Earlier today, the Phillies announced that Ryne Sandberg had signed a three-year deal to be their new manager, meaning that he has shed the "interim" tag that he took when he took over for Charlie Manuel last month. Here are a few reactions from elsewhere on the web.
- GM Ruben Amaro Jr. says the Phillies have found the "right guy," Matt Gelb of the Inquirer reports (via Sulia). When asked why he did not do a managerial search, Amaro said, "Ryne has a pretty good understanding after having been in our organization and other organizations about the continuity and the importance of working top to bottom and bottom to top in the organization."
- Sandberg's hire was "a mere formality," writes Gelb. "[F]rom the moment Sandberg was hired prior to the 2011 season as the manager of triple-A Lehigh Valley, it was assumed he would succeed Charlie Manuel," says Gelb.
- Some Hall of Fame players don't take to the grind of managing in the minors, but Sandberg stuck with it, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com writes. Salisbury compares Sandberg's case to that of Mike Schmidt, who managed for the Phillies' Class A+ Clearwater team in 2004 but quit after one season. Sandberg, on the other hand, managed in Class A for two years, in the Cubs organization, before being promoted to Double-A, then Triple-A. That dedication set Sandberg on the course that led to the Phillies' managerial job, Salisbury argues.
- Sandberg's hire rules out the possibility that Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who is originally from the Philadelphia area, will come back to Pennsylvania to manage the Phillies, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets.
