Is Phils managing job desirable?

It was a shocker last week when Ryne Sandberg stepped down as Phillies manager. Or was it?

Manage this group or enjoy the next three months of summer? I'd do exactly what Ryno did. Can you blame him? This is a roster filled with "Four-A" talent and a few championship veterans years removed from their prime with little to no motivation and zero to prove at this point.

Pete Mackanin, 63, will continue as interim manager until season's end, but then the question will be who is next. And is the position coveted by anyone?

Does the next manager want to work with Ruben Amaro Jr., assuming he's still employed? Andy MacPhail is the more intriguing guy to work with. He had a successful run, pinpointing talent from 2007-11 with Baltimore – coincidentally, the Phillies' years of peak performance -- but he has been out of that role for four years.

Sure, the franchise has money to spend, thanks in part to the revenue-generating television deal with Comcast SportsNet, but splashing around in the free-agency pool is hardly a formula for success in today's landscape. Building within, spotting talent, grooming it, and placing on the big-league stage – that's what it's all about. Nobody in this franchise has a set of eyes for that.

Outside of Maikel Franco and Ken Giles, what young talent with promise is on the big-league roster? Cole Hamels is a bona-fide ace, but his time could very well be limited as the trade deadline looms. That is hardly enough to entice a waiting list of applicants for this vacancy.

The next wave of talent to come up the pipeline might intrigue Phillies fans, names such as shortstop J.P. Crawford and pitcher Aaron Nola, but is that enough to reel in a big-name manager? We live in a win-now sports climate, in which the pressure to succeed pronto is immense. Those two aren't enough.

Nobody with a strong resume and more than a few ounces of baseball acumen will be jumping at the notion to manage Cody Asche, Darin Ruf, Ben Revere, Dom Brown, Jeff Francoeur, Freddy Galvis, Cesar Hernandez, Odubel Herrera, Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz and Chase Utley. It's a tough sell.

My top target for the job would be Angels manager Mike Scioscia. I've long believed that he is the best in the game. Scioscia is a Delaware County native and can opt out of his current deal at the end of the season.

Would he? I'm not so sure. In fact it seems like a long shot. But one can wish.  Scioscia apparently won his battle with GM Jerry DiPoto, who was dismissed of his duties in Anaheim on Wednesday, and with Albert Pujols heating up and the idea of managing Mike Trout for the next umpteen years, why would you leave the beautiful, sun-soaked weather in California for a team in Philadelphia that is void of talent? Sheer lunacy, if you ask me.

Bud Black is available after being fired recently in San Diego. Chances are he can find a much more enticing gig once the season ends.

Ron Gardenhire is for hire. After a year away from the sport, maybe he has recharged the batteries at 57 and wants to give it a go. He managed Minnesota from 2002-2014 but is only a smidgen over .500 in that time. That wouldn't exactly be a move the Phillies fan base would fall in love with.

If the Phillies can't land Scioscia, the next best option could be trying to take a page out of the St. Louis Cardinals playbook (and not by hacking into their database) and looking for a player who just finished his career, with zero experience, one whom players would relate to. That is what the Cards did with Mike Matheny. However, their scouting department is top-notch. The Phillies', not so much.

The 2015 season will close in a few months and the Phillies will thank Mackanin for his efforts and then begin a long, exhausting search to find their next manager. Options are out there. But the Phillies' sales pitch appears to be extremely weak. Can they find a guy? Does it matter? Is it even a desirable job? As of right now, not in the least.