April 22, 2025 • 20 mins
A comprehensive analysis of the managerial landscape within Major League Baseball, this episode delves into the performance and future of several managers who are currently under scrutiny. The discussion reveals a nuanced understanding of each manager's trajectory, emphasizing the expectations placed upon them by their respective franchises. Through meticulous examination, we explore the cases of notable figures such as Rocco Baldelli of the Minnesota Twins, whose recent playoff appearances contrast starkly with his team's current struggles, and Dave Martinez of the Washington Nationals, whose championship tenure appears increasingly distant amidst a prolonged period of rebuilding. The narrative is enriched by an exploration of the implications of managerial performance on organizational stability, providing a compelling context for understanding the pressures faced by these leaders in the game.
Further, this episode navigates the complexities surrounding Brandon Hyde of the Baltimore Orioles, who finds himself at a critical juncture after two consecutive postseason failures, and Oli Marmol of the St. Louis Cardinals, whose management has prompted discussions about the foundational philosophies of the franchise. With the imminent transition in executive leadership in St. Louis, the stakes for Marmol become even more pronounced. Finally, John Schneider of the Toronto Blue Jays is examined as the team seeks to capitalize on its competitive window, underscoring the urgency of playoff success in a highly competitive environment. This episode not only highlights the individual narratives of these managers but also serves as a microcosm of the broader challenges within Major League Baseball, making it an essential listen for fans and analysts alike.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome in to this is Baseball.
My name is Brandon Johnson.
Thank you for tuning in today.
So today's episode is about managers.
I have been looking at somemanagers around the league and seeing
how long they've been withtheir current teams and looking at
(00:23):
their success, theirprojections really since they've
started, how much success havethey had or lack of success have
they had as managers?
And I think that there aresome managers that 2025 is kind of
a make or break year for them.
(00:44):
So I'm looking at managersthat I think are on the hot seat
during the 2025 season.
I, I don't see you at leastdon't typically see managers in Major
League Baseball get firedduring the season.
So I'm not really looking tosee anybody lose their job during
the season.
I think it'll happen postseason.
(01:04):
But some of these managers,they have high expectations or expectations
to be competitive.
Some of them, maybe the teamthat they manage doesn't quite have
any expectations, but theywere good at one time and maybe they've
run their course with theirteam and it's time to just make a
(01:26):
change at that position.
So I've got five managerstoday that I want to look into and
break down where their team isnow and what they're going to need
to do to keep their job.
So I'm going to start in theAmerican League Central with Minnesota
(01:50):
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli.
Rocco Baldelli has been withthe Twins since 2019.
He's been to the postseasonthree times.
First time was in 2019.
They were swept in theDivision Series by none other than
the New York Yankees.
If you pay attention to Twinsbaseball since the 2000s, Minnesota
(02:14):
seems to have met with theYankees in the postseason more times
than anybody and they justcannot get past them.
They.
You look at Minnesota Twinspostseason history and you'll just
see lost in division series,lost in division series, lost in
division series to the NewYork Yankees.
So in fitting fashion, 2019,they were swept by the Yankees there.
(02:38):
In 2020, they played theHouston Astros in the wild Card series
that year.
They were swept by them.
Remember, in 2020, theyobviously was the 60 game season
and they expanded the postseason.
So a lot of teams were in it.
2023, the twins, they actuallywon the wild card series.
(03:00):
They beat the Toronto Blue Jays.
Swept them to nothing.
Then they lost a divisionseries to the Houston Astros three
games to one.
And if you remember lastseason, 2024, Minnesota was not necessarily
a lock to make the playoffs,but they were sitting pretty comfortably
(03:20):
in September and they had aHuge collapse, ended up missing the
playoffs entirely.
Pair their huge collapse withthe Detroit Tigers hot streak in
September.
Detroit leapt over, Minnesotatook their playoff spot from them
and Minnesota missed the playoffs.
(03:44):
Now you get into the 2025season, there's still high expectations
for the Twins to be competitive.
You'll look at a lot ofprojections, Pakota being one of
the biggest standingsprojectors out there.
At the beginning of the seasonthey had Minnesota projected to win
(04:07):
the AL Central and as itstands right now, Minnesota is 7:15.
So they've gotten off to aless than ideal start.
But I just checked those sameprojections that I looked at at the
beginning of the season andthey actually still have Minnesota
winning the ALE Central.
That tells you what they thinkof the AL Central.
(04:29):
You look at the Central rightnow, it's pretty ugly.
But I'm looking at the Twinsteam stats right now and their big
problem right now is their offense.
Their offense is bottom fivein most major metrics.
They're 27th and battingaverage right now and 27th and on
(04:52):
base percentage.282.
Just for reference, the 15thbest team for batting average is
the Baltimore orioles.
They have a.232 batting average.
And the 15th best team for onbase percentage is the Los Angeles
Dodgers at.311.
Minnesota is 25th in runscored, so they've only scored 75
(05:16):
runs.
25th out of 30 teams obviously.
Look at their pitching.
Pitching is pretty much average.
Any metric you look at.
They're basically anywherefrom 13th to 17th.
So they're right in the middleof the pack with everything.
They're sit 15th in era, justover four there.
(05:38):
So I'm looking at it andhonestly if they can get their offense
rolling, I do think that theycan turn it around.
If their pitching is justaverage and then their their offense
just averages out, then theycould win the the AL Central with
the projected 83 wins thatthey have there.
(06:00):
Especially looking at how therest of the AL Central is performing
right now, where you have theRoyals who came in with high expectations
and Cleveland's notnecessarily blowing anybody out of
the water.
They sit second in the Central.
The Tigers have been reallygood recently too.
But I think if you can getCarlos Correa going.
(06:22):
Carlos Correa has gotten offto a pretty slow start.
You can get Byron Buxton tostop striking out so much.
You can use some of the piecesthat are doing well in the offense
and pair them with the playersthat you expect to do well and turn
this around.
I and I, I think if Minnesotafumbles again and misses the playoffs
(06:47):
or even if they do make theplayoffs and they don't advance,
I think they'll probably looksomewhere else for manager and Rocco
Baldelli will be done.
Now, next on my list, thisone's a little bit interesting.
I went back and forth onwhether or not I even wanted to have
him on the list, but I wentahead and kept him.
And it's Dave Martinez of theWashington Nationals.
(07:12):
So Dave Martinez was themanager for the World Series championship
team in 2019.
We are obviously a long wayaway from that.
The Nationals have not evenmade the playoffs since 2019.
Outside of 2020, obviously theabbreviated season, the Nationals
(07:34):
have lost at least 90 gamesevery year.
They lost 107 games in 2022.
They're currently in a rebuild.
Obviously they have the 13thranked farm system according to MLB.com
and they do have.
They had one of the topprospects in baseball.
He was the number fourprospect in baseball, Dylan Cruz,
(07:54):
who played a little bit lastseason, but he's been on the roster
this whole time with theNationals in 2025.
He's gotten off to a prettyslow start.
He has currently hitting.186with a.219 on base percentage.
I don't know if he'll get sentdown to kind of reset or what will
happen there, but you couldlook at this and go, all right, thank
(08:17):
you for your service in 2019.
But once we get this rebuildcomplete or once we feel good about
it, I think we're going to goin a different direction.
You can make an argument thatthe front office is the real problem
here, but I, I don't know ifDave Martinez is going to be the
guy when the Nationals feellike they're competitive again.
(08:38):
Third on my list is BaltimoreOrioles manager Brandon Hyde.
So this guy, this is interesting.
So obviously Baltimore isright in the middle of their competitive
window.
I actually think that theyarrived a little early to being competitive
in 2023.
(08:58):
They won.
They ended up winning their division.
They won 100 plus games.
They got the first round by inthe postseason and then they were
ultimately swept by the Texas Rangers.
The Rangers ended up winningthe World Series that year.
And my mindset is always ifyou're going to lose to somebody
in the postseason, you lose tothe team that ends up being the champions.
But now you get into 2024 andgo, okay, we need to prove that we
(09:25):
weren't a fluke.
They ended up proving thatthey didn't win the division, but
they made the postseason again.
They hosted the Wild cardseries, they ended up getting swept
by the Kansas City Royals.
So five playoff games in twoyears that the Orioles have been
to, and they have literallynothing to show for it.
(09:45):
They're 0 and 5 in those five games.
And Brandon Hyde has been withThe Orioles since 2019.
He was kind of with them onthe tail end of a rebuild, and they
stuck with him when they feltlike they were in a good spot, which
I think was obviously theright choice.
But you look at 2025 whereexpected the Orioles to be good again,
(10:09):
and right now they sit infourth in not only a tough American
League east, but an AmericanLeague east that I think is much
improved from prior years.
And their biggest problem isthey literally have the worst pitching
staff in the league.
Like, they are horrendous.
They're terrible.
(10:30):
They have the worst ERA in the league.
It's not even close.
ERA, it's like.543.
Batting average against isjust under.300.
And they've given up thesecond most runs in the league, only
behind the Colorado Rockies.
So Baltimore has given up 118 runs.
The Colorado Rockies havegiven up 119 runs.
And the biggest differencebetween the Baltimore Orioles and
(10:52):
the Colorado Rockies is theBaltimore Orioles think that they're
good, and the Colorado Rockiesaren't even.
Aren't even pretending thatthey're good.
So that's not good company tobe in when you are the Orioles and
you look at their offense andthey're about middle of the road
in their stats.
So it's one of those things.
(11:13):
Or if you can find a way toget your pitching staff to flip it
around and get going and haveyour offense continue to produce
at an average level, thenmaybe you can turn it around.
But it's not a good place tobe after two straight years of postseason
(11:34):
disappointment, coming into2025 with expectations of being competitive
and sitting where you are now.
I think, though, it's toughfor Brandon Hyde because I think.
I think if they don't make theplayoffs, he's done, obviously, but
(11:56):
I think he has to not onlymake the playoffs, but win a playoff
series.
I think that is going to bethe big hurdle.
And key to Brandon Hydestaying with the Orioles is postseason
(12:17):
success.
Because if you go threestraight years of making the playoffs
and not advancing in theplayoffs, then it's like, all right,
what are we doing here?
Clearly, whatever you're doingin the postseason isn't working.
So if it's getting being awild card team most likely is the
most likely scenario right now.
(12:39):
Can you win the Wild CardSeries, and then you might even argue
that they need to maybe notwin the American League Division
Series, but at least becompetitive in it.
So I think there's a lot ofpressure in Baltimore for Brandon
Hyde to be successful andimprove in 2025.
(13:02):
Number four on my list is St.
Louis Cardinals manager Ali Marmal.
He's been the manager in St.
Louis since 2022.
And I'll be real honest withyou, I, I, I, I don't say I have
anything against Ali Marmal,but they fired Mike schulte after
the 2021 season, after theCardinals had made the playoffs in
(13:26):
2021 due to philosophicaldifferences between John Moziliak,
who's the president ofbaseball operations in St.
Louis, and Mike Schilt.
And obviously, if you look,Mike Schultz is the current manager
of the San Diego Padres.
They made the postseason thisyear and they're off to a fantastic
(13:46):
start in 2025.
They're on top of the divisionin the National League West, 16 and
six or half a game above theDodgers there.
So I thought what he was doingin St.
Louis was working and they hadbuilt a nice foundation there with
Schiltz.
And you look at Ollie Marmal'sresume right now, like I said, started
(14:13):
in 2022, they made thepostseason that year.
You could argue that it wasdue to the work that was done in
the previous regime.
They made the postseason.
They lost to the Phillies inthe Wild Card Series.
That was a series that PaulGoldschmidt and Nolan Arenado did
virtually nothing.
(14:35):
And you remember Ryan Helsleyhaving an all time meltdown on the
mound in the ninth inning ofgame one of that series.
Fast forward 2023.
They went 71 and 91.
That was last place in the AL Central.
In the NL Central.
Excuse me, if you can tell mea time, the last time that the St.
(14:58):
Louis Cardinals were lastplace in anything.
I don't know if you, if youlook at St.
Louis Cardinals history,obviously they're just consistently
a playoff contender.
And they were terrible in 2023.
They improved in 2024, theywent 83 and 79.
That was, in my opinion,largely due to a 32 and 18 stretch
(15:22):
in the middle of the season.
Now 2025, you are fourth inthe NL Central.
You're 9 and 13.
Brewers are still good.
The Cubs are much improved.
So you're kind of going thewrong way and rebuilding as a Cardinals
team.
You have a bottom 10 pitching staff.
(15:42):
Your offense is okay.
I think the big thing herethough is So I mentioned John Moseliak
earlier.
He's the president of baseballoperations, obviously makes a lot
of the baseball decisions.
This is his final season inthat role.
He's stepping away afterward.
They've brought in thereplacement in Kaim Bloom.
(16:06):
Kaim Bloom was in that samerole in Boston before he left there.
I think he's gonna take over.
And if the Cardinals don'tperform, if they do what they're
projected to do, which is missthe postseason, I think it'll be
easy for Kyle Bloom to come inand go, you know what, we're gonna
(16:28):
move on from you.
And kind Bloom's gonna bringin his own, his own guy.
So I do think this is the lastyear for Ollie Marmal.
I never thought that he wasthe right fit.
I like I said, I think MikeSchultz should still be the manager
in St.
Louis.
I'm glad that Mike Schultzlanded on his feet in San Diego,
(16:48):
but I think Marmal will bedone in St.
Louis after this year.
Now, my final name on thisepisode's list is Toronto Blue Jays
manager John Schneider.
He has been with the TorontoBlue Jays since 2022 as manager.
(17:09):
He was actually named interimmanager in 2022 and ended up leading
that team to the playoffs.
They went to the AL wild cardseries, they got swept by the mariners
and then 2023 wild card series again.
Mentioned it previously in the episode.
They lost to the Twins thatyear, got swept and missed the Postseason
(17:34):
entirely.
In 2024, they were actually inlast place.
They went 74 and 88 last year.
The hard part for the BlueJays and really everybody in the
American League east is sametime that the Blue Jays got into
their competitive window, theOrioles were also there as well.
Obviously the Yankees arepretty much always there.
(17:58):
So it's a crowded AL East.
And Toronto, while they makewaves in the east, they've not gotten
to a point where Baltimore andNew York are.
And you have a talent likeVladimir Guerrero Jr.
On your team that you justsigned to a long term extension.
(18:22):
You don't want to waste yourtime with that.
And Toronto's just, in myopinion, a team that is underperforming.
And right now they sit secondin the American League East.
They're 12 and 10.
(18:43):
Obviously it is very early,but I think for the Blue Jays you
could make an argument forJohn Schneider that he'll be fine
this year regardless of whathappens, because he really hasn't
been in the role that long incomparison to some of these other
names that I've mentioned.
But your window is your window.
(19:04):
It's a limited time frame.
You want to obviously maximizeyour time in that competitive window.
And I just, I think Torontohas really missed the mark there.
I think if Toronto can makethe playoffs, whether it's a wild
(19:26):
card team or they win thedivision, either way, make the playoffs,
get to the division series, Ithink that'll be enough for them
to keep John Schneider.
But you gotta make the most ofyour window when you have it, because
we've seen it with a lot ofthese teams, they get in their window
(19:50):
and don't really do anythingwith it.
And then you just, you'rethinking as a fan base man, what
could have been and don't wantthat to happen for Toronto.
So these are the five managersthat I was looking at today that
I think are on the hot seat.
(20:11):
Now when I was making this, Iknow that for some of these scenarios
you could really point theblame towards the front office, but
the manager gets as much heatas the front office done and does.
And if the front office isn'tgoing to get a shake up, then the
(20:33):
manager of the actual rosteror on the field is going to get the
shake up.
So that's why I focusedheavily on the managers today.
I think later in the season wecan look at some of these front offices
and look at some guys that arein a little bit of trouble themselves
there.
But thank you for listening tothe show today.
(20:56):
I will see you Thursday.
Welcome in to this is Baseball.
My name is Brandon Johnson.
Thank you for tuning in today.
So today's episode is about managers.
I have been looking at somemanagers around the league and seeing
how long they've been withtheir current teams and looking at
(00:23):
their success, theirprojections really since they've
started, how much success havethey had or lack of success have
they had as managers?
And I think that there aresome managers that 2025 is kind of
a make or break year for them.
(00:44):
So I'm looking at managersthat I think are on the hot seat
during the 2025 season.
I, I don't see you at leastdon't typically see managers in Major
League Baseball get firedduring the season.
So I'm not really looking tosee anybody lose their job during
the season.
I think it'll happen postseason.
(01:04):
But some of these managers,they have high expectations or expectations
to be competitive.
Some of them, maybe the teamthat they manage doesn't quite have
any expectations, but theywere good at one time and maybe they've
run their course with theirteam and it's time to just make a
(01:26):
change at that position.
So I've got five managerstoday that I want to look into and
break down where their team isnow and what they're going to need
to do to keep their job.
So I'm going to start in theAmerican League Central with Minnesota
(01:50):
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli.
Rocco Baldelli has been withthe Twins since 2019.
He's been to the postseasonthree times.
First time was in 2019.
They were swept in theDivision Series by none other than
the New York Yankees.
If you pay attention to Twinsbaseball since the 2000s, Minnesota
(02:14):
seems to have met with theYankees in the postseason more times
than anybody and they justcannot get past them.
They.
You look at Minnesota Twinspostseason history and you'll just
see lost in division series,lost in division series, lost in
division series to the NewYork Yankees.
So in fitting fashion, 2019,they were swept by the Yankees there.
(02:38):
In 2020, they played theHouston Astros in the wild Card series
that year.
They were swept by them.
Remember, in 2020, theyobviously was the 60 game season
and they expanded the postseason.
So a lot of teams were in it.
2023, the twins, they actuallywon the wild card series.
(03:00):
They beat the Toronto Blue Jays.
Swept them to nothing.
Then they lost a divisionseries to the Houston Astros three
games to one.
And if you remember lastseason, 2024, Minnesota was not necessarily
a lock to make the playoffs,but they were sitting pretty comfortably
(03:20):
in September and they had aHuge collapse, ended up missing the
playoffs entirely.
Pair their huge collapse withthe Detroit Tigers hot streak in
September.
Detroit leapt over, Minnesotatook their playoff spot from them
and Minnesota missed the playoffs.
(03:44):
Now you get into the 2025season, there's still high expectations
for the Twins to be competitive.
You'll look at a lot ofprojections, Pakota being one of
the biggest standingsprojectors out there.
At the beginning of the seasonthey had Minnesota projected to win
(04:07):
the AL Central and as itstands right now, Minnesota is 7:15.
So they've gotten off to aless than ideal start.
But I just checked those sameprojections that I looked at at the
beginning of the season andthey actually still have Minnesota
winning the ALE Central.
That tells you what they thinkof the AL Central.
(04:29):
You look at the Central rightnow, it's pretty ugly.
But I'm looking at the Twinsteam stats right now and their big
problem right now is their offense.
Their offense is bottom fivein most major metrics.
They're 27th and battingaverage right now and 27th and on
(04:52):
base percentage.282.
Just for reference, the 15thbest team for batting average is
the Baltimore orioles.
They have a.232 batting average.
And the 15th best team for onbase percentage is the Los Angeles
Dodgers at.311.
Minnesota is 25th in runscored, so they've only scored 75
(05:16):
runs.
25th out of 30 teams obviously.
Look at their pitching.
Pitching is pretty much average.
Any metric you look at.
They're basically anywherefrom 13th to 17th.
So they're right in the middleof the pack with everything.
They're sit 15th in era, justover four there.
(05:38):
So I'm looking at it andhonestly if they can get their offense
rolling, I do think that theycan turn it around.
If their pitching is justaverage and then their their offense
just averages out, then theycould win the the AL Central with
the projected 83 wins thatthey have there.
(06:00):
Especially looking at how therest of the AL Central is performing
right now, where you have theRoyals who came in with high expectations
and Cleveland's notnecessarily blowing anybody out of
the water.
They sit second in the Central.
The Tigers have been reallygood recently too.
But I think if you can getCarlos Correa going.
(06:22):
Carlos Correa has gotten offto a pretty slow start.
You can get Byron Buxton tostop striking out so much.
You can use some of the piecesthat are doing well in the offense
and pair them with the playersthat you expect to do well and turn
this around.
I and I, I think if Minnesotafumbles again and misses the playoffs
(06:47):
or even if they do make theplayoffs and they don't advance,
I think they'll probably looksomewhere else for manager and Rocco
Baldelli will be done.
Now, next on my list, thisone's a little bit interesting.
I went back and forth onwhether or not I even wanted to have
him on the list, but I wentahead and kept him.
And it's Dave Martinez of theWashington Nationals.
(07:12):
So Dave Martinez was themanager for the World Series championship
team in 2019.
We are obviously a long wayaway from that.
The Nationals have not evenmade the playoffs since 2019.
Outside of 2020, obviously theabbreviated season, the Nationals
(07:34):
have lost at least 90 gamesevery year.
They lost 107 games in 2022.
They're currently in a rebuild.
Obviously they have the 13thranked farm system according to MLB.com
and they do have.
They had one of the topprospects in baseball.
He was the number fourprospect in baseball, Dylan Cruz,
(07:54):
who played a little bit lastseason, but he's been on the roster
this whole time with theNationals in 2025.
He's gotten off to a prettyslow start.
He has currently hitting.186with a.219 on base percentage.
I don't know if he'll get sentdown to kind of reset or what will
happen there, but you couldlook at this and go, all right, thank
(08:17):
you for your service in 2019.
But once we get this rebuildcomplete or once we feel good about
it, I think we're going to goin a different direction.
You can make an argument thatthe front office is the real problem
here, but I, I don't know ifDave Martinez is going to be the
guy when the Nationals feellike they're competitive again.
(08:38):
Third on my list is BaltimoreOrioles manager Brandon Hyde.
So this guy, this is interesting.
So obviously Baltimore isright in the middle of their competitive
window.
I actually think that theyarrived a little early to being competitive
in 2023.
(08:58):
They won.
They ended up winning their division.
They won 100 plus games.
They got the first round by inthe postseason and then they were
ultimately swept by the Texas Rangers.
The Rangers ended up winningthe World Series that year.
And my mindset is always ifyou're going to lose to somebody
in the postseason, you lose tothe team that ends up being the champions.
But now you get into 2024 andgo, okay, we need to prove that we
(09:25):
weren't a fluke.
They ended up proving thatthey didn't win the division, but
they made the postseason again.
They hosted the Wild cardseries, they ended up getting swept
by the Kansas City Royals.
So five playoff games in twoyears that the Orioles have been
to, and they have literallynothing to show for it.
(09:45):
They're 0 and 5 in those five games.
And Brandon Hyde has been withThe Orioles since 2019.
He was kind of with them onthe tail end of a rebuild, and they
stuck with him when they feltlike they were in a good spot, which
I think was obviously theright choice.
But you look at 2025 whereexpected the Orioles to be good again,
(10:09):
and right now they sit infourth in not only a tough American
League east, but an AmericanLeague east that I think is much
improved from prior years.
And their biggest problem isthey literally have the worst pitching
staff in the league.
Like, they are horrendous.
They're terrible.
(10:30):
They have the worst ERA in the league.
It's not even close.
ERA, it's like.543.
Batting average against isjust under.300.
And they've given up thesecond most runs in the league, only
behind the Colorado Rockies.
So Baltimore has given up 118 runs.
The Colorado Rockies havegiven up 119 runs.
And the biggest differencebetween the Baltimore Orioles and
(10:52):
the Colorado Rockies is theBaltimore Orioles think that they're
good, and the Colorado Rockiesaren't even.
Aren't even pretending thatthey're good.
So that's not good company tobe in when you are the Orioles and
you look at their offense andthey're about middle of the road
in their stats.
So it's one of those things.
(11:13):
Or if you can find a way toget your pitching staff to flip it
around and get going and haveyour offense continue to produce
at an average level, thenmaybe you can turn it around.
But it's not a good place tobe after two straight years of postseason
(11:34):
disappointment, coming into2025 with expectations of being competitive
and sitting where you are now.
I think, though, it's toughfor Brandon Hyde because I think.
I think if they don't make theplayoffs, he's done, obviously, but
(11:56):
I think he has to not onlymake the playoffs, but win a playoff
series.
I think that is going to bethe big hurdle.
And key to Brandon Hydestaying with the Orioles is postseason
(12:17):
success.
Because if you go threestraight years of making the playoffs
and not advancing in theplayoffs, then it's like, all right,
what are we doing here?
Clearly, whatever you're doingin the postseason isn't working.
So if it's getting being awild card team most likely is the
most likely scenario right now.
(12:39):
Can you win the Wild CardSeries, and then you might even argue
that they need to maybe notwin the American League Division
Series, but at least becompetitive in it.
So I think there's a lot ofpressure in Baltimore for Brandon
Hyde to be successful andimprove in 2025.
(13:02):
Number four on my list is St.
Louis Cardinals manager Ali Marmal.
He's been the manager in St.
Louis since 2022.
And I'll be real honest withyou, I, I, I, I don't say I have
anything against Ali Marmal,but they fired Mike schulte after
the 2021 season, after theCardinals had made the playoffs in
(13:26):
2021 due to philosophicaldifferences between John Moziliak,
who's the president ofbaseball operations in St.
Louis, and Mike Schilt.
And obviously, if you look,Mike Schultz is the current manager
of the San Diego Padres.
They made the postseason thisyear and they're off to a fantastic
(13:46):
start in 2025.
They're on top of the divisionin the National League West, 16 and
six or half a game above theDodgers there.
So I thought what he was doingin St.
Louis was working and they hadbuilt a nice foundation there with
Schiltz.
And you look at Ollie Marmal'sresume right now, like I said, started
(14:13):
in 2022, they made thepostseason that year.
You could argue that it wasdue to the work that was done in
the previous regime.
They made the postseason.
They lost to the Phillies inthe Wild Card Series.
That was a series that PaulGoldschmidt and Nolan Arenado did
virtually nothing.
(14:35):
And you remember Ryan Helsleyhaving an all time meltdown on the
mound in the ninth inning ofgame one of that series.
Fast forward 2023.
They went 71 and 91.
That was last place in the AL Central.
In the NL Central.
Excuse me, if you can tell mea time, the last time that the St.
(14:58):
Louis Cardinals were lastplace in anything.
I don't know if you, if youlook at St.
Louis Cardinals history,obviously they're just consistently
a playoff contender.
And they were terrible in 2023.
They improved in 2024, theywent 83 and 79.
That was, in my opinion,largely due to a 32 and 18 stretch
(15:22):
in the middle of the season.
Now 2025, you are fourth inthe NL Central.
You're 9 and 13.
Brewers are still good.
The Cubs are much improved.
So you're kind of going thewrong way and rebuilding as a Cardinals
team.
You have a bottom 10 pitching staff.
(15:42):
Your offense is okay.
I think the big thing herethough is So I mentioned John Moseliak
earlier.
He's the president of baseballoperations, obviously makes a lot
of the baseball decisions.
This is his final season inthat role.
He's stepping away afterward.
They've brought in thereplacement in Kaim Bloom.
(16:06):
Kaim Bloom was in that samerole in Boston before he left there.
I think he's gonna take over.
And if the Cardinals don'tperform, if they do what they're
projected to do, which is missthe postseason, I think it'll be
easy for Kyle Bloom to come inand go, you know what, we're gonna
(16:28):
move on from you.
And kind Bloom's gonna bringin his own, his own guy.
So I do think this is the lastyear for Ollie Marmal.
I never thought that he wasthe right fit.
I like I said, I think MikeSchultz should still be the manager
in St.
Louis.
I'm glad that Mike Schultzlanded on his feet in San Diego,
(16:48):
but I think Marmal will bedone in St.
Louis after this year.
Now, my final name on thisepisode's list is Toronto Blue Jays
manager John Schneider.
He has been with the TorontoBlue Jays since 2022 as manager.
(17:09):
He was actually named interimmanager in 2022 and ended up leading
that team to the playoffs.
They went to the AL wild cardseries, they got swept by the mariners
and then 2023 wild card series again.
Mentioned it previously in the episode.
They lost to the Twins thatyear, got swept and missed the Postseason
(17:34):
entirely.
In 2024, they were actually inlast place.
They went 74 and 88 last year.
The hard part for the BlueJays and really everybody in the
American League east is sametime that the Blue Jays got into
their competitive window, theOrioles were also there as well.
Obviously the Yankees arepretty much always there.
(17:58):
So it's a crowded AL East.
And Toronto, while they makewaves in the east, they've not gotten
to a point where Baltimore andNew York are.
And you have a talent likeVladimir Guerrero Jr.
On your team that you justsigned to a long term extension.
(18:22):
You don't want to waste yourtime with that.
And Toronto's just, in myopinion, a team that is underperforming.
And right now they sit secondin the American League East.
They're 12 and 10.
(18:43):
Obviously it is very early,but I think for the Blue Jays you
could make an argument forJohn Schneider that he'll be fine
this year regardless of whathappens, because he really hasn't
been in the role that long incomparison to some of these other
names that I've mentioned.
But your window is your window.
(19:04):
It's a limited time frame.
You want to obviously maximizeyour time in that competitive window.
And I just, I think Torontohas really missed the mark there.
I think if Toronto can makethe playoffs, whether it's a wild
(19:26):
card team or they win thedivision, either way, make the playoffs,
get to the division series, Ithink that'll be enough for them
to keep John Schneider.
But you gotta make the most ofyour window when you have it, because
we've seen it with a lot ofthese teams, they get in their window
(19:50):
and don't really do anythingwith it.
And then you just, you'rethinking as a fan base man, what
could have been and don't wantthat to happen for Toronto.
So these are the five managersthat I was looking at today that
I think are on the hot seat.
(20:11):
Now when I was making this, Iknow that for some of these scenarios
you could really point theblame towards the front office, but
the manager gets as much heatas the front office done and does.
And if the front office isn'tgoing to get a shake up, then the
(20:33):
manager of the actual rosteror on the field is going to get the
shake up.
So that's why I focusedheavily on the managers today.
I think later in the season wecan look at some of these front offices
and look at some guys that arein a little bit of trouble themselves
there.
But thank you for listening tothe show today.
(20:56):
I will see you Thursday.
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