A former manager of the Boston Red Sox owns an unfortunate place in baseball lore, to the degree that he's part of a phrase used to describe an employment situation that executives refer to around this time of year: a Grady Little moment.
When the Red Sox were a powerhouse in 2003 -- winning 95 games in the regular season, vying with the Yankees for American League supremacy all season -- there was no thought that their manager, the 53-year-old Little, might be in jeopardy. But with his team leading late in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, Little decided to leave a tiring Pedro Martinez in the game to pitch the eighth inning -- and even after the Yankees started to rally, he stuck with Martinez. The Yankees tied the score, then won in extra innings on Aaron Boone's homer.
That was the Grady Little moment, and with the frustration of the Red Sox fan base boiling over, he was fired. Those decisions made in one ugly inning in October changed everything.
That example feels especially relevant this October, in a year that executives and staffers around the industry believe will see relatively few changes among the heads of baseball operations as the 2024 MLB season comes to a close (current Red Sox skipper Alex Cora's three-year extension pulled a prime candidate off the market). But headed into the postseason, there are several managers and front office types who could become vulnerable to a Grady Little moment. Here are some of the biggest questions of leadership going into the playoffs and the offseason.
Coincidentally, the manager most vulnerable to Little's fate? The player-turned-boss who caused the last one. Boone, now the manager for the New York Yankees, is well-liked and respected by those he works for. His team currently has the best record in the AL and will likely reach the postseason for the sixth time in his seven-year tenure. But the standard of the organization, established by the late owner George Steinbrenner, is that anything less than a World Series championship is unacceptable, and the Yankees haven't held a parade since 2009.
If Boone has a Grady Little moment -- where a pivotal decision turns out poorly and the Yankees lose, a possibility perhaps more likely due to the uncertainty with the bullpen -- the fan base will inevitably erupt. And then owner Hal Steinbrenner would face a decision about a manager with an expiring contract; the Yankees hold a club option on Boone for 2025.
The Los Angeles Dodgers' Dave Roberts might be similarly vulnerable, with a year left on his contract. There are enormous expectations for the team despite the mountain of pitching injuries it has dealt with. The front office and coaching staff will collaborate on a plan to work through the postseason, but Roberts is ultimately responsible for the in-game choices. If the Dodgers lose, will he be held responsible?
Farhan Zaidi has run the San Francisco Giants' baseball operations for the past six seasons, and in that time, the team hasn't won a playoff series. Barring a late-season winning streak over the next couple of weeks, San Francisco is likely to miss the postseason for the third consecutive year, despite pushing its payroll over the luxury tax threshold this year. If the Giants decide to make a change, it would not be as expensive as originally thought: Recently, Zaidi acknowledged that his contract is guaranteed only through 2025 rather than 2026, as originally reported last fall when Bob Melvin became the Giants' skipper.
Dan Wilson replaced Scott Servais as the manager of the Seattle Mariners last month, and as one friend of Wilson's noted, it's almost as if Wilson has been preparing for the Seattle job for more than three decades. (He played a majority of his MLB career in Seattle and then worked in player development.) Wilson was announced as an interim replacement, with an open question about whether this was something that he wanted to take on -- but so far, he seems to be a strong fit, and the growing expectation in the industry is that he will continue as the Mariners' manager. Recently, leadership also committed to president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto for another season.
The Toronto Blue Jays have had a disappointing season, which has led to in-season speculation of change. But general manager Ross Atkins is very close to Mark Shapiro, who oversees the team, so Shapiro would surprise some of his peers if he made significant changes.
Skip Schumaker's contract is set to expire at the end of this season, and he is leaving the Miami Marlins. Schumaker's reputation has been enhanced over his two years with the Marlins, and there is a lot of industry speculation that he might prefer to oversee a West Coast team in his next managerial gig. But he doesn't have the career longevity of someone like Bruce Bochy, A.J. Hinch or Cora, so his name could pop up with any opening that develops.
At the time Grady Sizemore was hired as the Chicago White Sox interim manager, the team announced that it would do a broader managerial search in the offseason. Tony La Russa continues to have an important voice in the Chicago organization, so his working knowledge of candidates could be a factor.
John Mozeliak has run the St. Louis Cardinals' baseball operations since after the 2007 season. Under his guidance, the Cardinals won the World Series in 2011 and played for a championship in 2013. But they've struggled in recent seasons, and Mozeliak is nearing the end of his current contract in 2025. Chaim Bloom, formerly the Red Sox general manager, joined the Cardinals' front office this year and is widely seen by his front office peers as the inevitable choice to take over whenever Mozeliak moves on. Even after being fired in Boston, Bloom has earned praise from his peers for restocking Boston's farm system and modernizing the way the Red Sox evaluated and developed players. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, meanwhile, is under contract through the 2026 season, after receiving an extension before this season started. If the Cardinals wanted to hire another manager, they'd have to pay off Marmol's deal. "That's not an organization that likes to pay people for not working," said one rival official.
The late Peter Seidler was a strong supporter of San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller, and at the outset of this season, there was curiosity within the industry if Preller would be vulnerable, given the massive contractual obligations the team has to older players. But with the trade for Dylan Cease in March and the bullpen help added at the trade deadline, along with the ascension of Rookie of the Year candidate Jackson Merrill, the Padres are in position to make the playoffs -- and could be dangerous in October. On top of that, fans continue to fill Petco Park. "A change now wouldn't make any sense -- A.J.'s had a really good year," another head of baseball operations said.