Terry Francona Earns Historic 2,000th Win. Which Active MLB Manager Is Next?

“The one thing you just die for is a chance to win … and to be expected to win is what you play for, what you coach for.” 

That’s what current Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona, who at that point had not won much of anything, said when hired by the Boston Red Sox in December 2003. Since then, Francona has gone on to have a very successful MLB career, and he added another milestone to his impressive résumé.

On Sunday, he became the 13th manager in major league history to reach 2,000 wins with the Reds’ 4-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies. Francona joins Texas’ Bruce Bochy as the only active managers with at least 2,000 wins. 

Ten of the 12 other managers who have accumulated at least 2,000 wins are in the Hall of Fame. Bochy and Dusty Baker (2,183), who isn’t yet eligible, are the only exceptions. What’s more, the 66-year-old Francona is the fourth manager to record his 2,000th win for one of the teams from his playing career. Francona played for the Reds in 1987, batting .227 in 102 games.

With Sunday’s win, Francona’s regular-season record is now 2,000-1,719 in 24 seasons. He led Boston to World Series titles in 2004 and 2007, and Cleveland to the Fall Classic in 2016. His teams have reached the postseason 11 times.

Francona is 50-47 in his first season with Cincinnati after signing a three-year deal with a club option for 2028.

To put Francona’s 2,000th win into perspective, it’s important to know that the first and second managers to achieve this feat — John McGraw and Connie Mack, respectively — began their careers in the dugout in 1899 and 1894 — before modern baseball existed. 

That got us thinking about who could be the next name added to this prestigious list.

Francona is second among active managers in wins behind Bochy’s 2,219. San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin, 63, is 21st on the all-time list with 1,649 wins. Envisioning him as the 14th manager to reach 2,000 wins isn’t a stretch, unless he decides to retire in the next few years. After that, however, it’s all guesswork.

Former Rockies skipper Bud Black is the closest manager behind Melvin among those who’ve managed a game in 2025, but he’s already 68 years old and at just 1,193 wins. He also serves as the end of the line for his generation of managers. So, if there’s another 2,000-win manager waiting in the wings beyond Melvin, they’re not yet in their 60s.

Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, 51, is at 830 wins and in his 12th year of managing. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Dave Roberts, 53, is in his 12th year at the helm and has 908 wins entering Sunday. Tampa Bay Rays skipper Kevin Cash, 47, is also in his 11th year and has amassed 869 victories. Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell, 54, is next up at 847 through 11 seasons. 

Anyone active beyond that has either not been around long enough to know if they’ll pick up enough wins, like Aaron Boone, or is already approaching 60, which means they might not have the longevity they need, such as Torey Lovullo.

Hinch, though, has youth on his side and nothing but success to point to since returning to the dugout in 2015 to manage the Houston Astros. He led the 2017 World Series-winning club — the first of his three consecutive 100-win seasons — then the 2019 American League pennant squad. While let go as part of the league’s investigation into sign-stealing, Hinch ended up with the Tigers in 2021 after serving his suspension and has turned them around. Detroit made the postseason in 2024 for the first time since 2014 and has the best record in the majors in 2025.

Roberts might be two years older than Hinch and has fewer wins to this point, but it’s hard to argue that he’s not in a better position. The Dodgers have the longest run of sustained success, and there’s little reason to think they won’t be able to keep that up into the future. There is no easy way to reach 2,000 wins, and certainly no guarantees, but, at 53 and with the power of the Dodgers’ resources and organizational structure behind him, Roberts is maybe the most viable candidate of his generation. 

At 47, Cash is the youngest of this bunch and is just over 60 wins behind Roberts despite the age gap. The Rays aren’t the Dodgers in a number of ways, but they are stable and are not prone to removing managers from the dugout if they’re succeeding. In fact, Cash took over after Joe Maddon opted out of his contract before the 2015 season. He has averaged 82 wins per season from 2015-2024, and the Rays have 50 wins in 2025. Like with Hinch and Roberts, he’s still a long way off, but you can see a path here, and his age means he can take that path a bit more slowly, too.

Then there’s Counsell, who, like Cash, got started in 2015 but was much older than he was when he took the job with the Milwaukee Brewers. Counsell, who turns 55 in August, is the oldest of this group and also last in wins among them. His teams have also had one season under .500 since he had his first winning campaign in 2017, so he’s been able to make up for the later start. He’s still early in his Cubs tenure, and they don’t have quite the consistency of the Dodgers or Rays, but he still has a shot at 2,000 wins even if it’s not as good as the three active managers ahead of him on the list. For Counsell, how long he ultimately decides to manage for is going to play a significant role in his final total.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is among the possible realistic candidates who could get 2,000 wins among active managers. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

As for Francona, he has other milestones to attain now that he’s reached 2,000 wins. He could jump from 13th place to 12th place, leapfrogging Leo Durocher, with another nine wins, and 41 will get him past Walter Alston and into 11th place. Francona is 125 wins behind Joe McCarthy for the 10th-most wins of all time, which would take a little longer, and he can pass Bucky Harris for ninth with 159 more victories. 

Baker moved into eighth all-time before retiring following the 2023 season, but Francona could move ahead of him with 184 more wins. Another 11 would bump Sparky Anderson back a spot, putting Francona at seventh all-time.

Everything after that depends on how long Francona wants to and is allowed to manage and how well the Reds perform. The Reds are currently on pace for 83 wins. If they keep that pace, he’d need to average 76 wins over the next two seasons to pass Anderson. Beyond that, Bochy is a moving target, and Joe Torre, who boasts the fifth-most wins of all time, is 326 away from Francona.

Only time will tell where Francona final landing spot is on the list.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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