Manager rankings: MLB's skippers, from top to bottom

What a life, managing a major-league baseball team.

Each day of service is one day closer to getting fired -- and, with rare exception, you will get fired.

Dusty Baker's ability to get the most out of veteran players makes him very valuable and highly rated.(AP)

With the 2003 baseball season set to begin Sunday night, only 30 men hold such a job. Each man, from Yankees manager Joe Torre to Milwaukee's ... wait, I know, give me a second ... is being asked to handle a group of rich, egotistical athletes and mold them into a championship team. (Hey, Ned Yost ... right?)

Being a manager is a way to remain in the game you love, stay directly involved in the competition and get paid very well.

As in any sport, a manager or coach is as good as his players and the people around him. There are, however, certain men who have a knack for raising the level of a team; they seem to make mediocre teams good, good ones great.

Other managers are, shall we say, less successful. Some have valid reasons -- small-market rosters, performing under intense microscopes. Others simply would be better suited to be a bench coach, first-base coach, used-car salesman or tax auditor.

Rating major-league managers is very subjective. In today's game, the job demands a grasp of baseball strategy, the ability to handle high-maintenance individuals, and the personality to deal with the ever-invasive media.

Using that as a general guide, here are the 30 big-league managers, ranked from the very best to a bottom five consisting of men managing in the majors for the first time.

Guys, and that includes you, Ned Yost, the clock is ticking.