and those who signed on knowing they wouldn’t have that authority anyway. Players aren’t stupid and they know who has pull in the dugout and who doesn’t. Increasingly, it’s becoming the guy above the manager, the boss’s boss, who is getting involved in everything from who bats seventh to who pitches in the eighth inning. Not that there isn’t ever a reason to make an in-season change. It can be a good thing. The Pirates were . 500 last year after moving on from Shelton, which was a huge improvement from the six weeks prior. Thomson was named the in-season interim in 2022 and led the Phillies to a National League title. But in a world where parts of the manager’s job are increasingly being taken away, the leash that they’re given to keep their jobs seems to keep getting shorter. There are still well-respected names in the sport in the dugout: Craig Counsell, A. J. Hinch, Terry Francona and Dave Roberts, to name a few. But following a winter in which there was a lot of resentment, frustration and head-scratching regarding roughly half of the nine available manager jobs, the path to get a job, and keep it, has never been more difficult to discern. Do you need managerial experience? Coaching experience? Playing experience? To merely be a disciple of the front office? All, any or none. Confused yet? Still, there are only 30 of these jobs available in the world. To think the candidate pool would start to significantly dwindle would be foolish, right? Maybe. Or maybe if the game keeps trending this way, potential managers and former managers will start to explore an alternate career track, one that’s extremely well-paying but —outside of Boston — considerably safer: the front office. Once the pressure starts to ratchet up, you can just fire the guy below you. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle