"The players make the manager. It's never the other way."—Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson
It's not easy being a manager in Major League Baseball these days.
From all of the egos in the clubhouse to the increased expectations on the field, being a successful manager today requires a certain kind of individual. He has to be able to deal with the multiple personalities of multimillion dollar stars, and he's got to be able to deal with them in a way that can still garner their respect. That's not always an easy task—just ask the managers that had to deal with Manny Ramirez on a daily basis.
If there is a feud between a star player and a manager, very few managers will come out of it on top. Owners are more likely to stick with their $100 million player and assume the manager lost control of his clubhouse.
Just last season, rumors surfaced out of Milwaukee that All-Star outfielder Ryan Braun wanted manager Ken Macha gone. It was already known that Macha had issues relating to today's players, and surely enough he was fired immediately after the season. Braun was just signed to a $105 million extension.
Out of the 30 MLB teams, there are 12 that have new skippers to begin the 2011 MLB season. Six have had previous managerial experience, three took over on an interim basis at some point last season and three are brand-spanking new.
When ranking all 30 managers it was based on one question—If I could hire any manager currently in baseball to manage my team, who would it be?
Let's get started.
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