2019 American League Manager Ranking
Every year around this time, Off the Bench publishes our annual manager ranking. This is a tradition that goes all the way back to 2012 and, though it has morphed a bit over the years, has continued ever since. You can find our 2013 rankings here as well. In 2014, things changed a little bit as I, clearly with too much time on my hands, both ranked and graded all of Major League Baseball’s managers. Since then, we’ve gone with the grading approach since it offers a little more nuance and avoids silly arguments about why one guy is one or two spots higher than another. I tried it for the first time before the 2016 season which you can find here and here
As with the last couple years, I’m going to divide up the AL and NL manager lists. You can find 2017’s AL manager rankings/ grading here and the NL manager ranking/ grading here. Last year’s AL ranks are here and the NL ranks are here.
This post, if you can’t tell from the title, will be the American League manager ranking / grading. The NL is here.
As in the past, grades are on an A-F scale, with A reserved for only the cream of the managerial crop and F standing in for ‘Should be Fired.’ Additionally, I won’t offer any score for first time managers, but if a guy has managed elsewhere in the majors he’s fair game, even if this will be his first season with his current team.
AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
Alex Cora, Boston Red Sox: So Alex Cora’s first year in Boston went pretty well. His supremely talented team won 108 games and the World Series, but supremely talented teams often under preform and Cora deserves a lot of credit for his work. Cora didn’t win the manager of the year award but many people thought he should have. Grade: A
Aaron Boone, New York Yankees: Boone guided his supremely talented team to 100 wins but an early playoff exit in the ALDS. Some observers got on Boone’s case for the way he managed in the playoffs but generally, he handled the pressure cooker of New York very well in his first season. Grade: B+
Kevin Cash, Tampa Bay Rays: Kevin Cash was handed a crappy roster with basically no starting pitchers. His best starter was traded out from under him
Charlie Montoyo, Toronto Blue Jays: Montoyo helmed the Durham Bulls for a while and was most recently the Rays’ bench coach. He’s got a tall task ahead of him in the AL’s best division. Grade: N/A
Brandon Hyde, Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles went with the tried and true approach of hiring whoever Joe Maddon’s bench coach is. Let’s see how it works out. Unlike Montoyo, Hyde inherits an absolutely disastrous roster. Grade: N/A
AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL
Terry Francona, Cleveland Indians: Francona’s Indians weren’t a powerhouse this season, but took advantage of a historically awful division to coast to another AL Central crown. Sometimes you don’t win 100 games, you only win 91, that doesn’t make Francona any worse at his job. Grade: A
Rocco Baldelli, Minnesota Twins: Another Rays coach hired to manage this winter, Baldelli is a first timer, replacing Twins great Paul Molitor. Rocco is an OTBB favorite so we’ll be rooting for him but he’s got a difficult, if talented roster filled with great young players that haven’t lived up to their potential. Hopefully he can help them develop. Grade: N/A
Ned Yost, Kansas City Royals: Ned seems to be living off his World Series win much the same way Ozzie Guillen did in Chicago for years after the 2005 World Series, doesn’t he? The Royals were bad last year and their likely to be bad this year too. Will he survive? Grade: C
Rick Renteria, Chicago White Sox: Renteria did a decent job with a rough roster last season on the South Side. This year, he’ll be in charge of a group of very talented but very young players and expected to push this team a big step forward. Grade: B-
Ron Gardenhire, Detroit Tigers: Gardenhire was an interesting hire for the Tigers last winter, bucking the trend of new, inexperienced former players. insteadGardy is the exact opposite. Last year was super rough in Detroit, but the team was terrible and it was expected. He was brought in to s
AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST
AJ Hinch, Houston Astros: Hinch and the Astros couldn’t repeat their title in 2019, running into the buzzsaw that was the Boston Red Sox, but the team still won 103 games and made it to the ALCS. Grade: A-
Brad Ausmus, Los Angeles Angels: For the first time in forever, Mike Scioscia is not the manger of the Angels. In his place, the Angels went with Ausmus, who was pretty terrible with the Tigers in his first stint managing. Hopefully he’s learned from his Detroit mistakes because this team need to be good as Mike Trout reaches the end of his contract. Grade: C
Scott Servais, Seattle Mariners: The Mariners started strong but faded in a big way last season. Now, they’ve traded a significant amount of the talent on the roster and look to be headed towards a rough rebuilding stretch. Good luck, Scott. Grade: B-
Chris Woodward, Texas Rangers: Woodward will move from the Dodger’s third base coaches box to the Rangers’ dugout this year. Texas is semi-rebuilding, semi just not as good as Oakland or Houston and not as interesting as Los Angeles or Seattle. Woodward kind of fits well with that motif. Grade: N/A
Bob Melvin, Oakland A’s: Here’s what I wrote about Melvin last year: “Bob Melvin is now entering his 7th season with the A’s and 14th as a manager. He has just four 90 win seasons on his resume and hasn’t even won 70 in two years. Plus, the last time he managed a good team, in 2014, they suffered an awful late-season collapse. There’s a ton of young managerial talent out there, I think it’s time to give a new guy a shot in Oakland. In 2017, his A’s won just 75 games. I guess that’s an improvement?” I gave him a D+ grade. Then he went and won Manager of the Year. Grade: B
-Max Frankel
