We heard a few weeks ago that the Phillies could be interested in stealing pitching coach Roger McDowell away from the Atlanta Braves. The Phillies have yet to hire someone to be pitching coach and he may have be taking time to listen tot the Phillies now that he can. MLB.com's Mark Bowman pointed out that last night McDowell's contract expired and that despite being in touch with the Braves, he had not reached an agreement.
Over the past week, it has become even more evident that McDowell is high on Philadelphia general manager Ruben Amaro’s wish list. But the Phillies are not permitted to have any formal discussions with McDowell until his current contract with the Braves expires at midnight tonight (Oct. 31).
McDowell met with Braves general manager Frank Wren this week to discuss the possibility of remaining in Atlanta. But the meeting did not lead to an immediate resolution.
Why would McDowell leave? Money. According to Bob Nightengale, the Braves pay pretty poorly:
If the #Braves want to keep shrewd pitching coach Roger McDowell,they better step up in pay since others are making 3 or 4 times more money.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 1, 2013
To make things worse for the Braves, they just lost minor league pitching coordinator Dave Wallace, who was named the Baltimore Orioles' pitching coach a couple days ago. The move would certainly be embarrassing for the Braves, but McDowell is generally regarded as a top pitching coach and the Braves would likely regret losing him.
If McDowell joins the Phillies, maybe they'll have to hire Rich Dubee…
