MLB: A look at the new managers heading into 2018
Heading into the 2018 season, MLB will see six new managers lead the charge for their respected clubs. Here’s a glance at each of the new managers this coming season.
With every new MLB season, comes change. Teams trade for new players, free agents sign with different clubs, and for some teams, this also includes a new manager. In 2018, six different teams will start their campaign with a new manager.
The six teams with new managers in 2018 include the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadephia Phillies, and Washington Nationals. Of those teams, three of them made the playoffs last season (Red Sox, Yankees and Nationals).
Out of all these teams, the most shocking managerial change happened when the Yankees decided to let go of 10-year manager Joe Girardi. This is coming after he led a young and unproven Yankees squad to just one win away from playing in the World Series. Perhaps even more shocking is that had the Yankees won it all, they still would have fired Girardi, according to Sports Illustrated reporter Nihal Kolur.
With the Nationals and Red Sox, both managerial changes made sense. Both teams had high expectations, and despite that, neither team made it past the divisional series.
As for the Mets, Tigers, and Phillies, each team finished well below .500 in 2017. And not much surprise or controversy surrounded the change at manager for these clubs.
The Mets saw Terry Collins resign from his managerial position after last season. Collins managed the Mets for seven seasons and took the club to the World Series in 2015 but couldn’t pull off the championship.
The Phillies fired Pete Mackanin after a short stint as the club’s manager. And lastly, the Tigers fired Brad Ausmus after a four-year run with the team.
Let’s take a look at each of the six new MLB managers heading into the 2018 season.
Mickey Callaway – New York Mets
The New York Mets possess one of the best starting rotations in MLB when all their pitchers are healthy. And to make that rotation even better, the Mets hired former Cleveland Indians’ pitching coach Mickey Callaway.
Callaway should have an immediate impact on that pitching staff. With Cleveland, Callaway played a huge role in the Indians’ overall success over the past few seasons.
In 2017, the Indians ranked best in ERA, complete games, home runs allowed, walks allowed, strikeouts, ERA-plus and FIP. Of course, the Indians do have a lot of talented arms on their squad, but Callaway did wonders for that team.
The 42-year-old manager now gets to work with guys like Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, and Steven Matz. Callaway ran the pitching staff for the Indians when Corey Kluber won two Cy Young awards, one in 2013 and the other last season in 2017. Perhaps Callaway turns one of the Mets’ young pitchers into a Cy Young winner.
Callaway himself pitched in the big leagues. Drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1996, Callaway played in just five seasons in the majors. Playing for the Devil Rays, Angels, and Rangers, he never found much success. His career stats include a 6.27 ERA, 86 strikeouts and a -1.4 bWAR. However, Callaway did see success as a pitching coach.
Now Callaway begins his managerial career, where he’ll not only play a role with the pitchers but also all other members of the Mets. Although, if he can get ahold of that starting rotation and keep them healthy, he could find major success in New York.
Aaron Boone – New York Yankees
Heading into the 2017 season, it looked like the New York Yankees would be contempt with rebuilding and developing for following seasons. But that didn’t prevent the Yankees from finishing as one of the best teams in MLB. The Baby Bombers’ play, however, didn’t prevent Joe Girardi from losing his job.
As mentioned in the first slide, the Yankees parted ways with Girardi after 10 years, and despite the team coming just one game away from the World Series.
Who the Yankees chose as a replacement came as a bit of the surprise, when New York decided to hire former MLB third baseman, Aaron Boone. The 44-year-old has no prior managerial experience, or any professional coaching experience either.
After Boone retired from his playing career, he traded his bat and glove in for a mic and headed to the booth and became an analyst at ESPN. Doing that kept Boone relative in today’s game and made him an option as New York’s newest manager.
However, managing a team in New York is never an easy task, especially for the Yankees. Dealing with the harsh environment in New York can be a challenge. Not only does Boone have to handle that but also following in Girardi’s footsteps. If the Yankees struggle in 2018 and don’t live up to the hype they created from 2017, Boone could find himself in hot water early.
With that said, Boone lives for the big moment. He owns, arguably, the most prominent home run in Yankees history. His Game 7, extra-inning, walk-off homer against Tim Wakefield and the Boston Red Sox sent the Yankees to the World Series back in 2003.
Can Boone create some more big moments with the Yankees now that he’s manager?
Dave Martinez – Washington Nationals
Last season, once again, the Washington Nationals made it to the NLDS just to watch themselves fail to reach the NLCS. Since 2012, the Nationals have reached the postseason four times, and each time they’ve failed to make it past the NLDS.
In back-to-back seasons (2016 and 2017) under Dusty Baker, the Nationals performed well in the regular season, taking home the NL East title in both seasons. But with Game 5 losses in both NLDS appearances, the Nationals fired Baker in hopes that a new manager can lead them to the promised land.
The Nationals tasked former major leaguer and Chicago Cubs’ bench coach Dave Martinez as manager. For Martinez, this becomes his first MLB managerial job. However, Martinez has spent the past 10 seasons as an MLB bench coach.
The 53-year-old got his first coaching job with the Tampa Bay Rays. Joe Maddon hired Martinez to be the club’s bench coach. He held the position until 2014. Maddon and Martinez reunited again in 2015, but this time with the Cubs. Martinez played a role in the Rays 2008 trip to the World Series and the Cubs’ 2016 championship.
As a player, Martinez played for nine different teams during his 16-year career. The nine teams include the Cubs, Montreal Expos, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves.
Martinez has a lot to deal with heading into the 2018 season. The team possesses plenty of talent to reach the playoffs again in 2018, but with Harper hitting free agency after this season, there’s never been more of a sense of urgency to win in D.C.
Perhaps Martinez can take his winning ways as a coach and finally push the Nationals past the NLDS and further into the playoffs.
Alex Cora – Boston Red Sox
Just a little over four years removed from winning their third World Series since 2004, the Boston Red Sox find themselves struggling to get out of the first round of the playoffs. The Red Sox saw their season end in the ALDS in both 2016 and 2017.
Last season, the Red Sox ran into the eventual World Series champion Houston Astros in the ALDS. With the disappointing finishes in the past two seasons, the Red Sox fired manager John Farrell.
The Red Sox decided to hire a former infielder that played for them for four seasons including on the 2007 World Series team. Alex Cora takes over as the leader of the Red Sox. This becomes Cora’s first managerial job in MLB.
Most recently, Cora acted as the bench coach for the Astros. He received the role back in 2016 and played a part in the 2017 championship team in Houston.
Cora played for 14 seasons with six different clubs. The teams he played for include the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Red Sox, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, and Washington Nationals. Cora was more of a backup and role player for a majority of his career.
The Red Sox carry one of the strongest teams in baseball with a talented starting rotation and deep lineup. Cora’s tasked with taking this team past the ALDS and trying to bring back the World Series trophy to Boston.
Gabe Kapler – Philadelphia Phillies
After a stellar run back in 2008 and 2009, where the Philadelphia Phillies found themselves in back-to-back World Series, they’ve undergone a long rebuilding process. It feels like decades since the Phillies won their championship, but in reality, it’s been 10 years.
Since that World Series in 2008, the Phillies are now on their fourth manager. The Phillies decided to fire 2017 manager Pete Mackanin. He took over as the manager in Philadelphia back in 2015 after then manager Ryne Sandberg resigned.
Who the Phillies chose to replace Mackanin came as a shock to many. The Phillies hired former MLB outfielder Gabe Kapler to manage the club in 2018.
Kapler doesn’t have much prior coaching experience and none at all for an MLB club. Kapler did manage the Greenville Drive (Red Sox’s single-A affiliate) back in 2007. However, his team struggled mightily, finishing with a 58-81 record. The Phillies are hoping Kapler can find more success managing in the major leagues.
The 42-year-old played 12 seasons in the big leagues. Kapler played for the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays.
Despite the Phillies having four consecutive losing seasons, Kapler holds high expectations for his club. In a press conference, Kapler stated what he expects from his team this coming season:
"We are ultra competitive."
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) November 2, 2017
The goal is to "bring that effing trophy back to John Middleton." - Gabe Kapler pic.twitter.com/4VCas5QmAF
With a plethora of young players and a young manager, the Phillies could surprise people in 2018 and play better than in year’s past.
Ron Gardenhire – Detroit Tigers
After struggling over the past couple seasons, the Detroit Tigers have hit full rebuild mode. They shipped off a lot of talented players at the trade deadline last season and this offseason. Another move the team made to begin the rebuild was firing manager Brad Ausmus.
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The team decided to go with another manager that has a lot of prior managerial experience. The Tigers hired former Minnesota Twins’ manager Ron Gardenhire. The 60-year-old is the only new manager that has managed an MLB team club before.
Gardenhire managed the Twins from 2002 to 2014. During that span, he guided the team to 1,068 wins. He guided them to the postseason during six different seasons. However, 2002 was the only season that the club made it past the ALDS.
In 2010, Gardenhire took home AL Manager of the Year honors. But a few rough seasons in Minnesota resulted in the Twins firing Gardenhire following the 2014 season. After a couple of seasons away from coaching, Gardenhire joined the Arizona Diamondbacks coaching staff in 2017.
Now heading into 2018, Gardenhire takes control of a team that doesn’t look to compete for the next few seasons. Although with Gardenhire’s experience and success, he could fire up the troops and make them better than expected in 2018.
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An ongoing storyline throughout the 2018 season will be how each of these new managers does during their first seasons with their respected MLB teams.