Managers most likely to get canned by next season

	John Gibbons (right) has had two major blowups with his players this season, the latest last week with left-hander Ted Lilly. AP

A lot of kids want to grow up to be major league players. Nobody ever spent time in the backyard dreaming of becoming a major league manager.

Is it any wonder?

As baseball winds through its final few fitful weeks, more than a few managers are suffering through some restless nights. And we're not counting guys like Buddy Bell (Royals), Jim Tracy (Pirates) and Joe Maddon (Devil Rays), whose teams represent the dregs of baseball.

No, we're talking managers who, for varying reasons, may not be managers next year. Here's a list of big-league skippers, in no particular order, who should be freshening up the ol' résumé.

Mike Hargrove, Mariners
By now, Hargrove should be used to the drill. The former Indians and Orioles manager has been fired a couple of times. He hasn't taken a team to the postseason since the Indians went to the '97 World Series. A recent 11-game losing streak -- and the fact that the Mariners have lost 20 straight in the American League West -- will probably earn Hargrove his pink slip.

Dusty Baker, Cubs
We had him at "goodbye" a month or more ago, but the Cubs, miraculously, are playing better now than they have all season. Since the break they're 20-19. The general manager, generally speaking, has been in Dusty's corner. But when all is said and done and it comes time for contract talks in the offseason, this'll be a parting of ways that will turn out better for everyone.

John Gibbons, Jays
GM J.P. Ricciardi loves Gibbons, and Ricciardi's job is safe despite all the money he spent this offseason for a basically .500 team. But good-guy Gibby, who turns pugilistic when things go to pot, clearly is on the verge of losing the clubhouse, if he hasn't already, and that's the worst thing that can happen to a manager. A good finish could save him. A bad finish will finish him.

Joe Girardi, Marlins
In a parallel baseball world, the scrappy former catcher might not only be a top candidate for manager of the year, he'd be the Marlins' manager for years to come. He's taken a raw bunch of players and molded them into a cohesive team that nobody -- not one body -- figured would be this good. The problem: By one account, he told his owner to "shut the ---- up." I'm not sure any employee can get away with that, even if the boss deserved it. And Jeffery Loria did.

Charlie Manuel, Phillies
Undermined by front-office loudmouths -- Dallas Green, just pipe down -- Manuel has skippered what has been, for most of the year, a wildly inconsistent team. He could easily be canned, especially if the Phillies follow their last month of decent play by a final month of atrocities. Remember, GM Pat Gillick didn't hire Manuel. Gillick would have no problem letting him go.

Felipe Alou, Giants
No team in baseball may be more different next year than the Giants. And if you're going to overhaul a squad and go young -- heck, can the Giants get any older? -- you might as well go with a younger manager, like a Girardi, to bring the kids along. Alou hasn't made the playoffs since he replaced Baker in 2003, and he's liable to have back-to-back losing seasons. That may be the final straw.

Frank Robinson, Nationals
Highly respected by everyone except many of the players he manages, Robinson has been strung along for years between Montreal and Washington. It's not his fault the Nationals are what they are, and a change in managers probably won't make a big difference. But the Nats are looking to build something in the next few years; they may be looking for a fresh face to do it.

Bruce Bochy, Padres
It's hard to imagine that the skipper of the defending division champs would be on the hot seat, harder still when you consider that the Padres are in the race again this year -- and with a better record than they had in '05. But the rumbling in San Diego continues about Sandy Alderson wanting his own guys. Bochy and GM Kevin Towers aren't his guys. Hard to can Bochy if they win the West, though.