The Phillies have officially kicked off interviews for the Phillies managerial position. The first to get a look: former second baseman, outfielder, first base coach and third base coach Juan Samuel. Samuel interviewed for the position yesterday, the very first candidate to do so.
Samuel has managerial experience, albeit a temporary basis with the Baltimore Orioles in 2010. Phillies president Andy MacPhail was running the show in Baltimore when the Orioles declined to hire Samuel on a permanent basis, instead giving the job to Buck Showalter. Samuel went 17-34 as the interim manager of the Orioles.
After failing to win the managerial job with the Orioles, Samuel decided not to return to his third base coach there. Instead, he worked at the Orioles academy in the Dominican Republic before returning to the Phillies as third base coach. After briefly coaching first base while Ryne Sandberg coached third base, Samuel returned to be third base coach upon Sandberg's hire as manager.
Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the Phillies will also be considering other in-house candidates for the job. They include Jorge Velandia, a special assistant to general manager Matt Klentak who has held various coaching roles in the Phillies system, and Dusty Wathan, who has risen up through the Phillies system with many of their young prospects.
In Brookover's piece, Samuel indicated that he hoped he could remain a Phillies coach if he did not get the managerial job.
Rumored managerial candidate Gary DiSarcina just became available for an interview when the Boston Red Sox were eliminated from the playoffs. The Phillies may face competition for DiSarcina from the Red Sox, who just dismissed manager John Farrell. Mike Redmond, Tim Bogar, and Brad Ausmus, all rumored candidates for the position, have concluded their seasons already.
The Phillies have said they hope to have a manager in time for the winter meetings in Orlando, which begin December 10.
