Charlie Manuel’s Job Rests on 2013’s Frail, Pathetic Shoulders

"“MLB.com: What’s Charlie’s future? He’s at the end of his contract.Montgomery: Well, I think as we’ve said all along, Charlie and Ruben have talked, and we just decided that we have enough going on out there this year that the best course was to see what happens this season.MLB.com: Would it be tough to move out a guy who is the winningest manager in Phillies history, who clearly wants to continue managing?Montgomery: Well, we’re not necessarily talking about moving him out. We just decided, “Let’s see how the year plays out, and then we’ll take it from there.”—MLB.com"

David Montgomery was interviewed at SABR 43 yesterday, revealing some sort of combination of words that could be molded into a conclusive statement, if you squint hard enough.

Jul 25, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel (41) looks on as his team plays the St. Louis Cardinals during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. St. Louis defeated Philadelphia 3-1 to complete the sweep. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Obviously, the president/CEO of the team doesn’t come out to a public appearance and start making real, honest answers to questions about the team’s immediate future regarding personnel.  But good for the human embodiment of MLB.com for asking anyway.

So what we can determine here – based on what was said, knowing that it could change at any moment anyway because the Phillies upper echelons are all made up of best friends – is that nobody seems like they want to fire Charlie, so they’re just going to let a horrible season speak for itself.  Montgomery was quick to correct any sort of “impression” MLB.com was trying to take away from the exchange, but if what he did say was true, that Charlie’s job is based around how the year “plays out,” then his departure from the team seems a foregone conclusion.

It would take a lot to have this team crawl back up and be effective again, with the inability to score runs, hold leads, or finish games staring them in the face.  Something tells me cermoniously signing Brad Lidge to one game isn’t the roster move that’s going to change all of those very real, very dumb problems.

Montgomery may have just been put off by the interview in its entirety.  It was probably weird to see a web site taking a human form – all unblinking eyes, bumping into stuff awkwardly, picking up simple objects and being mesmerized by them.