New York —
Before hiring a manager for his mid-market franchise, a general manager and five other team stakeholders sat in a room with a whiteboard to brainstorm what they believed to be the attributes of a championship skipper. The last manager had been fired at the end of a disappointing season and they needed a fresh voice.
They ended up with more than 40 characteristics written on the board, narrowed the list to the five they felt were the most important for exactly where they were in the competitive cycle, and interviewed only candidates they believed to be strong in at least four of the five. The man they hired won Manager of the Year, led the team to the playoffs multiple times – and was fired just months after the team had picked up his option.
He was replaced the following season with someone who had also been fired from his last job for the disappointing performance of a different club.
“Like general managers,” the former GM, who now works in a different front office, told CNN Sports recently, “managers are hired to be fired.”
