5 MLB Managers Already on the Hot Seat

The first month of the 2012 MLB season is quickly approaching its end. And while it might be a bit too early in the schedule to declare any team an irrevocable disappointment, a handful of teams have performed far below expectations thus far.

When big money is spent and championships are envisioned, someone has to be held accountable when those standards aren't being met. Most of the time that falls on the guy in charge.

A manager gets the big seat in the dugout, and the heat underneath that perch gets turned up quickly when his team falls short of expectations.

One month in, there have been some big disappointments in baseball. While there is plenty of time to get things right with certain teams, their general managers and owners might not like what they are seeing and could decide that a change is necessary to spark a turnaround.

Here are five managers who should be nervous when they get to the office each morning. 

Bobby Valentine, Boston Red Sox

Is it too easy to start this list with Valentine? No manager's seat has ever been hotter to begin a season than the one Valentine parks his rear on. 

Yes, Valentine has had to deal with plenty of injuries. Would the Red Sox have a 6-10 record if Carl Crawford, Andrew Bailey and Jacoby Ellsbury weren't on the shelf right now? Not to mention Daisuke Matsuzaka and Bobby Jenks. (I'll try to avoid mentioning John Lackey. Oops, so much for that.) 

Could anyone have guessed that relievers Mark Melancon and Alfredo Aceves wouldn't be able to get batters out? Or that Clay Buchholz would pitch as if it were batting practice? (Valentine doesn't get a pass for continuing to use Vicente Padilla.)

But Valentine hasn't helped himself at all by criticizing entrenched veterans and alienating his clubhouse. And his in-game strategy—especially when calling for intentional walks and putting more pressure on his struggling pitchers—has been baffling. 

Rather than bringing something new and innovative to the dugout after a 10-year absence, Valentine looks out of touch and overwhelmed by his return to managing.

Dusty Baker, Cincinnati Reds

If I had written out this list before the season, I would've said that Baker's seat had the most heat of any manager in baseball. The Reds were expected to be a playoff contender last year and fell far short of that goal. That alone would have put the pressure on Baker.

But then general manager Walt Jocketty essentially went all-in for this season, trading for Mat Latos and signing Ryan Madson. With Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips in their prime, the window for a championship is supposed to be wide open. And Jocketty's offseason moves were the stick keeping that window ajar.  

Though the Reds are only even at .500, they are only two games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for first place in the NL Central. That means Baker has plenty of opportunity to douse the fire under his seat. 

But this is his fifth season in what has been a rather disappointing tenure in Cincinnati. If he can't keep the Reds in contention, let alone lead them to the postseason with the weapons he has been given, that window is going to slam right onto Baker's fingers. 

Ned Yost, Kansas City Royals

Steven Goldman covered many of the reasons Yost could be fired in his post from Tuesday. Simply put, Yost is quickly finding out that meeting expectations is much harder than garnering them to begin with.

The Royals were expected to make a big jump in competitiveness this season, regardless of whether or not they actually content in the AL Central. Giddy with excitement over the team's young talent, many observers projected the Royals to finish second behind the Detroit Tigers. Those people (and I'll include myself in that group) should've taken a closer look at a pitching staff that's still far too lacking.

Other than Danny Duffy and Bruce Chen (who continues to perplex with his success), the Royals just aren't getting the starting pitching necessary to compete. Jonathan Sanchez isn't providing his new team with nearly the boost that Melky Cabrera (the player traded for him) is giving the San Francisco Giants.

Yost's lineup has let him down, too. Eric Hosmer hasn't been the next great first baseman so far this season and Alex Gordon is making last year's breakout look like a fluke. When Yuniesky Betancourt and Alcides Escobar are among your team's best hitters, what can you really do?

Unfortunately, that argument won't make much of a case to a fanbase that was ready to embrace its team. This disappointment will be hard to shake off and demands a fall guy. The manager is always a convenient scapegoat.

Bud Black, San Diego Padres

As the 2012 season began, one online gambling site had Black as the odds-on favorite to be the first major league manager fired. Though the Padres weren't expected to contend in what now appears to be an extremely competitive NL West, a 5-13 record is doing nothing to reduce the odds of Black's dismissal.

No, it's not Black's fault that one of the team's big offseason acquisitions, Edinson Volquez, has been a disappointment. Nor is he responsible for Clayton Richard performing far below expectations. Or for Cameron Maybin providing a nice ocean breeze with his frequent strikeouts. 

But Black is getting outstanding pitching from his bullpen, which should be helping to win more close games. And Chase Headley is doing all he can to carry the Padres' lineup by himself.

Black can't just point at his roster and shrug his shoulders—especially when most of the division is a cluster of .500 teams that the Padres should be mixed up with. With Black in his sixth year as manager and not getting his team any better, GM Josh Byrnes may decide it's time for a change.

Mike Scioscia, Los Angeles Angels

Putting Scioscia on this list would have seemed inconceivable a very short time ago. But we keep talking about expectations, and the Angels carried incredibly high ones after owner Arte Moreno handed out more than $320 million to one of the best hitters in baseball history and the top available free-agent pitcher. 

Even without those additions, the Angels were arguably in a position to compete with the Texas Rangers for the AL West title and a playoff spot. But with Albert Pujols in the middle of the lineup and C.J. Wilson joining an already impressive starting rotation, the Angels were looking around their offices and wondering where a World Series trophy would look best.

Yes, Pujols' lack of production thus far has been a surprise. So has an astonishingly bad performance from Dan Haren, who has consistently been among the best pitchers in baseball. But looking up at the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners in the AL West was not what anyone in Anaheim signed up for this season. 

No manager in baseball has had more pull with his front office than Scioscia has. A 13-year tenure and World Series championship carry a lot of influence. But new Angels GM Jerry Dipoto isn't wedded to Scioscia and likely wants to put his own stamp on the team.

If the Angels finish far below expectations, brooming the longtime manager out the door—along with dead weight on the roster—to freshen up the organization becomes an easier move to justify.

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