When his career with the San Francisco Giants ends, manager Bruce Bochy’s next stop in the baseball world is in Cooperstown.
Perhaps Bochy will move into a front office role with the Giants, or help the franchise as a special assistant, but after Bochy has managed his final game with the club, he’s headed to the Hall of Fame.
In previous years, I might have written, “when Bochy decides to call it quits,” but after a 64-98 season in 2017 that forced a major overhaul of the Giants’ coaching staff, it’s no longer certain that Bochy’s tenure in the dugout will end on his own terms.
Think about that for a second.
It’s obvious that Bochy will one day be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, yet now entirely unclear whether he’ll be allowed to ride off into the sunset when he so desires.
Despite 1,853 career wins and three World Series titles, Bochy does not have a lifetime contract. In fact, he possesses a contract that could be torn up a year short of its natural termination if the Giants struggle in 2018.
While it was once unthinkable to imagine a scenario in which Bochy is asked to step down from his current role, one he’s held longer than all of his peers in the National League, San Francisco’s recent coaching staff shakeup is reason enough to believe the Giants’ manager is on a hotter seat than he’s ever encountered during his time in the Bay Area. After all, who would have thought that pitching coach Dave Righetti, an 18-year veteran of San Francisco’s coaching staff, would have been asked to accept a new assignment?
Fortunately for the Giants and for Bochy, their manager is cerebral and a realist. He’s stated that as long as he believes the Giants can win, he’ll be in the dugout. If San Francisco struggles again in 2018, and Bochy is surrounded by an entirely new staff he doesn’t have more than a decade of personal connections with, it’s possible Bochy will elect to step away before Giants’ management considers searching for a replacement.
In addition to the on-field resurgence he’ll be tasked with leading, Bochy has dealt with several heart-related issues over the past few years, and earlier this month, he underwent his third heart surgery. Bochy insists these issues won’t impact his ability to manage in the immediate future, but if health troubles persist over the long haul, it’s hard to envision a scenario in which the Giants’ manager willingly continues to take on the stress associated with the daily grind of a 162-game season.
Ultimately, though, Bochy’s future in San Francisco, like any manager in any franchise, will be determined by the club’s most recent on-field performance. The Giants insist their 2017 season was an aberration, and they’re going to great lengths to adjust the coaching staff and fill the clubhouse with new voices and new perspectives. Righetti, bullpen coach Mark Gardner and assistant hitting coach Steve Decker have all been reassigned, while bench coach Ron Wotus and hitting coach Hensley Meulens are reportedly expected to accept reassignments soon. Third base coach Phil Nevin is on the Phillies’ managerial radar, and his potential exit would create yet another vacancy.
When the 2018 season begins, the remaining Giants with ties to the franchise’s golden era will be few and far between. Bochy will likely still have his core of Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and Brandon Crawford, and he’ll likely still have former champions like Joe Panik and Brandon Belt to pencil into his lineup on a daily basis. But the coaching staff that raised banners alongside Bochy will look completely different, and it can’t be easy for a 62-year-old to reverse a season of futility when he’s surrounded by fresh faces who are all transitioning into new jobs.
At the conclusion of the 2017 season, Bochy ranked 15th among managers in all-time wins, and even if the Giants lose 100 games in 2018, San Francisco’s skipper will pass at least two more names on the list. If Dusty Baker doesn’t manager again, Bochy will best another. For Bochy to crack the top-10, he’d need two full seasons to surpass Leo Durocher’s 2,008 career victories.
Of the 14 managers ahead of Bochy, 12 are Hall of Famers. Only Baker, who is still active, and Gene Mauch, who oversaw a pair of 20-game losing streaks during his career, are not.
Bochy’s career in San Francisco has brought the Giants three titles, while it’s brought Bochy the opportunity to shape the careers of hundreds of players. Now, to save his job, Bochy will have to shape a turnaround that gives San Francisco a realistic chance to compete for championships in the future.
It may be too much to ask. And based on the Giants’ roster composition, it might be unfair to assume Bochy can lead San Francisco back into contention.
At this point, the Giants’ staff shakeup is a warning sign that Bochy’s status as the team’s manager is no longer entirely safe. Another subpar season, and the Giants’ manager may not see a reason to return. Another subpar season, and the Giants’ front office may not see a reason to bring the Hall of Famer back.
All of this, of course, assumes the Giants cannot flip their 64-98 record from 2017 into a 98-64 mark in 2018.
Even an 87, 85, or possibly an 83-win season might be enough to convince Bochy and the team’s management that he’s worth the investment in 2019, and perhaps beyond.
Right now, the trajectory doesn’t look good, and the arrow is pointing down. But as Bochy knows better than anyone, winning cures all.