Phils jump quickly into search for manager
They may be doing their due diligence, or, more likely, Matt Klentak’s grand experiment of a younger manager with the occasional left-field look at decision-making is an idea whose time has come and gone in the space of two mediocre seasons.
The Phillies, their hands forced by the fact that they are currently one of eight MLB teams in search of a manager, and some of those shopping teams come from an elite financial class, have moved quickly after waiting until after Rosh Hashanah to fire manager Gabe Kapler Thursday.
A lengthy and somewhat bizarre Friday news conference ... a few weekend calls ... voila, the Phillies reportedly were set to interview leading candidates Buck Showalter and Joe Girardi Monday in New York, and Dusty Baker later in the week.
That was fast ... and planned?
“What we’re probably going to do, because this is what I like to do, is sit down and have a conversation about challenges and where this organization is and where we want to go and then we’re going to kind of create a profile around those challenges and those needs – organizational needs – that says this is the profile of the kind of person we’re looking,” majority owner and managing partner John Middleton had alleged in the Friday afternoon press conference. “Once we get to an agreement on what that profile is, I’m going to walk away. I’m always available for questions if there is a problem.”
The problem for Klentak was written all over his face Friday: His guy was given the gong against his wishes.
If this interview process carries through, Klentak will have gone from hiring a guy with a reputation of being a forward-thinking, data-driven, self-proclaimed dugout communicator to ... just another recycled old guy?
OK, not exactly fair. But then again, Showalter is 63, Baker is 70 and the kid of that first group, Girardi, turned 55 on Monday.
He was a National League manager of the year one of those years that the Florida Marlins chose not to sell off all their players, and was promptly fired for his efforts. He later became a longtime manager of the team he had his best years as a player with, the Yankees. He helped them win a World Series over some team from Philadelphia in 2009, and would stay 10 seasons, through 2017, basically an eternity for a manager.
For a top bench boss candidate he’s also a pretty good broadcaster, all of which supposedly moved the Phillies to make time for him on their busy Monday visit to the Big Apple.
Think Middleton’s front office lieutenants would bring a birthday gift to the interview? Or would they just have gift-wrapped a job offer? Nah, not unless John joined them.
Baker the elder, meanwhile, has a lot going for him, not the least of which is his experience of being named National League Manager of the Year three times while overseeing the Giants in the 1990s. Then again, he’s still that Damned Dodger who used to kill the Phillies in the playoffs in the late 1970s.
He’s a great guy but would these fans warm to him?
Moreover, he’s of the same generation as Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and that President that never throws out a first pitch, so you couldn’t expect him to be too attuned to the analytics lifestyle Middleton expects.
After all, the owner reminded everyone with frowns on their faces Friday, “We had no analytics department before I came on the scene. So I’m the guy who is driving that bus. Not Matt, not Andy (MacPhail), not Gabe, not even Andy Galdi who runs that department. I’m the person, it’s my vision.”
Yeah, and Al Gore invented the internet, but hey, at some point even analytics trends have to bend to reality ...
Which brings us to Showalter, the only one of these three who didn’t play in the major leagues, but who was No. 1 in your Phillies’ speculative sources list of managerial candidates here. That’s primarily because Showalter has a wealth of experience as a major league manager, and swears he has studied up on the art of baseball numerology. He also should have a real feel for typical Philly sports philosophy ... win fairly often in the regular season, but always flop in the playoffs.
In his 20 managerial years with the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Rangers and Orioles, Showalter’s teams made the playoffs five times, but only advanced beyond a divisional series once.
Yet he has something over the other candidates – familiarity. He worked for the Orioles at a time when Andy MacPhail was the team president and Matt Klentak was a front office guy.
And then there’s the possibilities beyond these first three – that All-Star of a candidate (because he’s from Delco, of course) Mike Scioscia, who is only a year removed from the end of his marathon stay as Angeles manager, and Joe Maddon, recently released by the Cubs but on the lookout for another huge deal.
Like Girardi, both of these guys won World Series.
Like the other three, they’re not youngsters. Scioscia is long removed from the hallways of Springfield High at 60, and Maddon is 65. A young 65, though.
Both should at least get friendly phone calls from MacPhail and Co.
Meanwhile, Kapler, 44, is getting calls, too. He’s expected to interview soon with both the Giants and the Cubs and try to explain to them why he fell out of favor in Philadelphia after two seasons.