Managing Problems

This week has brought a renewed, if unwanted, focus on Major League Baseball's managers. AJ Hinch of the Houston Astros, Alex Cora of the Boston Red Sox, and Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets were all with the Astros in their World Series winning season of 2017. Hinch was manager, Cora was bench coach, and Beltran was a player. All three were named in the Commissioner's report on the Astros' sign stealing cheating in that season.

All three of these managers were fired by their teams this week, after the Commissioner's report became public. Hinch was also suspended for one year by the Commissioner. Cora and Beltran continue to wait on word as to any suspensions they will face.

I believe that each man deserved/deserves a suspension. I believe that they deserved to lose their current jobs.

But the firings of Cora and Beltran highlight another, even more significant, problem.

There are thirty Major League Baseball teams. There is one African-American manager in MLB, Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers. With the firings of Cora and Beltran, there are three remaining Latino managers: Dave Martinez of the Nationals, Charlie Montoyo of the Blue Jays, and Rick Renteria of the White Sox. Roberts is the first minority manager the Dodgers have employed, but the team of Jackie Robinson has been admired for its progressive approach to the game for decades. The Nationals, Blue Jays, and White Sox have all employed minority managers previously, as have the Mets. They are each to be commended for their openness. Cora was the first minority manager for the Red Sox, who were the last team in baseball to bring a black player to their major league roster when Elijah "Pumpsie" Green was called up in 1959, a full twelve years after Jackie Robinson's advent in Brooklyn.

Most major league teams have never had a minority manager. That fact is hard to understand when you consider who comprises baseball teams.

Cora and Beltran represented 40% of baseball's Latino managers, and 1/3 of baseball's minority managers. I can only hope that the three teams who have sudden and unexpected openings for Major League Manager will consider a wider range of candidates to fill those positiions.

It is shameful that only one team is led by an African-American manager. And it is absurd that only three teams are led by Latino managers.

Baseball must do better. And wouldn't even have to try very hard to do a whole lot better.