This shouldn’t come as a surprise, Philadelphia Phillies third base coach Dusty Wathan is a top candidate for multiple teams according to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury. Salisbury notes the Miami Marlins and Kansas City Royals are the top two suitors. Wathan interviewed with Miami on Sunday and will interview with Kansas City on Thursday.
The 49-year old Wathan comes from a baseball family. His father, John, was a member of the 1985 World Champion Royals and became the Royals manager in 1987. John managed in the Bigs from 1987-1992 with Kansas City and California before taking various roles on field and in the broadcast booth with multiple teams including Boston and Kansas City.
The Kansas City connection should come as no surprise.
Wathan began his managerial career in the Phillies organization in 2008 with the Short Season-A Williamsport CrossCutters. From 2008-2017, Wathan climbed the managing ladder in the organization taking the helm of Clearwater, Reading, and Lehigh Valley, respectively. He is the winningest manager in Reading history. Wathan joined the big club on November 10, 2017 as the third base coach under Gabe Kapler.
Highly respected by players and executives, Wathan was on many people’s shortlist to replace Kapler as the Phillies manager. The job ultimately went to Joe Girardi, and well, we know the rest of the story. Wathan’s name will likely come up in other managerial searches throughout the off-season if he doesn’t get hired in the near future.
