Charlie Manuel signs a 2 year Extension as Phillies Manager
(Photo courtesy of cleveland.com)
This morning, Charlie Manuel and The Phillies have agreed to a 2 year extension, meaning that he is now under contract as the Phils manager until the end of the 2013 season. The 2 year extension is said to be worth between 7-8 million dollars in total.
Since Manuel took over in 2005, the Phillies record is an impressive 544-428. This is especially impressive when you consider the critics that didn’t want Charlie to take over as the team’s manager to begin with. Sure, his southern and stuttering speak may be hard to understand at times, but give the guy some credit; he’s taken a locker room full of superstars and got them all to believe in playing team baseball and has delivered a World Series ring to our town, just the 2nd World Series in the history of the franchise.
I don’t think there was ever any doubt that Charlie would be back, but now that it’s official, the team can focus on more important things, such as figuring out who will fill in for Chase Utley while he is out, or who will be the 25th man on the Opening Day roster.
Also, now that Manuel will be here for at least 3 more years, I think his toughest work is ahead of him. This core group of players is obviously getting older and older, as made evident, unfortunately, with Utley’s latest nagging knee injury. The rest of the league is getting better, and teams like Cincinnati, San Francisco, Milwaukee, and Atlanta seem to be on the rise and could give the Phils a run for their money in the pennant hunt.
Is Charlie the best manager in Phillies history? A lot of people would say yes without hesitation. What he does with this team in the next 3 years could remove any doubt from the minds of Phillies fans everywhere.
