Phillies: The case for and against Dusty Wathan as the next manager

Dusty Wathan instantly became a favorite for the Phillies manager job once Pete Mackanin was fired. Is he the right candidate?

With the regular season now over for the Phillies, the first big step of the offseason is to hire the manager for 2018 and beyond. They are left without anyone at the helm with Pete Mackanin being fired a few days before the season ended.

As soon as Mackanin was canned, one of the first names to pop into the discussion for the next manager was Dusty Wathan. Wathan served as Triple-A Lehigh Valley’s manager this season and has been managing Philadelphia’s minor-league teams for years now. At the end of the last few seasons, Wathan has served as an extra coach with the major-league team, so he is definitely on the radar. The question is, is he a good candidate for the job?

The biggest thing working in Wathan’s favor is his relationship with many of the players on the roster. Pretty much everyone that came up through Philadelphia’s farm system played under Wathan at one point or another, especially many of the rookies and second-year players in 2017.

Rookies Rhys Hoskins and J.P. Crawford both expressed their positive views on Wathan to Rob Parent of the Delaware County Times. Both spent considerable time playing under Wathan the last few years.

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"“Dusty’s been great for the couple years that I’ve played with him,” Hoskins said. “He played 14, 15 years in baseball. He gets what we’re going through as players. I think that adds to his style as a manager. You hear a lot of guys say that this guy is a player’s manager. Well, Dusty is that to a T. I felt very comfortable going to him with baseball stuff and non-baseball stuff. To have that in your manager’s office is pretty special and just adds to the bond that he has with his players.”“A lot of people like him,” Crawford added about Wathan. “He was my favorite manager coming up. I think it will be fun if he comes up here and gets the job. I don’t see why not.“He got along with the players really well. He loved to win just as much as we did. He brought that winning attitude into the dugout.”"

More likely than not, the views expressed by Crawford and Hoskins are probably the same as other young players in the locker room like Nick Williams, Aaron Nola, and Jorge Alfaro. All of these players are expected to be the team’s core moving forward, so it would make sense to have a manager that they are all already comfortable with.

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Obviously, what’s working against Wathan is his inexperience in the majors. He had just five career at-bats in the major-leagues, spending nearly his whole life in the minors during his playing and coaching career. The front office may be looking for someone with more experience to guide the team moving forward.

However, Wathan still has an impressive resume. He twice won Eastern League Manager of the Year managing the Double-A Reading Fightin’ Phils. He took Reading to the playoffs in 2015 and 2016 as well as then Lehigh Valley this year despite many of his best players being called up to the majors.

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Ultimately, what will determine Wathan’s legitimacy as a candidate will depend on what Matt Klentak is looking for in a manager. If he wants someone with plenty of major-league experience, Wathan won’t get the job. However, if he is looking for a fresh mind with a connection to the players in the locker room, Wathan certainly has a strong case to be the next manager.

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