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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 Gabe Kapler’s Firing

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Almost two full weeks after their season ended, the Phillies finally chose to fire manager Gabe Kapler on Thursday. But if GM Matt Klentak had his way, there wouldn’t have been a change. Klentak wanted to keep Kapler for 2020, though owner John Middleton ultimately made the decision to take the club in another direction, Meghan Montemurro of The Athletic reports (subscription link).

Kapler’s ouster appears to be the second time Middleton has directed a coaching decision in recent months, as he drove the team’s call to replace hitting coach John Mallee with Charlie Manuel in August, according to Montemurro and Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer. When the Phillies made Kapler’s exit official, Middleton released a statement expressing confidence the Klentak-led club “will find the right person to lead us.” However, if Middleton truly did determine the fates of Kapler and Mallee, it seems possible he could overrule Klentak during the team’s hiring process. If so, it may call into question Klentak’s long-term future with the franchise.

Klentak – whom the Phillies hired four years ago – will at least stay in place for a fifth season, as there haven’t been any indications they’ve considered moving on from him, Montemurro hears. The Phillies awarded Klentak with a three-year contract extension through 2022 last winter, though that won’t necessarily save him if the team falls flat again next season.

This year was one many consider a dud for the Phillies, who entered the campaign with playoff aspirations after a winter rich in big-ticket acquisitions. Middleton signed off on a spending spree for the Phillies, whose offseason was headlined by their signing of Bryce Harper to a history-making 13-year, $330MM contract, though their aggressiveness only led to mediocre results. The team finished 81-81, a meager one-game improvement over its 2018 record, and missed the playoffs for the eighth year in a row.

Kapler wound up taking the fall for the Phillies’ failures this season, but it could be Klentak on the outs a year from now if the club doesn’t make a clear improvement by then. Upgrading the Phillies’ roster will obviously be Klentak’s main priority over the winter, but for now, there’s pressure to find a better manager than his previous selection, Kapler. That individual will join a franchise whose management team “appears to be at odds” and may be “in a state of dysfunction” after Middleton overpowered Klentak on Kapler, Lauber observes.

MLBTR Poll: Most Desirable Managerial Opening?

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The Phillies fired Gabe Kapler on Thursday, leaving them as one of eight major league teams searching for a manager at the moment. Fellow National League clubs in the Padres, Mets, Pirates, Giants and Cubs are in the same position, while the Royals and Angels are seeking new skippers in the AL. The question is: Which team has the most desirable job?

For starters, we can probably rule out the Pirates and Royals. Both teams have been hamstrung by low payrolls, with notoriously penny-pinching ownership holding back Pittsburgh and Kansas City (a team whose ownership is in transition) coming off its second 100-loss season in a row. Neither team looks as if it’ll contend in the immediate future, and the same may apply to the Giants, though they are a club with big-spending capabilities and promising president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi at the helm. On the other hand, the rest of the league’s manager-needy organizations look to have decent odds of pushing for relevance sooner than later.

The Phillies just wrapped up their eighth consecutive non-playoff season, but with 81 wins, they weren’t exactly a basement dweller. Kapler’s successor will be taking over a team with big-time talent on hand (Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto and Aaron Nola, to name a few) and the spending power to amply address its most obvious weaknesses this offseason.

Like the Phillies, the Padres have been suffering for too long. They’re fresh off their 13th straight year without a playoff berth, but they’re another team with front-line talent (Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Chris Paddack). Moreover, the Padres remain loaded on the farm, and owner Ron Fowler has made it clear it’s time to start winning in 2020.

The Mets also have no shortage of top-line players, including ace Jacob deGrom and NL Rookie of the Year favorite Pete Alonso. However, their managerial position is probably the most pressure-packed of all the openings. Previous skipper Mickey Callaway oversaw an 86-win team in 2019, but he dealt with scrutiny from the media, fans and general manager Brodie Van Wagenen from start to finish.

There’s also high expectations in Chicago, where even an exemplary record over five years wasn’t enough to keep Joe Maddon employed. The Cubs and president of baseball ops Theo Epstein gave Maddon the boot even though he helped them break a 108-year World Series drought in 2016 and led them to an overall 471-339 regular-season record with four playoff berths during his reign. But the Cubs, another financially well-off club with enviable high-end talent (Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Hendricks, for example), saw enough of Maddon after a late-season collapse and a non-playoff showing in 2019. Maddon’s replacement will be inheriting an 84-win team that will have playoff expectations for next year.

The Angels, who seem like the favorites to land Maddon next, are another franchise with a sense of urgency to win in 2020. Despite the presence of the game’s best player, center fielder Mike Trout, they haven’t gone to the playoffs since 2014. The Halos haven’t even won a playoff game since October 2009, just a few months after drafting Trout.  With fourth-year general manager Billy Eppler set to enter the last season of his contract in 2020, it’s imperative for him to get this hire right (his previous selection of Brad Ausmus didn’t work out). Otherwise, he and the Angels’ next manager could be out a year from now.

That’s a basic overview of where the sport’s manager-less teams stand heading into the offseason. There are more factors you could consider, of course. Which job looks the most appealing to you?

(Poll link for app users)

Phillies Fire Gabe Kapler

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Changes are coming in Philadelphia. Gabe Kapler will not return as manager of the Phillies in 2020, the team announced on Thursday. His dismissal creates a nearly unprecedented eighth managerial vacancy around the Major Leagues.

Gabe Kapler | Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Phillies also confirmed previous reports that Chris Young won’t return as the pitching coach in 2020 and announced that interim hitting coach and franchise legend Charlie Manuel will return to his role as a senior advisor to the GM.

Not only will the Phillies be looking for a new manager, pitching coach and hitting coach — they’ll also be looking to revamp their training staff, as neither head athletic trainer Scott Sheridan nor assistant athletic trainer Chris Mudd will have his contract renewed for 2020, per the club. The rest of the coaching staff has been invited back for next season, although it’s certainly possible that the change atop the dugout hierarchy could lead to eventual changes down the pecking order.

Phillies owner John Middleton offered the following statement on Kapler, who had been under contract through next season:

Several years ago, I promised our loyal fans that I would do everything in my power to bring a world championship team to our city.  I will never waver from that commitment.  During the second half of this season and continuing into this week, I have evaluated our organization extensively, a process that included talking to many people both internally and around the league.  Reassuring to me was the endorsement that people outside the Phillies gave to the progress we have made recently, both organizationally and on the field.  Nevertheless, with the knowledge that I have gained from my evaluation, combined with my personal reflection on the 2019 season, I have decided that some changes are necessary to achieve our ultimate objective. Consequently, we will replace our manager. I am indebted to Gabe for the steadfast effort, energy and enthusiasm that he brought to our club, and we are unquestionably a better team and organization as a result of his contributions. With [general manager Matt Klentak] leading our search for our next manager, I am confident that we will find the right person to lead us.

The Phillies organization debated the decision at great length. The Inquirer’s Matt Breen reported earlier this week that Middleton had been seeking opinions from players and front office execs alike as he seemed to genuinely wrestle with whether to bring Kapler back for the final contract of his season. Ultimately, the organization will go in a new direction after a pair of disappointing playoff misses in Kapler’s first two seasons at the helm.

Of course, team record is hardly the be-all and end-all in determining the fate of a manager these days. Managerial changes are also linked to how one maintains order in the clubhouse, aligns with the organization’s vision for the future, oversees the a coaching staff and incorporates input from a club’s front office/analytics department into game flow. The team’s lackluster records in both 2018 and 2019 surely played a role in the eventual decision but were surely just a few of the innumerable factors Middleton weighed in making today’s announcement.

Kapler, 44, played in parts of a dozen Major League seasons and managed in the Red Sox’ minor league system before embarking on a player development trajectory with the Dodgers (where, notably, he worked with current Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, who is also on the hunt for a new manager). Kapler spent three seasons as the Dodgers’ director of player development prior to being hired by the Phillies — a role in which he placed great emphasis on analytics, player nutrition and mental wellness.

During his time with the Dodgers, Kapler was viewed as a fast-rising managerial candidate, and although things didn’t pan out in Philadelphia, he’ll quite likely garner consideration from other clubs. It’s hardly uncommon for rookie managers to be dismissed from one club before finding success with another — as A.J. Hinch can attest — and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that Kapler would like to continue his managerial career.

Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer first broke the news of Kapler’s dismissal (via Twitter).

Phillies Expected To Announce Decision On Gabe Kapler Today

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With the Phillies’ 2019 season long in the books, observers have been waiting and watching to see what the team will do with manager Gabe Kapler. A final decision and announcement on Kapler’s fate is expected today, per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philly (via Twitter).

While other clubs are fully engaged in pursuit of new skippers, or have announced the retention of their old ones, the Philadelphia organization has taken its time assessing Kapler’s status. Owner John Middleton is said to have engaged deeply in the matter personally, even visiting players for input.

At this point, it’s still anyone’s guess whether Kapler will be brought back. The organization was obviously disappointed to finish out of the postseason and with a middling .500 record after major offseason investments. But it seems there’s significant support for Kapler in some quarters, perhaps including the locker room.

Latest On Gabe Kapler

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While the Padres, Cubs, Mets, Pirates, Angels, Giants, and Royals get a head start on the hiring process in their search for new managers, the Phillies organization has remained notably outside the fray. Although the job security of manager Gabe Kapler has been a hot topic in the greater Pennsylvania area since he assumed managerial duties in Philadelphia in 2018, the former outfielder still finds himself under the club’s employ as of Oct. 7. However, judging from today’s rumblings from The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Matt Breen, Phillies owner John Middleton could soon be arriving at a conclusion in regard to Kapler’s future–or lack thereof–with his franchise (link).

According to a source cited by Breen, Middleton has been seeking input from Phillies players as he attempts to determine whether Kapler is the right man to lead the clubhouse in 2020. Breen relays that the Philadelphia owner has spent the last week-plus since the regular season ended in evaluation mode vis a vis Kapler’s performance, and it appears the skipper’s job status will depend in part on whether the private comments of his players sync up with their public message of support mounted in the season’s final month.

Breen includes several of those season-end quotes, including catcher J.T. Realmuto’s unequivocal endorsement, in which the All-Star said that Kapler is “a guy that this clubhouse really respects”. Similarly, franchise cornerstone Bryce Harper was supportive of Kapler following the season’s final day, saying the club’s disappointing .500 finish was “not his fault”. If Philly’s key players are indeed firmly in the Kapler camp, it may be that Middleton’s prolonged evaluation is meant, more than anything, to merely turn up the heat on the manager’s bench seat for 2020.

If Middleton does ultimately decide to part ways with Kapler, the club may end up playing catch-up in the recruitment of top managerial candidates. To this point, we have already heard reports indicating that Joe Maddon to the Angels is an increasing probability, and Joe Girardi’s affinity (or, at least, interest) in the Mets posting is also well known.

Chris Young Out As Phillies’ Pitching Coach

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Phillies pitching coach Chris Young will not return to the organization in that capacity next season, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reports. He’s been offered a different position within the organization. Phillies fans have anxiously been awaiting word on the fate of manager Gabe Kapler, but Zolecki adds that no decision is expected on that front until next week. The Phils will, however, be in the market for a new hitting coach, as franchise legend Charlie Manuel only stepped in as interim hitting coach as a favor late in the year and isn’t expected to return in that role next year.

The ousting of Young is the first domino to fall in what could be a series of substantial changes in the Philadelphia dugout, depending on the fate of Kapler. It’s typical for organizations that hire new managers to give the incoming replacement some say over his coaching staff, so a managerial change could be accompanied by other new faces.

Young, not to be confused with the former big league pitcher of the same name (or the former big league outfielder, for that matter), spent just one season as the pitching coach with the Phillies. Matt Gelb and Meghan Montemurro of The Athletic recently chronicled some of the ups and downs in Young’s first year on the job (subscription required). Furthermore, as Gelb and Montemurro explored at great length in a fascinating read for Phils fans, fear of losing Young led to the dismissal of former pitching coach Rick Kranitz. Young had served as Kranitz’s assistant pitching coach in ’18, but when other clubs called about interviewing him last winter, the Phillies parted ways with Kranitz and promoted Young to ensure they could retain him, per that Athletic report.

The 2019 Phillies pitching staff saw its strikeout and walk percentages, ERA, FIP and xFIP all go the wrong direction, although that can’t be pinned on Young alone. The Phils sent an entire Major League bullpen’s worth of quality relievers — David Robertson, Seranthony Dominguez, Pat Neshek, Tommy Hunter, Edubray Ramos, Victor Arano and Adam Morgan, among others — to the injured list for significant periods of time. The lack of depth in the ’pen led to questionable relievers being deployed with greater frequency and didn’t do the Phillies any favors when trying to squeeze extra innings out of the rotation to compensate. That said, Young also has to shoulder some blame for steps back from several of the team’s starters, some of which stemmed from philosophical changes that didn’t prove fruitful.

As is the case with managers throughout the league, there’ll be no shortage of competition for the Phillies in their quest for a new pitching coach. We’ve already seen the Pirates, Diamondbacks, Mariners and Angels part ways with their respective pitching coaches, and the Mets will likely be on the lookout for a new pitching coach to step in for interim coach Phil Regan. (Dave Eiland was fired in June.) Given the high rate of dugout turnover throughout the league already, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see additional pitching coach vacancies arrive in the coming weeks.

Managerial Rumors: Kapler, Maddon, Ausmus, Beltran

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Rumors have swirled that Gabe Kapler could be finished as the Phillies’ manager, though club ownership is taking its time in determining Kapler’s fate, as NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury tweets that a decision “likely” won’t be made until next week.  The Phils have a 161-163 record in two seasons under Kapler’s leadership, with both the 2018 and 2019 squads fading out of contention down the stretch.  This past season’s 81-81 record is particularly disappointing given the many high-profile roster additions made by the club last winter, though in Kapler’s defense, the Phillies also suffered through significant injuries to Andrew McCutchen and virtually every member of their bullpen.

The latest rumblings on dugout vacancies from around the sport….

  • Joe Maddon has widely been linked to the Angels’ job and “is set to interview with” the club, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports (subscription required).  As of Tuesday, there reportedly hadn’t yet been any contact between the Halos and the former Cubs skipper, though many expected it was only a matter of time before Maddon emerged as a candidate in Anaheim, given his longstanding history with the organization.  Maddon spent 31 seasons with the Angels as a player, minor league manager and coach, and member of the MLB coaching staff.
  • Brad Ausmus, the Angels’ former manager, is expected to interview with the Padres, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).  A hiring would represent something of a homecoming for Ausmus, who began his 18-year playing career with 303 games for San Diego.  Ausmus is still owed two years’ worth of salary after being — rather surprisingly — fired by the Angels after the season, though it’s also understandable that he would pursue other opportunities for a quick return to managing.
  • The Padres had interest in interviewing Carlos Beltran for their managerial vacancy but the former outfielder declined the request, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports (Twitter link).  Since retiring after the 2017 season, Beltran was interviewed for the Yankees’ managerial opening that eventually went to Aaron Boone, and had worked for the past season as a special advisor in the Yankees’ front office.  Beltran had long expressed interest in working in a front office and potentially even as a manager, though it isn’t known why he turned down the chance to speak with the Padres.
  • Given the links between Beltran and the Mets, Feinsand wonders if Beltran could potentially be a candidate to replace Mickey Callaway, though Olney feels Beltran “seems like a total long shot” to be the next Mets’ manager given some of the hard feelings that exist between he and the organization dating back to his playing days.  As per Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Beltran’s “relationship with [Mets] COO Jeff Wilpon is not good.”

Quick Hits: Kluber, Freese, Kapler

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A quick look around Major League Baseball, which is now down to nine teams vying for a World Series…

  • With their season having ended earlier than expected, the Indians are now facing an important decision on star right-hander Corey Kluber, who has a $17.5MM club option (or a $1MM buyout) for 2020. As of Sunday, the club’s higher-ups and Kluber hadn’t discussed his future, he told Zack Meisel of The Athletic (subscription required). It’s hard to believe the Indians would buy Kluber out, though the two-time AL Cy Young winner is coming off an abbreviated season in which he struggled to a bloated 5.80 ERA (with a much better 4.06 FIP) in 35 2/3 innings. Kluber wasn’t able to make it back after suffering a right forearm fracture May 1, thereby ending a run of five straight seasons with 200-plus frames. Indians manager Terry Francona found a silver lining in Kluber’s truncated season and made it sound as if the longtime ace will stick with the club in 2020, saying: “Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise for next year. I mean, we leaned on him pretty heavy for six years.”
  • The Dodgers re-signed first baseman David Freese for $4.5MM last offseason, though the veteran nearly retired after their World Series loss to the Red Sox, per Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times. In the end, however, the “deep mutual interest” Freese and the Dodgers had in a reunion won out, Castillo writes. “I came back because this was everything I wanted to be a part of. And it was worth another year to get up for 180 games and just get after it,” said Freese, who, as Castillo details, seems universally respected in the organization. It doesn’t hurt that the 36-year-old has thrived with the bat this season, having batted a spectacular .315/.403/.599 with 11 home runs in 186 plate appearances. The former World Series hero with the Cardinals will have another chance at a memorable October this year, though this postseason could prove to be the end of the line for Freese, Castillo suggests.
  • It wouldn’t have been a surprise if the Phillies jettisoned maligned manager Gabe Kapler after their disappointing season ended Sunday. A couple days later, though, they still haven’t announced whether he’ll return for a third year. But it’s “likely” they’ll make Kapler’s fate known on Wednesday, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The Kapler-led Phillies just concluded a second straight season in which a summer implosion canceled out a promising start. Philadelphia went 80-82 under Kapler in 2018, and despite an incredibly active offseason, the club only mustered an 81-81 mark this year.
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