The next MLB manager on the hot seat — and the ones getting warmer — after Joe Girardi firing

The hottest seat
1. Joe Maddon, Angels. Through May 24, the Angels were 27-17 and Fangraphs gave them a 77 percent chance of making the playoffs. The 12-game losing streak they took into Tuesday night’s game against the Red Sox dropped L.A. to a 30.3.

The Angels are the AL version of the Phillies. They also have a franchise record payroll in 2022 and a long postseason drought (Philadelphia has the second longest in MLB, L.A. is tied for third longest). Like the Phillies when hiring Girardi, they also bypassed Showalter. Billy Eppler favored Showalter after the 2019 campaign. But by then he was a lame-duck GM with the Angels and owner Arte Moreno wanted Maddon. Imagine how different history would be if …

Now, how badly does Moreno want to protect Maddon? The sides didn’t even negotiate an extension last offseason. Eppler’s successor, Perry Minasian, hired Ray Montgomery as Maddon’s bench coach and — many in the industry believe — Maddon’s heir.

In the best of times, Maddon’s laidback style plays as calming. In the worst of times, it plays as checked out. Do Minasian, who didn’t hire Maddon, and — more importantly — Moreno believe Maddon’s style will resuscitate the talented Angels? Or like the Phillies, do the Angels decide there is too much invested in this season not to try to defibrillate with a new voice and go with the bench coach, like the Phils did with Rob Thomson replacing Girardi? It really just seems a question of when — during this season or after.