Five younger candidates for the Phillies manager job
The Phillies have such a young roster, it would only make sense to hire a younger manager to connect to players. Here are five candidates that fit that bill.
The Phillies made a (somewhat) surprising move Friday afternoon by announcing that Pete Mackanin will not return in 2018 as the manager. General manager Matt Klentak told the press that he and the team want to move forward with a new manager that will lead them to the future.
Klentak made it a point to note how young the roster has gotten in the last two years: [quote via Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly]
“As you all know, we have turned over this roster considerably over the last two years and especially in the last few months. We see our roster right now is littered with young players who look to have a very, very bright future. It’s time to look forward.”
With the roster being so young, it only makes sense to hire someone that is closer to the age of the players on the team as opposed to an old-school baseball lifer. With that in mind, here are five younger manager candidates the Phillies could hire.
Brad Ausmus
Brad Ausmus is in the same position as Pete Mackanin right now. Last week he was informed that he would not return as the Tigers manager for 2018 and is in a lame-duck position in Detroit. After Sunday, Ausmus will be without a job and certainly available to pursue.
The Tigers are in the same position the Phillies were in a few years ago: they are finally starting to recognize the need to rebuild and have begun tearing everything down in Detroit. They traded away some of their better players (J.D. Martinez and Justin Verlander) but still have some bloated contracts on their payroll. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?
Ausmus was the Tigers manager from 2014 until now. They won the AL Central in his first season but were swept in the American League division series. The Tigers finished second last year in the division, but it has since come crashing down.
Ausmus is the prototypical Ivy-League, young manager that is starting to gain popularity in baseball. However, there was talk of a disconnect between him and his players by the end of this season, which could be an issue in the hiring process.
Joe McEwing
From here on, there aren’t any candidates on this list with major-league managing experience, but if we’re looking for young yet experienced manager candidates, they will be far and few between.
Joe McEwing’s name comes up quite often during manager searches. He was the White Sox third base coach for five seasons before becoming their bench coach this year. His name is connected to Philadelphia just a little more because he is from Bristol, Pa.
McEwing did manage for some of Chicago’s minor-league teams, which does make him more qualified for the position.
The 44-year-old McEwing played in the majors for nine years and played every single position except for catcher and pitcher. In 1999 he finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting with the Cardinals. If you believe in the mantra that the bench players make the best coaches, than McEwing is your guy.
Jorge Velandia
Jorge Velandia is another former utility man on this list, playing second, third, and shortstop over eight seasons in the majors with six different teams. While the experience helps, it’s what Velandia has done in the Phillies front office that makes him a possible candidate.
Velandia has worked in the front office as part of the player development team for many Latin American players. He is the general manager of La Guiara in the Venezuelan Winter League and has served as a talent evaluator.
If Velandia does become the manager, he would help Philadelphia’s – and the rest of the league’s, for that matter – growing number of Latin America players adjust to the majors, especially if they are still in the process of learning English. The team has stressed the importance of these players getting acclimated to life here, and Velandia would help accomplish that goal.
Dave Martinez
Every time a manager spot opens up, people wonder if Dave Martinez will finally make the move up from Joe Maddon’s bench coach to a managing job for himself. He has been with Maddon both in Tampa Bay and in Chicago and has certainly learned a lot from the manager whom many consider one of the best in baseball.
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If Martinez does come to Philadelphia, he would bring with him a wealth of baseball knowledge, both old and new-school. The Phillies are making a major shift towards analytics, so Martinez would go right in line with that philosophy.
The big question though is if Martinez would even want to leave Chicago. He has been to the playoffs for three straight seasons with the Cubs and there is a chance he could head back to the World Series.
Matt Klentak would really have to convince Martinez that this Phillies team is very close to a playoff spot, if not ready to contend in 2018.