By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies reportedly interviewed another external managerial candidate recently, one that's relatively familiar to Phillies fans.
According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, the Phillies interviewed former Washington Nationals and Cleveland Indians manager Manny Acta for their managerial vacancy:
Seattle Mariners third base coach Manny Acta, who is in the mix for New York Mets manager, also has interviewed for the Philadelphia Phillies managerial opening, FanRagSports has learned.
Acta is currently the bench coach for Scott Servais in Seattle. That means he's working under Scott Servais, the manager that general manager Jerry DiPoto hand-picked. Phillies general manager Matt Klentak was Dipoto's assistant general manager with the Los Angeles Angels for the entirety of his tenure there.
Still just 48, Acta isn't short on experience, particularly in the National League East. He was Frank Robinson's third base coach with the Montreal Expos from 2002-2004. He was Willie Randolph's bench coach for the New York Mets for the next two seasons. He then, of course, spent parts of three seasons managing the Nationals, a team still thin on talent. In two-and-a-half seasons at the helm of the Nationals, Acta posted a 158-252 record.
Acta moved away from the National League East the following season, as he became the manager of the Cleveland Indians. In nearly three seasons as the Indians skipper, Acta led the club to a 214-266 record. The club has since had tremendous success under his successor, former Phillies manager Terry Francona.
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Beyond interviewing for the Phillies managerial position, Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post reported that Acta "lit up the room" in an interview for the Mets managerial position. Joel Sherman of The New York Post reported that Acta was "a legitimate candidate" for the Mets job. Since the publication of this article, Sherman is among those to report that Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway will be the next manager of the Mets. Callaway was believed to be a serious candidate for the Phillies job.
Acta appears to be the first candidate connected to the Phillies that didn't at least play in the minor leagues. With that said, he's significantly more experienced than most of the candidates that have been connected to the Phillies, and he's still young. On top of that, he's bilingual, which almost seems necessary to be a manager in today's game.
Friday, MLB.com's Todd Zolecki reported that the Phillies had interviewed San Francisco Giants third base coach Phil Nevin, a report that Robert Murray of FanRag Sports confirmed Saturday. Zolecki also connected the Phillies to Gabe Kapler, the former major leaguer that is currently the Los Angeles Dodgers director of player development. Heyman reported last Thursday that the Phillies interviewed Chip Hale, the former Arizona Diamondbacks manager. Juan Samuel, Dusty Wathan and Jorge Velandia are believed to be the only internal candidates that the Phillies have interviewed for the position.
