Managers are hired to be fired, so it goes without saying we’ll see at least one bench boss get the axe at some point during the 2021 season. And sports gamblers can wager on the misfortune of others, if that’s your thing. There are odds posted for the first manager to get fired during the 2021 MLB season and Baltimore’s Brandon Hyde tops the list. We typically see managers of a wayward team get relieved of his duties. However, when a club is expected to have a good year and falls short of expectations the trigger is often pulled in an attempt to jumpstart the team. Hyde took over a miserable Orioles club in 2019 and actually had them playing decent ball – at least by their recent standards – last season. The team is rebuilding and you don’t fire the coach who actually helped the team progress. We also don’t typically see recent hires get let go, but stranger things have happened. Let’s take a look at a few managers who have value in this futures market. Visit BookMaker.eu for a complete list of odds and to make your wager.
2021 MLB First Manager Fired Odds at BookMaker.eu
Brandon Hyde (Baltimore Orioles) +709
Chris Woodward (Texas Rangers) +758
Bud Black (Colorado Rockies) +812
Scott Servais (Seattle Mariners) +812
Derek Shelton (Pittsburgh Pirates) +916
Joe Maddon (Los Angeles Angels) +916
Torey Lovullo (Arizona Diamondbacks) +1019
Craig Counsell (Milwaukee Brewers) +1227
Dusty Baker (Houston Astros) +1510
Mike Matheny (Kansas City Royals) +1510
Tony La Russa (Chicago White Sox) +1510
Aaron Boone (New York Yankees) +1814
Dave Martinez (Washington Nationals) +1814
David Bell (Cincinnati Reds) +1814
Gabe Kapler (San Francisco Giants) +1814
Luis Rojas (New York Mets) +1814
Terry Francona (Cleveland Indians) +1814
Field - (Any Other) +552
2021 MLB First Manager Fired
We talked about Seattle’s Scott Servais having value in the AL Manager of the Year market. He’s also tied with the third best odds to be the first manager fired. Such is the life of a MLB boss and a coach at any level of professional sports. The games are so much a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately thing that a bad week or month puts a manager directly on the hot seat. Some start the year already on the hot seat. Chris Woodward in Texas and Colorado’s Bud Black are sitting on pins and needles entering the 2021 campaign and sit right behind Hyde on the odds list.
The bottom line is production and teams that don’t produce usually have a new manager. Baltimore and Pittsburgh aren’t expected to compete for a division title, but they should continue to show development as their rebuilds progress. If not, Hyde and Woodward are on the chopping block, which is why they top the list.
New managers are usually exempt from getting fired which is why Detroit’s A.J. Hinch and Boston’s Joey Cora aren’t listed. However, one new bench boss is on the board. The White Sox revved up the way-back machine in hiring Tony LaRussa. It was probably a good move 20 years ago, but can a guy who’s been out of the game relate to the new breed of baseball player? The Sox are a good candidate to win the AL Central with a loaded lineup and a pitching staff with a few new additions. It would be tough to see management fire LaRussa if things don’t go well, but the Sox should be in contention and the four-time Manager of the Year could easily be blamed if things don’t work out. I see a lot of value in this selection.
Another value pick is Arizona’s Torey Lovullo. He was the NL Manager of the Year in 2017, but the team missed the playoffs in each of the past three seasons, including in 2020 when most pundits had them chasing down Los Angeles in the NL West. It’s not Lovullo’s fault that Kole Calhoun recently had knee surgery and the Madison Bumgarner acquisition blew up. There is hope that things turn around in the desert, but if they don’t, and the division has some quality teams, Lovullo is on his way out.
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