Early in the season teams struggle. Sometimes those struggles continue all season and cost their manager their job, sometimes they turn it around. Either way the struggles cause rumors about the manager losing their job, and these are the managers that are on their way to being on the hot seat.
Bud Black - San Diego Padres
Black has been the manager of the Padres since the 2007 season, and it may be time for a change. In those seven seasons the team has had only two winning seasons and has not made the playoffs. Since his last winning season in 2011 the team’s winning percentage has gone down every single year and thanks to a slow start at the beginning of this season it is looking like that trend will continue. Black has been given a lot of leeway in the past because of the injuries this team has faced, but eventually the blame has to fall on the manager and this just might be the season.
Bo Porter - Houston Astros
Porter is young and shows flashes of being a good leader, but the young Astros team doesn’t seem to be responding to his type of managerial style. In recent weeks his fiery style has gotten him in arguments with opposing players, ejected from a game and while that kind of style sometimes gets the team behind him it hasn’t worked. This team is full of youth, and that’s not his fault, but this youth needs a strong leader that knows how to manage and so far in his early career Porter has not proven that he can be that guy. This team needs to hire someone with experience and a winning pedigree like the Orioles and Athletics did three seasons ago, and if the Astros find that guy soon Porter can kiss his job goodbye.
Kirk Gibson - Arizona Diamondbacks
In Gibson’s first full year as manager in 2011 he led the team to their first National League West title since the 2007 season, but since then they haven’t accomplished much under him. The team finished an even 81-81 in the two seasons after winning the division, which isn’t bad, but was nowhere near the expectations fans and ownership had for the team. Now in 2014 the Diamondbacks are off to a horrible start that currently has them with the worst record in MLB. This start definitely hasn’t lived up to the expectations of fans and the ownerships and could cost Gibson his job.