Sandberg promoted to Phillies staff
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Sandberg promoted to Phillies staff
Ryan Lawrence, Daily News Staff Writer
Less than 48 hours ago, Charlie Manuel didn't sound like a man with a plan to overhaul his coaching staff.
"I’m comfortable with the coaches," Manuel said before Tuesday's game in Washington. "I’m definitely not sending them a message that they didn’t do their job. I’m just saying that, what I see, we’ve got to improve."
But less than 24 hours after the Philies season ended, the staff has been given a facelift, including adding a Hall of Famer to the bench.
Ryne Sandberg was named the Phillies third base coach and infield instructor on Thursday morning, a day after the season ended with the team dismissing three coaches: first base coach Sam Perlozzo, bench coach Pete Mackanin and hitting coach Greg Gross.
Sandberg has spent the last two seasons managing at Triple A Lehigh Valley. But after being interiewed for the St. Louis Cardinals manager's job last winter, the Phils obviously felt it was imperative to add Sandberg to the major league staff this year to keep him in the organization.
Other coaching moves announced Thursday:
- Juan Samuel, who has acted as the third base coach in the last two seasons, has been offered the first base coaching job, which has been vacated by Perlozzo.
- Steve Henderson and Rod Nichols have been promoted from within the organization to hitting coach and bullpen coach. Mick Billmeyer, who had been the bullpen coach, has been promoted to catching coach.
-The Phillies will not have a bench coach in 2013. But with pitching coach Rich Dubee back for his ninth season as pitching coach, and 12th in the Philies organization, he is Manuel's de facto right-hand man.
But the biggest news is Sandberg joining the staff. The 53-year-old had spent the last six seasons in the minor leagues, being groomed as a major league managing candidate.
He has been widely rumored to be the heir to Manuel, who is entering the final season of a three-year contract extension he signed in March of 2010.
Most likely it will be Sandberg. Another person could be named third base coach if it turns out Sandberg is better off in the dugout. Darren Daulton?— Aces high- Darren Daulton will be in charge of coaching the lizards. — mike l
- Nice, predictable move by the Phils on adding Sandberg. Also like the move from third to first for Sammy. I'm a little more curious about Dubee's added role as bench coach, although he doesn't have that title. I think Dubee has enough on his plate with the young arms being proposed for next year's bullpen.— vafan
- Terrific to see Ryne as a Phillies coach and staying on the team !!! johnnyu— john ullman
- I am not sure why people just assume that Sandberg will be a great manager, he may or may not be. Unless the Phillies win it all in 2013 it looks like Sandberg will get a chance to show us. But bottom line is the players have to play better. I think people expect that a new manager is going to magically make Ryan Howard stop striking out or Jimmy Rollins stop popping up. If Sandberg is the manager in 2014 I hope he does well but I would not declare him the savior yet.— DEC
- Actually, I'm not sure what a great manager actually IS. For the most, a manager--or coach in any other game--is not much better than the players available. Casey Stengel was a failure as a manager until he came to the Yankees in 1949. ("Keep the fellers who hate you away from the ones who haven't made up their minds.") It's exactly the same thing with hitting coaches. A player can be told what needs to be corrected in his approach, and it's not always that difficult to notice. If the player doesn't want to WORK at changing the flaw, however, no amount of coaching can do the trick. — BEMiller
- Nothing like getting an early start on 2014 for Sandberg as the manager-in-waiting. That is when Cholly will have an office upstairs next to Dallas Green as an advisor to Ruben. Great for Rod Nichols. Nothing like getting an early start on 2014 for him too. He is in place to fix what Dubee can't—the bullpen, especially with the young arms anticipated for next season. As well as being a pitching teacher, he fixed these young arms when they were out of wack down on the farm. This way Dubee can sit back on the bench and just rock back and forth. Lee, Halladay, and Hamels don't need much fixing. They just need to stay healthy. First base is probably better suited to Samuel, being a former Phillie who was known for stealing some bases back in the day. Best wishes to Henderson too. I hope that he is effective. However, it may be necessary to bring one or more roving or on-call hitting instructors/consultants on who were hitting machines—Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs and/or Rod Carew (if above board), or Pete Rose and/or Barry Bonds (if under the table).— dross
I think this was the sensible move because as highly regarded as Ryno appears to be, he still is a new face to MLB as a coach. It would be too much to throw at him being the bench coach for a contending team his first season with the big club...and now he'll get the chance to make the appropriate transition with the Phillies.
Love how this coaching staff was put together! All good moves.- This comment has been deleted.— Santa Satan
- Amen to that! — sonnybuoy01
- Don't be so sure the changes are all done. If they aren't done, they're close to being done and the players are next. Still say they don't bring back Charlie as a lame duck. We shall see.— PhillySubsMac
- Another couple good additions to the coaching in the organization - at the minor or major level - would be Jamie Moyer as a pitching coach and Placido Polanco as a hitting and/or infield coach. Neither had power at their positions, but they both had successful careers because they made the most of what they had. Jamie can't teach a faster fastball, but he can teach the pitching mindset. Likewise, Polly won't be able to coach a kid into more homeruns, but he's aces at making contact. The fireballers and homerun hitters will show up regardless; this is talking about the nuances of the game and their respective positions; of having a respect for and a love of baseball.— PeteInPhilly
- They changed the coaches? Yawn. Just scapegoating who they can.— Bede19025
- What's all the hubub about Sandberg? If he was all that, why has he been bypassed as a manager the last 3 years? Why did the Cubs let him walk? I must be missing something. If he was that good, he'd have been a major league manager by now.— scootch
- Good moves, all, it would seem, and Ryne Sandberg certainly needs to be in a key position with the big club!— BEMiller
