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Six Managers Born Outside the U.S. Will Lead MLB Clubs in 2024

 Matt Tallarini  |    Mar 25th, 2024 2:00pm EDT

Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers looks on during the national anthem prior to the 2024 Seoul Series game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres at Gocheok Sky Dome on Wednesday, March 20, 2024 in Seoul, California. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Correction: A previous version of this article listed only five of the six managers born outside the United States, omitting Rob Thomson of the Philadelphia Phillies. 

Los Angeles Dodgers Manager David Roberts – Roberts, 51, was born in Naha, Okinawa, Japan, and has begun his ninth year managing the Los Angeles Dodgers. His club opened the 2024 regular season in Seoul, South Korea, splitting a two-game series against the San Diego Padres with a 5-2 win on March 20 and a 15-11 loss on March 21 at the Gocheok Sky Dome. 

Roberts won two World Series, one as a player with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and another in 2020, when he managed the Dodgers to their seventh World Series title. 

His career record as a manager is 754-443. 

The Dodgers will play their third game of the 2024 regular season on March 28 against the St. Louis Cardinals at home at 4:10 p.m. EST. 

Manager Bruce Bochy of the Texas Rangers looks on from the dugout in the ninth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks during Game Three of the World Series at Chase Field on October 30, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Texas Rangers Manager Bruce Bochy – Bochy, 68, was born in Landes de Bussac, France, and has managed 27 seasons in MLB. He led the San Diego Padres from 1995-2006, the San Francisco Giants from 2007-19, and helped the Rangers win their first World Series title in 2023 beating the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games. 

Bochy will start his second season with Texas this week. He won three World Series championships in San Francisco in 2010, 2012, and 2014, and led San Diego to their second National League pennant in 1998. 

Bochy also won the National League Manager Of The Year Award in 1996 and is 10th all-time in managerial wins list with a career record of 2,093-2,101. He also managed France at the 2022 World Baseball Classic qualifiers in Regensburg, Germany. 

The Rangers will play their first game of the 2024 regular season at home against the Chicago Cubs on March 28 at 7:35 p.m. EDT and will receive their 2023 World Series rings. 

New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza looks on prior to a spring training game against the Miami Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium on March 20, 2024 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images)

New York Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza – Mendoza, 44, was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela and will manage his first season in MLB with the Mets after serving as the New York Yankees bench coach from 2020-23. 

Mendoza was introduced by the Mets President of Baseball Operations David Sterns as the 24th manager of the franchise on Nov. 14, 2023 after the Mets parted ways with Buck Showalter. Showalter’s 2023 club finished in fourth place in the National League East Division with their record at 75-87.

Mendoza was also the bench coach for the Venezuelan national team during the 2023 World Baseball Classic under manager Omar Lopez. He managed in the minor leagues in the Yankees system with the Gulf Coast League Yankees in 2011 and the Charleston RiverDogs of the Low-A South Atlantic League in 2012. 

The Mets will play their first game of the 2024 regular season at home against the Milwaukee Brewers on March 28 at 1:10 p.m. EST. 

Manager Alex Cora of the Boston Red Sox looks on from the dugout prior to the game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox at Estadio Quisqueya on Sunday, March 10, 2024 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Boston Red Sox Manager Alex Cora – Cora, 48, was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, and has managed in six seasons with the Boston Red Sox from 2018-19 and returned to the organization in 2021. He was suspended for the season on April 22, 2020 in the wake of the investigation of electronic sign-stealing by the Houston Astros during their 2018 World Series Championship season. 

Cora was re-hired by the Red Sox on Nov. 6, 2020, signing a contract that included two years with a club option for 2023 and 2024. 

In his six seasons managing the Red Sox, Cora has a record of 440-370 and 123 successful challenges with 68 overturned challenges. Cora has been ejected 13 times during his career. 

The Red Sox will open up the 2024 regular season against the Seattle Mariners on the road on March 28 at 10:10 p.m. EST. 

Manager Joe Espada of the Houston Astros looks on during spring training workouts at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches on Feb. 17, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images)

Houston Astros Manager Joe Espada – Espada, 48, was born in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and will manage in his first season during his career in MLB after former Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker announced his retirement on November 13, 2023 and was promoted the same day after being the bench coach with the organization from 2018-23 after losing to their in-state rival, the 2023 World Series champion Texas Rangers in the American League Championship Series in seven games. 

Prior to Espada being with the Astros, from 2015-17 he was with the New York Yankees as their third base coach under former manager Joe Girardi. 

Espada was also part of the Puerto Rico national team coaching staff that lost in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic in 2013 to the Dominican Republic and in 2017 to the United States with both teams being under former manager Edwin Rodriguez. 

Espada has never managed in the minor leagues prior to being hired by the Astros this past offseason. 

Espada will have the same preliminary sluggers in the lineup returning from last year’s team such as Yordan Alvarez, Jose Abreu, Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve that could help Houston make a deep playoff run into October. 

The Astros will play their first game of the 2024 regular season at home against the New York Yankees on March 28 at 4:10 p.m. EST. 

Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson looks on during batting practice before Game Two of the Championship Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park on October 17, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

Philadelphia Phillies Manager Rob Thompson – Thompson, 61, was born in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada and is entering his third season as the manager of the Phillies. 

Thompson has been in Philadelphia since former New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi took over the managerial position down Broad Street in 2018 and was the bench coach until 2021, taking over the club when Girardi was fired 0n June 3, 2022. 

Thompson was in the Yankees organization for a total of 27 years from 1990-2017 as a coach and manager in their minor league system and in player development positions. He managed in the minor leagues for one season in 1995 with Class-A Short Season Oneonta.  

Thompson became the first Canadian to manage an MLB game since George Gibson skippered the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1934, taking over the Yankees when Girardi was ill with a respiratory infection on April 4-5, 2008, against the Tampa Bay Rays. Thompson was named the bench coach in Girardi’s first season in 2008. He served as the third base coach from 2009 with the Yankees until the 2014 season, when he again named the bench coach in 2015. He held the position in the Bronx until 2017 following Girardi to Philadelphia. 

Thompson is the second Canadian born manager in Major League Baseball history, following Gibson, who managed Pittsburgh from 1920-22, the Chicago Cubs in 1925, and the Pirates again from 1932-34. 

With the Yankees, Thompson won a World Series in 2009 and helped Philadelphia reach the Fall Classic in 2022, when they fell short losing in six games to the Houston Astros. 

Thompson led the Phillies to the second place in the National League East in 2023 with a 90-72 record. They lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Championship Series in seven games. 

Thompson’s career managerial record is 155-188. 

He was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019 and was part of the Canadian national team in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, when baseball was a demonstration sport. 

The Phillies will open the 2024 regular season at home against their National League East rival, the Atlanta Braves, at 3:05 p.m. EST on March 28.