Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

3 MLB Managers Who Could Be Next on the Hot Seat After Derek Shelton’s Firing

Derek Shelton’s out - who's next in the manager firing line?

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The 2025 MLB season has claimed its first managerial job. On Thursday, the Pittsburgh Pirates parted ways with Derek Shelton, ending his tenure after five-plus years. The move wasn’t shocking, Pittsburgh has struggled mightily this season.

Pirates owner Bob Nutting says his club needs to demonstrated a "sense of urgency."
The club's largest free agency signing in history was the deal with Francisco Liriano (3y/$39m) signed in Nov. 2014 pic.twitter.com/5W21rDlDmx
— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) May 8, 2025

Here are five skippers whose seats are getting warmer as the year rolls on:

Brandon Hyde, Baltimore Orioles

Brandon Hyde helped guide the Orioles through a full-scale rebuild and led them to playoff appearances in each of the past two seasons. But in 2025, things have gone off the rails. Baltimore currently sits at the bottom of the American League standings and owns the worst run differential in the league. Much of that can be pinned on a quiet offseason from the front office, but managers often take the fall regardless. If the Orioles can’t find their footing soon, Hyde may not survive the summer.

Rocco Baldelli – Minnesota Twins

Despite leading the Twins to a long-awaited postseason series win in 2023, Rocco Baldelli’s position isn’t as secure as it once was. Minnesota missed the playoffs in 2024, and this season they’ve again stumbled out of the gate. As of now, they’re sitting below .500 and only ahead of the White Sox in the AL Central. An April skid that dropped them eight games under .500 was concerning, though their recent rebound has likely bought Baldelli a bit of time. Still, if the team can’t stay afloat in the standings, his future in Minneapolis could be in jeopardy.

Bud Black – Colorado Rockies

The numbers are brutal: Colorado is 6-29 with a -91 run differential. That projects to a 28-134 finish — which would shatter last year’s record-setting 121-loss season by the White Sox. Bud Black has overseen six consecutive losing seasons and is now steering the Rockies toward a third straight 100-loss campaign. While Colorado has been oddly patient in the past, even their front office may struggle to justify keeping Black if this historically bad start continues.

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Managerial stability is always fragile in baseball, and while these five aren’t the only ones at risk, their teams’ early struggles have already raised red flags. As the season unfolds, the hot seat only gets hotter. Two other names that could just as easily be in this mix are John Schneider of the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Angels’ Ron Washington.

Derek Shelton

Pirates

Mohsin Baldiwala

mlb

Mohsin Baldiwala is a Master’s student in Journalism and freelance content producer who got hooked on baseball through Seinfeld’s hapless George Costanza. The same reason why he’s a Yankees fan. He writes about sports because he believes it can offer a brief escape from the world’s chaos. Even if that means enduring the heartbreak of the 2024 World Series.