The 2025 Major League Baseball season has seen its first managerial casualty, as Derek Shelton on Thursday was defenestrated by the Pittsburgh Pirates after parts of six seasons at the dugout helm. Given the Pirates’ depths this season, Shelton’s dismissal, even after just 38 games, was not especially surprising. What also won’t be surprising is when another big-league manager is escorted off the premises with his belongings stuffed into a file-folder box.
That brings us to a list of candidates who seem especially prone to such in-season indignities. The usual path of things is that managerial changes happen over the winter, but firings during the season can and do happen, as Mr. Shelton will no doubt attest. Here, then, is a possibly non-exhaustive rundown of managers who might meet a similar fate before the 2025 season is up. Let’s proceed in no particular order …
Brandon Hyde, Orioles
It seems strange to think of Hyde, who’s guided the O’s to the playoffs in each of the last two seasons emerging from their deep teardown, as being in peril, but Baltimore has been quite a disappointment in 2025. Yes, that has more do with the front office’s lack of activity than anything else, but managers make tidy fall guys. The reality is that the Orioles right now are in last place and have the American League’s worst run differential, and if those struggles persist then Hyde could pay the price.
Rocco Baldelli, Twins
Baldelli is a highly capable manager, and in 2023 he guided the Twins to their first postseason series win in decades. Last season, though, they missed the playoffs, and in 2025 they’re below .500 and ahead of only the lowly White Sox in the AL Central. The Twins have rebounded since dropping to eight games below .500 on April 20, which has probably helped Baldelli’s chances of survival. While he’s not in imminent danger, his status bears monitoring if the Twins remain below the waterline in the weeks to come.
Bud Black, Rockies
Black’s Rockies right now are 6-29 and have been outscored by the opposition by 91 runs this season. They’re on pace to go 28-134 this season, which would shatter the White Sox’s record of 121 losses set just last season. Yes, the Rockies are terrible, and under Black they’ve endured six straight losing seasons and are on their way to a third-straight 100-loss campaign. Any other manager for any other team would’ve been dismissed of his duties a long time ago, but the Rockies operate on a different plane, it seems. Eventually, though, even the Rockies will realize change is overdue, and maybe being the worst team in the history of baseball will force said change.
John Schneider, Blue Jays
Schneider as Jays skipper is 0-4 in postseason games, and last season the Jays backslid to a disappointing 88-loss season – their worst season since 2019, when they were rebuilding. Present conditions find them at four games below .500 and tied for third place despite what was a reasonably active winter. Given that Schneider’s job seemed to be in danger coming out of the 2024 season, he’s done nothing to improve his standing this year. Absent a turnaround in the standings, he’s probably in serious danger.
Ron Washington, Angels
Who knows with the Angels, but Washington’s tenure thus far has been a flop. He and the Halos lost 99 games last season, and after an aberrant hot start to 2025 they’re back at the bottom of the AL West and with a minus-58 run differential for good measure. As MLB’s oldest manager, Washington was never a long-term fit in Anaheim, and the Angels also have a recent history of heavy managerial churn (Washington is their fourth skipper since 2019). If they continue playing at their expected level, then Washington may not be long for the job.
To repeat, this probably isn’t a full listing, and managerial job security is always a highly fluid situation. For now, though, these five names have the greatest cause to be wary.
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