break and trade deadline, it's time to tend to the grim business of contemplating the managerial hot seat. As such matters go, the 2023 array of skipper seats aren't particularly hot — i.e., no manager seems to be in imminent danger of termination. Still, peer around the league and you'll find expectations that aren't being met, and that can lead to increasing temperatures. What follows, then, are seats that may not presently be all that hot but have the potential to become just that. 

Abandon some — but certainly not all — hope, all ye who enter here. 

1. Buck Showalter, Mets

Owner Steve Cohen recently suggested that Showalter's job is not in danger. He's to be taken at his word, but, hey, maybe this is also the dreaded "vote of confidence" that precedes an eventual termination. Time will tell. 

The reality is that the Mets are coming off a 101-win season in 2022 and presently running the highest payroll in MLB history. That comes with heavy expectations, and at this writing Showalter's Mets are 31-35 and in fourth place in the National League East (and without top hitter Pete Alonso for some time). If we get to the All-Star break and that Opening Day payroll of more than $330 million is still yielding a losing record, then Showalter might be in real trouble.