Phillies: Three candidates emerge for manager position

An outside voice is sounding more likely for the Phillies manager job

Three potential candidates have emerged in the Phillies search for the franchises’ 54th manager in 135 seasons. Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports Brad Ausmus, Tim Bogar, and Gary DiSarcina are among an early list of “hot names” for the job.

Ausmus was recently fired by the Detroit Tigers after his fourth season managing an aging club. Compiling a 314-332 record in the Motor City, Ausmus won zero playoff games despite winning the American League Central.

Detroit was constantly in flux with the idea of rebuilding, leading to a 26 game drop-off from Ausmus’ first and last years.

Many managers perform particularly well in their second job, which could bode well for the former Gold Glove catcher. With 18 years of playing experience and retiring only seven years ago, Ausmus can build a connection to today’s players.

Both Bogar and DiSarcina were in the Los Angeles Angels organization when Phillies general manager Matt Klentak served as their assistant general manager.

Bogar has nine years of major league playing experience, most of which came with the Mets and Astros in the early-mid 90’s. He’s worked in both the Rangers and Mariners dugouts, most recently serving as Seattle’s bench coach. When Texas manager Ron Washington resigned at the tail-end of the 2014 season Bogar was named interim manager, winning 14 of 22 games.

DiSarcina played shortstop for 12 years in the majors, all with the Angels. Retiring after the 2002 season DiSarcina returned to the Angels organization as an assistant GM before taking the Red Sox Triple-A manager job. After four seasons managing in the minor leagues, DiSarcina returned to the major league dugout as the Angels third and first base coach. He later returned to Boston to serve as Terry Francona’s bench coach, a position he currently holds.

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There are a couple of similarities between these three men: all have major league playing experience, have worked on a major league coaching staff, and are between the ages of 48-50.

That could be a minute blueprint for Klentak as he searches for the next championship manager.

No other names have officially been connected to the job, although in-house candidates Dusty Wathan (Triple-A manager) and Juan Samuel (third base coach) will certainly be on the original list.

Next: Five younger manager options for the Phillies

Philadelphia needs stability as they enter a critical offseason in Klentak’s rebuild. The organization has had three managers since the opening day of the 2013 season after 8.5 years with Charlie Manuel.