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Joe Girardi The Reported Favorite In Phillies’ Managerial Search

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Oct. 22: Girardi has emerged as the favorite in the Phillies search for a new manager, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Matt Breen hears the same.

A match with the Phillies is not a foregone conclusion, however; Girardi is undergoing a second interview with the Mets today, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link), so he’s still very much in the running for one of Philadelphia’s division rivals. There’s been no indication of a contract offer to this point. Even if (or when) the Phils do make an offer, it’s possible that Girardi will prefer one of the other openings for which he’s interviewed. He’s been tied most prominently to the vacancies in Philadelphia, New York and Chicago, and it appears increasingly likely that he’ll be back in a big league dugout in 2020.

Oct. 21: Phillies owner John Middleton had the determining vote in the team’s decision to fire manager Gabe Kapler, and he could wield his power again in finding a new skipper. Middleton’s said to be “leaning toward” Joe Girardi as the choice, while other members of the Phillies’ hierarchy are fans of fellow finalist Buck Showalter, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. There’s no word on whether Dusty Baker, who has also been in the mix, is still a candidate for the job.

Girardi, reportedly the favorite for the position, had his second interview with the club Monday. Unlike Kapler, a first-time MLB skipper at the time of his hiring, Girardi brings a wealth of experience in the role. The 55-year-old oversaw the NL East rival Marlins back in 2006, when he led a low-payroll club to 78 wins en route to NL Manager of the Year honors. The dysfunctional Marlins fired Girardi in the wake of that season, though, and after a year off, he accepted the Yankees’ managerial job entering 2008. Girardi, who ultimately remained in the position through 2017, helped the Yankees to six playoff berths. In Girardi’s crowning achievement as New York’s manager, the team knocked off his next potential employer, Philadelphia, in the 2009 World Series.

Showalter, seemingly Girardi’s main competition, also comes with significant experience as a manager (20 years, to be exact). As of last week, Middleton was reportedly collecting information from players on Showalter. There’s already quite a bit of familiarity between Showalter and key members of the Phillies’ front office, making it unsurprising they’re interested in hiring the 63-year-old. Showalter last managed in Baltimore, where now-Philly president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and general manager Matt Klentak worked before landing their current gigs. MacPhail hired Showalter to steer the Orioles, but it doesn’t appear the two will be reuniting if Girardi truly is Middleton’s No. 1 target.

Latest On Phillies, Buck Showalter

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Phillies owner John Middleton had the final say on last week’s firing of manager Gabe Kapler, whom he ditched despite disagreements from the club’s front office and some of its prominent players. Middleton polled members of the Phillies’ roster in regards to Kapler, and though the skipper received favorable reviews from the likes of Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto, it wasn’t enough to save his job.

Now, with the Phillies looking for a replacement for Kapler, Middleton’s reportedly surveying players again. This time, he’s seeking input on longtime manager Buck Showalter, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. With Middleton having indicated general manager Matt Klentak is leading the hiring process, it’s notable the owner seems to be taking on an active role in a coaching decision yet again. Back in August, a couple months before Kapler’s firing, Middleton made the call to replace hitting coach John Mallee with ex-Phillies manager Charlie Manuel.

The 63-year-old Showalter is currently one of three seasoned skippers the Phillies are honing in on, joining Dusty Baker and Joe Girardi. Showalter looks to have the strongest connection of the trio to Philly’s front office, which is run by former Baltimore executives in Klentak and president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail. In fact, it was MacPhail who hired Showalter to manage the Orioles in 2010. It proved to be a sound decision by MacPhail, as the Showalter-led O’s earned three playoff berths until his ouster last year. Klentak and MacPhail are still Showalter fans, if his status as a finalist for the Phillies’ job is any indication, but he has to win over Middleton as well.

Poll: The Phillies’ Managerial Finalists

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The Phillies’ managerial search appears to be down to three candidates, who combine for 53 years of experience at running a Major League team.  Gabe Kapler was a first-time manager who took an analytics-heavy approach to his role as the Phils’ skipper, though after two disappointing years, Kapler was fired to make way for a more seasoned hand in the dugout.  This isn’t to say that Dusty Baker, Joe Girardi, or Buck Showalter aren’t open to modern ideas, yet it’s clear that the Phillies are looking for, in the words of the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Matt Breen, a mix of “analytics and tradition.”

While it could be argued how “new school” or “old school” the three candidates are, one thing is for certain — Baker, Girardi, and Showalter all have outstanding track records.

Baker: 1863-1636 record over 22 seasons managing the Giants (1993-2002), Cubs (2003-06), Reds (2008-13), and Nationals (2016-17); 14 winning seasons; eight postseason appearances, seven division titles, one league pennant

Girardi: 988-794 record over 11 seasons managing the Marlins (2006) and Yankees (2008-17); 10 winning seasons; six postseason appearances, three division titles, one World Series championship

Showalter: 1551-1517 record over 20 seasons managing the Yankees (1992-95), Diamondbacks (1998-2000), Rangers (2003-06), Orioles (2010-18); 10 winning seasons; five postseason appearances, two division titles

Between managing contenders, also-rans, rebuilding teams, and (in Girardi’s case) World Series champions, the three skippers have basically seen it all in their careers, which should help in dealing with a Phillies team that has a lot of talent, but was also hamstrung by injuries and a lack of production in some key areas over the last two seasons.

As much as the Phillies were expected to contend this year, they haven’t yet gotten into that tier of the sport’s top teams — which is nothing unusual for Baker and Showalter, who have each molded losing teams into playoff contenders on multiple occasions.  Girardi didn’t exactly have the same rebuilding experience when he took over the consistently-winning Yankees following Joe Torre’s departure, though he withstood a decade in the Bronx pressure cooker, and kept the Yankees above .500 from 2013-16 during what counts, by New York’s standards, as a rebuilding period (only one postseason appearance in those four years).

If you ran the Phillies, which of these three managers would you hire to get your team over the top?  (Poll link for app users.)

Phillies Managerial Search Reportedly In Final Stages

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After conducting interviews with Joe Girardi, Buck Showalter, and Dusty Baker last week, Phillies leadership is expected to welcome all three men back for follow-up interviews in the coming days, according to Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer (link). Breen characterizes the hiring process as being in the “final stages”, with no other candidates slated to interview for the club’s open manager job.

GM Matt Klentak and assistant GM Ned Rice are leading the search, though actively involved owner John Middleton and team prez Andy MacPhail are expected to have a “say” in the final decision. Breen points to next Thursday as a potential window for the team to announce its final decision, as that day will mark the first pause in the World Series schedule of play.

Yesterday, news came that Girardi had stepped down as Team USA’s manager, presumably to focus on the numerous MLB hiring processes in which he is currently involved. Philadelphia is looking for an experienced successor to Gabe Kapler, who was dismissed after two years at the helm on the heels of a disappointing 2019 campaign that left them in fourth place in the NL East.

NL Notes: Showalter, Ozuna, Moustakas

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For those inclined to believe that Buck Showalter is the perfect man for the Phillies managerial opening, Dan Connolly of The Athletic has a small dose of historical cool water at the ready. In a piece entitled “Buck Showalter is the perfect fit for the Phillies, but there’s potential for a nightmarish ending“, Connolly paints a fine brushstroke portrait of what life in Philadelphia might be like with the veteran Showalter behind the team’s reins. While there are major pros to a potential Showalter hire in Connolly’s mind (including the skipper’s comfort working with stars and his facility with in-game strategy), the reporter draws an interesting parallel to the power dynamics that were present in Baltimore during Showalter’s time there. When he managed the Orioles, Showalter was known to meet with owner Peter Angelos on a frequent basis, which might have led to a strained–or, at least, compromised–hierarchy with Showalter’s titular boss in Dan Duquette. The Phillies, of course, have an owner in John Middleton who appears to be more actively involved than most, with Connolly going so far as to opine that Middleton is “running [the] show” in Philadelphia. How a Middleton-Showalter pairing might affect the position of Philadelphia GM Matt Klentak is a rumination worthy of a quiet Tuesday morning.

More notes from around the NL on the heels of an 8-1 Nationals victory in Game 3 of the NLCS…

  • Speaking of that 8-1 ballgame from Monday evening: Mark Saxon of The Athletic feels like it might have seen outfielder Marcell Ozuna finally write himself out of the Cardinals plans moving forward (link). Saxon zooms in on a third-inning fielding gaffe committed by Ozuna last night that ultimately opened the gates on a four-run Nats frame, with the writer labeling the outfielder as “the fulcrum of another embarrassing night in this series of embarrassments for the Cardinals”. The play in question saw Ozuna in go into a pop-up slide in left field in an attempt to catch a flare off the bat of Anthony Rendon, with the ball ultimately popping out of the outfielder’s glove when his butt hit the ground. Though Saxon cites some Statcast data indicating that the ball should have been caught, manager Mike Schildt struck a supportive tone: “It’s not an easy play any time you have to leave your feet and go a distance and slide,” Shildt said. “It’s a play that he’s clearly capable of making, but it’s not a play you absolutely expect somebody to make.” It may be the result of a Game 3 hangover, but Saxon isn’t similarly convinced–in the writer’s mind, it isn’t likely Ozuna will be back with the Cards in 2020. Saxon cites Ozuna’s fundamental lapses, the club’s $138.7MM commitment to just nine players next season, and the looming presence of outfielder Dylan Carlson as factors in what he expects to be Ozuna’s impending free agent departure.
  • “I don’t think it’s particularly controversial that I’d love to have both of them back,” said Brewers decision-maker David Stearns in regard to Yasmani Grandal and Mike Moustakas, in an article from Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (link). Both players are expected to decline their halves of mutual options for 2020, with McCalvy relaying that Moustakas’ agent, Scott Boras, described the latter’s $3 million buyout as a “formality”. There is no quote from Boras provided in the article, but, if true, it would indicate with certainty that the 31-year-old Moustakas is preparing to reenter a free agent market that has been notoriously unkind to him in recent years. Moustakas, who has hit 101 home runs over the last three seasons with a 110 combined wRC+, lingered long in the 2018 soup line before receiving a $6.5MM one-year pact with the Royals; 2019 saw him again settle for a one-year deal amounting to $10MM (after accounting for the “formality” of that buyout). This winter should provide a third attempt at the multi-year apple for Moustakas.

 

Managerial/Coaching Notes: Mets, Giants, Bucs, Brewers

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Let’s round up the latest managerial and coaching news from around the majors…

  • The Mets’ previously reported managerial interview with their quality control coach, Luis Rojas, has taken place, Tim Healey of Newsday tweets. They’ve now discussed (or will discuss) the position with at least six candidates, with Rojas, Mike Bell, Carlos Beltran, Joe Girardi, Eduardo Perez and Derek Shelton comprising the group of known possibilities. Meanwhile, although longtime manager Buck Showalter has expressed interest in the role, his chances have “stalled,” Mike Puma of the New York Post reports. The Mets have some concerns about the way Showalter interacted with front offices during his previous runs as a manager, according to Puma.
  • Add Cubs first base coach Will Venable to the list of managerial possibilities for the Giants, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. The Giants are interested in Venable, though it’s not clear whether they’ll interview him. A former major league outfielder, the 36-year-old Venable finished his career in 2016 as a member of the Dodgers, whose general manager was Farhan Zaidi. He’s now the president of baseball operations for the Giants.
  • The Pirates have reached out to Athletics quality control coach Mark Kotsay to gauge his interest in managing the Bucs, Nubyjas Wilborn of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette relays. The 43-year-old Kotsay was a major league outfielder/first baseman from 1997-2013 who has since worked in coaching and front office roles between San Diego and Oakland. He interviewed for San Francisco’s managerial opening last week.
  • The Brewers are parting with first base coach/infield coach Carlos Subero, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Subero, the lone member of manager Craig Counsell’s staff who won’t return in 2020, spent four seasons as a major league coach with the Brewers. He previously managed in the minors with the organization.

Phillies To Interview Buck Showalter, Joe Girardi, Dusty Baker

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Oct. 14: Showalter and Girardi are set to interview with the Phillies today, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports. Baker’s interview will take place later this week.

Oct. 13: With the Phillies beginning the interview process for their next manager, the team is set to interview Dusty Baker for the vacant position later this week, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. Baker is currently serving as a special adviser to the Giants, who have granted Philadelphia permission to meet with Baker.

If the Phillies are seeking a manager with big-league experience, Baker surely fits the bill. At age 70, he comes with plenty of history to his name, having managed for 22 years and compiling a 1863-1636 overall record. If the Phillies were frustrated with Kapler’s approach to the game, Baker essentially represents his exact opposite.

He fits the trend of the names that have surfaced in the Phillies’ search for Kapler’s replacement. Between Buck Showalter, Joe Girardi, and now Baker, there’s a distinct pattern of traits that the organization seems to prioritize; namely, someone who can bridge the gap between “analytics and tradition.” That’s a reversal of the prevailing trend in Major League Baseball towards young, cheap, and inexperienced managers. And for a Phillies team that finds itself firmly in win-now mode, the list of candidates sends a clear message that owner John Middleton believes a seasoned managerial veteran can help his club secure a World Series win in the very near future.

For Baker, his Phillies interview will mark his first connection to an MLB managing job since the Nationals fired him after the 2017 season.

He’s previously managed the Giants, Cubs, Reds, and Nationals, winning an NL pennant in San Francisco, where he was thrice named Manager of the Year. He’s guided his teams to the postseason nine times throughout his career. The one thing missing from his timeless managerial career: a World Series title. With that in mind, there’s no doubt that Baker and the Phillies will be united in that goal.

Even so, it’s fair to question just how much interest Baker himself has in returning to an MLB dugout. He’s spent the last two seasons working as a special adviser in the Giants front office, and doesn’t seem to particularly miss the stress of handling a club’s day-to-day operations. And after more than 40 years spent as a player and manager, it would certainly be understandable if Baker was content to stay out of the business for good.

Latest On Phillies’ Managerial Job

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On Friday, shortly after he orchestrated the firing of manager Gabe Kapler, Phillies owner John Middleton met with reporters (including Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer) to discuss the move and what’s ahead for the team. Kapler was only on the job for two years, seasons in which the Phillies came out of the gate well before faltering in the summer months. In the end, Middleton couldn’t get past those late-season meltdowns.

“Those September collapses. I kept bumping up against them,” said Middleton. “I couldn’t get comfortable or confident enough that if I brought him back we wouldn’t run into other problems and therefore I made the decision I did.”

The Phillies went a middling 161-163 under Kapler, but they were a far worse 20-36 during the pair of Septembers in which he oversaw the club. That was clearly enough for Middleton to put an end to Kapler’s tenure with the organization, but it wasn’t the Phils’ owner who selected him in the first place. Rather, general manager Matt Klentak was responsible for the hiring of Klentak, though it doesn’t seem Middleton’s confidence in the exec has wavered.

In assessing Klentak, a fourth-year GM, Middleton stated: “Nobody bats 1.000 in hiring decisions. I haven’t. So it’s early in his career, but I would also point out he’s made lots and lots of really good hiring decisions, too. I think what this should be is a learning experience, candidly. What’s happened in other businesses we’ve run and gotten into this kind of situation, people learn from it.”

Middleton showed plenty of confidence last winter in Klentak, awarding him a three-year extension in the wake of an offseason spending bonanza for the club. With Klentak having brought in the likes of Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Andrew McCutchen, Jean Segura and David Robertson, Philadelphia expected to push for the playoffs in 2019. But the club stumbled to a mediocre 81-81 record instead, leaving Kapler on the outs and the duo of Klentak and president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail to find a more qualified replacement.

With the Kapler era in the rearview mirror, Philly’s now likely to seek a manager who blends “analytics and tradition,” writes Breen, who suggests longtime MLB skippers Buck Showalter and Joe Girardi are near the head of the team’s list. Showalter, a three-time Manager of the Year who previously helmed the Orioles from 2010-18, goes back a ways with ex-O’s executives Klentak and MacPhail. In fact, it was MacPhail who hired Showalter in Baltimore.

Girardi’s connection to MacPhail isn’t as strong, though he was a catcher with the Cubs from 2000-02 when the latter was in the team’s front office. Since his playing career ended after 2003, Girardi – like Showalter – has established himself as one of the most accomplished managers in recent memory. He earned Manager of the Year honors in his lone season with the Marlins, 2006, and then led Yankees teams that regularly contended from 2008-17. Girardi was atop the ’09 New York club that knocked off Philadelphia in the World Series.

With eight teams currently on the hunt for new managers, it’s no surprise the well-respected Showalter and Girardi have come up quite a bit of late. Showalter is on the Angels’ list of candidates, and he may emerge as a serious possibility for a Mets team that’s set to interview Girardi in a matter of days. Girardi already sat down with the Cubs earlier this week.

Latest On Padres’ Managerial Search

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The Padres have made a fair bit of progress in their managerial search, though it remains unclear at this point which direction they’ll go. There’s now added clarity on the handful of serious candidates as well as the interviewing timeline.

It’s now clear that Braves third base coach and former Rangers skipper Ron Washington is a serious possibility. He interviewed today, as Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. It was already known that Brad Ausmus had interviewed as well.

But those aren’t the only candidate to get a sit-down interview. Indeed, Scott Miller of Bleacher Report tweets that quite a few others have already been in to meet with GM A.J. Preller and company.

Rod Barajas and Jayce Tingler were already known to be candidates. They have in fact held interviews, according to Miller. Unlike the two men mentioned already, Barajas and Tingler are each looking for their first opportunity to helm a big-league team.

It may be that the list doesn’t extend beyond those four names. Miller reports that long-time MLB managers Buck Showalter, Joe Girardi, and Mike Scioscia appear not to be part of the ongoing Padres search. Whether there are more candidates still under consideration beyond those isn’t yet clear.

Angels To Interview Buck Showalter, John Farrell

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Joe Maddon is reportedly the front-runner to take over as the Angels’ next manager, but they’re not going to hand him the job without first doing their due diligence on at least a few names. The club’s conducting interviews with three other candidates this week, including former managers Buck Showalter and John Farrell, per reports from Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times and Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The fourth contender’s unknown, but it’s not Angels special assistant Eric Chavez, according to Torres.

Like Maddon, both Showalter and Farrell have managed multiple major league teams apiece to this point. The 63-year-old Showalter is a three-time Manager of the Year who oversaw the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Rangers and Orioles for a combined 20 seasons from 1992-2018. The O’s parted with Showalter after last year, a 47-win season in which they launched a full rebuild.

Farrell, 57, is an ex-major league right-hander who was a member of the Angels from 1993-94. He’s better known for his post-playing career, though, having managed the Blue Jays and Red Sox between 2011-17. In his greatest accomplishment in the role, Farrell helped the Red Sox to a World Series title in his first year atop the club in 2013. The rest of Farrell’s tenure with the team produced mixed results. The Red Sox finished below .500 twice in a row from 2014-15, but they took home AL East crowns in each of the next two seasons.

Despite its regular-season success under Farrell from 2016-17, Boston parted with him after back-to-back first-round knockouts in the playoffs. Farrell has stayed in the game since then by working as a scout and a pitching consultant for the Reds.

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