10 MLB teams with new managers for the 2020 season
By Bill Felber
Ten MLB teams have new managers this season, the highest turnover in more than 15 years. How well do you know their accomplishments?
Major League camps open this week with new managers leading a full one-third of the MLB teams. That winter managerial turnover is unmatched since 2003 when there were also 10 new managerial faces.
The ranks of new managers cross league and divisional boundaries, and they also cross profiles. Four are first-timers, but three others have more than 1,000 major league managerial games under their belts.
Two, Luis Rojas with the New York Mets and Jayce Tingler with the San Diego Padres, are still in their 30s. But two others, Dusty Baker with the Houston Astros and Joe Maddon with the Los Angeles Angels, are eligible to draw Social Security.
Aside from those four, the new managers are David Ross with the Chicago Cubs, Ron Roenicke with the Boston Red Sox, Joe Girardi with the Philadelphia Phillies, Derek Shelton with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Gabe Kapler with the San Francisco Giants and Mike Matheny with the Kansas City Royals.
Technically there was an 11th manager hired over the winter. The Mets hired Rojas to replace Carlos Beltran, who they hired to replace Mickey Callaway in November only to fire him when he was implicated in the sign-stealing scandal.
Two of those managers, Maddon and Kapler, managed with different MLB teams in 2019. Maddon managed the Cubs for five seasons until his contract expired and was not renewed. Kapler managed two seasons with the Phillies and was terminated in favor of Girardi.
How well do you know this coterie of new managers – or old managers in new uniforms? Test yourself with this quiz on both their playing and managerial careers.
The quiz consists of a dozen questions, four in each of three topic areas. The areas focus on the managers’ performance as pre-major league players, major league players, and major league managers.
And for the record, the quiz considers only the 10 functioning managers, so “Carlos Beltran” is never a correct answer. Answers are at the bottom of each section.