Bo Porter never got to crack any champagne. His two years as the Astros’ manager were miserable, as the team went 110-190 under his watch while trudging through a very transparent rebuild. The fruits of that teardown manifested a year later, when Houston won 86 games, but A.J. Hinch had already taken over as skipper before winning a World Series two seasons later.
Rick Renteria didn’t pop any bubbly, either. He went 73-89 in his sole season as the manager of the Cubs, who also endured a five-year reconstruction. But like a starter with Mariano Rivera in the bullpen, Renteria was replaced by Joe Maddon just as Chicago found its form in 2015.