Is Rangers' Bruce Bochy Best MLB Manager?
At least one current Major League skipper believes that Bruce Bochy — despite being out of the Major Leagues for three seasons — is the best manager in the game.
ESPN.com surveyed Major League managers on a variety of topics at the recent Winter Meetings in San Diego. One was who was the best manager in the game.
Several names came up. Former Rangers manager in Buck Showalter, who is now in Baltimore, was named. Another was Dusty Baker, who just claimed his first World Series ring as a manager with the Houston Astros. Another was Cleveland skipper Terry Francona, who won rings with the Boston Red Sox.
Managers were not allowed to choose themselves. Toronto manager John Schneider selected Bochy.
“Bruce Bochy, who just got back in,” Schneider told ESPN. “I remember admiring him as he did his thing in San Francisco.”
Schneider, 42, was recently named the full-time manager of the Blue Jays after taking over on an interim basis last season and leading them to the playoffs.
Schneider has spent his entire playing and coaching career in the Blue Jays’ organization, but didn’t ascend to a Major League coaching stop with Toronto until 2019, which was Bochy’s final season in San Francisco.
The Rangers hired Bochy in October as the replacement for Chris Woodward, who was fired in August.
Bochy was one of the best-credentialed hires on the open market. He has a record of 2,003-2,029 as a manager with the San Diego Padres (1995-2006) and San Francisco Giants (2007-19). He was the National League manager of the year in 1996.
He had his most significant success with the Giants, leading the team to World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014. The 2010 title came at the expense of the Rangers, who were making their first World Series appearance.
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