Seven teams are currently looking for new managers. The Cubs, Tigers, and Brewers respectively informed interim managers Bruce Kimm, Luis Pujols, and Jerry Royster that they were not welcome back in 2003. Meanwhile the Mets, Rangers, and Devil Rays respectively fired managers Bobby Valentine, Jerry Narron, and Hal McRae, all of whom had one year remaining on their contracts. Cleveland hasn't made a decision regarding their interim manager, Joel Skinner, though they should retain him. The contract of San Francisco manager Dusty Baker is expiring, and while the Giants plan to offer him a new deal, he could choose to apply for one of the other available positions. However, I believe Baker will remain with Frisco.

While there are a dozen rumors for every position, no team has announced a leading candidate. A few contenders are coaches on playoff teams so several teams may wait until the end of the postseason before hiring anyone. I plan to continue to cover the playoffs until the end of the World Series, but from time to time I'll lump a couple days of games together to slot another article.

As I've said, I think the Indians should definitely extend the contract of Joel Skinner. He was viewed as the successor to Charlie Manuel when he took the position of interim manager, and only the tentativeness of General Manager Mark Shapiro is standing in the way of him taking over the Indians' job in a more permanent fashion. The Indians could easily derail their rebuilding efforts by bringing in an "experienced" manager too intent on immediate results. Skinner did nothing in his half season as the Cleveland skipper to dispel the notion that he deserves a longer trial period, and the organization could benefit substantially from having their manager grow up with their team.

Publications reporting that Kimm, Pujols, and Royster were fired should check their facts. Their teams simply chose not to give them new contracts, which is different from admitting you'd rather pay a person to do nothing than have them run your team. However no matter what the cost, the Cubs couldn't have retained Kimm, so they're lucky his contract expired. Kimm proved himself to be one of the worst managers in the history of the game. He couldn't construct a lineup or run a bullpen, and he mishandled his starting pitching while advocating a nineteenth century style of offense. The Iowan isn't even able to claim he was a good clubhouse influence, as any limited chemistry the Cubs had when Don Baylor left devolved to rudimentary alchemy under Kimm.

Now Cubs' GM Jim Hendry needs to find a manager that will cleanse the club's palate of the bad taste left by his first choice. While I generally discourage the recycling of veteran managers, as there are good reasons most of them are fired, I don't think the Cubs would fair well under the direction of another rookie. Hendry is still too new to his job to deal with breaking in someone new to major league managing. The Cubs' players also aren't in a position to teach a new manager and need strong leadership, since many are young and others have been without a unifying figure for years. Hendry has announced that the only coach guaranteed to stay with the club is pitching coach Larry Rothschild, who's signed through 2004. I want to argue that the Cubs need to keep hitting coach Jeff Pentland, who transformed Sammy Sosa and several other Chicago hitters. However at this point the players don't seem to be listening to him, regardless of the quality of his advice. I do think that whatever team snaps him up this off-season will see a decisive improvement in the production of their offense over the next two years. Tampa Bay should break their budget if necessary to bring him in to work with their toolsy prospects, though I doubt they will.

When Milwaukee made their front office changes, I said they needed to make a clean break and hire a new manager as well. Jerry Royster did not handle the team overly competently this year, and the team needed to distance itself from the negative associations of their 106-loss season. His decision to bench Jose Hernandez at the end of the season is sufficient reason for every team in baseball to overlook him for the foreseeable future.

I brought up the possibility of Narron as the new Brewer manager, and I still think that might work. However when interviewing candidates, Milwaukee should ensure that the new manager won't use the state of the organization as an excuse for poor results. If their next manager has a positive attitude and is aware there will be a growing period, the Brewers have a shot at successfully rebuilding the franchise. Consequently, I think they're likely better off with one of the leading rookie candidates rather than someone who's already been fired.

From what I've heard, Pujols was learning from his mistakes in Detroit by the end of the season, so he might have been a decent manager in 2003. Pujols had only a season of AA managerial experience prior to taking over the Tigers. He might emerge as a very strong candidate again after a few seasons of managing someone's triple-A affiliate and perhaps a trip to the Arizona Fall League. The Tigers also need someone with a positive attitude, and I'm again inclined to recommend a new face here to accompany their young players on their rebuilding journey.