Photo: Philliedelphia/Frank Klose
The Phillies' coaching shakeup is only a week old. With Charlie Manuel's contract ending after this year, the Ryne-Sandberg-as-successor speculation has already run rampant. If the Phillies really have that intention, they may have to change their plans. Already the Phillies will have some competition for Sandberg's services. According to Troy Renck of the Denver Post, Ryne Sandberg may be on a "short list of candidates for the Rockies manager position, vacated by Jim Tracy's resignation.
Renck mentions five possible candidates:
- Tom Runnells, former Montreal Expos manager
- Stu Cole, manager of AAA Rockies affiliate Sky Sox
- Sandy Alomar, Jr., Cleveland Indians coach, most recently interim manager of the Indians
- Ryne Sandberg, Phillies 3B coach
- Jason Giambi, most recently a Rockies pinch-hitter and veteran presence on the team.
This is quite the interesting list as each candidate mentioned most certainly is in a very unique position. Like Sandberg, Alomar could be an up and coming manager. One of the American League's top catchers for many years, Alomar knows calling games and was part of the Cleveland Indians teams that dominated the American League for the late 90s.
So far Runnells and Cole are "confirmed" as candidates; Renck does not indicate that Alomar, Sandberg, and Giambi have been confirmed as such. But, with an inside eye to the organization, Renck is probably onto something. One way of figuring out Sandberg's status with the Phillies could be whether or not he interviews for the position. We shall see.
