Report: Phillies to name next manager 'around Nov. 1'

Report: Phillies to name next manager ‘around Nov. 1’

Tim Kelly

October 23 2017

Dusty Wathan was one of three internal candidates interviewed for the Phillies managerial vacancy. (Frank Klose/SportsTalkPhilly)

By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor

For those hoping for a resolution to the Philadelphia Phillies managerial search this week, you may be disappointed.

According to Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer, general manager Matt Klentak and the Phillies brass may still be more than a week from naming Pete Mackanin's successor:

The Phillies have trimmed a list that contained dozens of candidates to about 10 for interviews. The first round of interviews, according to a source, should be completed this week. The Phillies have informed candidates they plan to have a new manager in place sometime around Nov. 1. A second round of interviews with a few finalists is likely; that could begin later this week.

From all reports, there doesn't appear to be a definitive favorite yet, which makes sense since Gelb suggests that the Phillies haven't even completed their first round of interviews yet. Former Cleveland Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway, who Gelb says was one of the five confirmed external interviews that the Phillies have had, was the most consistently connected external candidate to the Phillies. But Callaway is expected to be announced as the New York Mets manager today. Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reported on Oct. 11 that front-office executive Jorge Velandia was a "strong" candidate for the managerial job and had a "lengthy" interview for the position. Since then, we haven't heard anything on Velandia.

Like the Mets managerial search moved quickly once the team was ready to make a decision, the same may happen with the Phillies. Perhaps the Phillies will decide after a second round of interviews that Velandia is the best fit for the job, a possibility that I wrote about Sunday. Lehigh Valley IronPigs manager Dusty Wathan also interviewed for the job, and was the speculative favorite after the Phillies reassigned Mackanin. Gelb confirmed that Los Angeles Dodgers director of player development Gabe Kapler interviewed for the position, something that Todd Zolecki of MLB.com said was likely to take place. His strong sabermetrics background could set him apart from the rest of the external managerial candidates.

Though there does appear to be some restlessness from Phillies fans as other teams announce new managers, Klentak did say on a late-season telecast that he hoped to have a new manager by the MLB general manager meetings. Those meetings don't begin until Nov. 13, so Klentak suggested the Phillies would take their time picking their next manager, and that's exactly what they are doing.