Now the job description is more like fine-tuning a vintage violin.

Many fans still yearn for the day when the manager dictated and the players obeyed. Except anyone who tries that approach in the era of the $3 million average salary is doomed to fail.

That's why the latest dust-up involving reigning NL MVP Jimmy Rollins put Charlie Manuel in such a ticklish position.

Kids learning how to hit used to be told to hold the bat as if it were a bird. Tight enough to keep it from flying away, not so tight as to strangle it. That's the sometimes tenuous balance managers try to achieve as well.

Manuel has known for a while now that Rollins was drifting a bit. He just wasn't sure the proper way to address it. He wanted to make sure that whatever he did, he got it right. Because, make no mistake: The Phillies need their offensive catalyst to play well if they hope to repeat as division champions.

If the manager overplayed his hand, he might lose not just Rollins, but part of the clubhouse as well. If he didn't draw a line, a different sector of the roster could abandon him.

When Rollins showed up an hour before yesterday's afternoon's game against the Mets, it forced Manuel's hand.

Every manager faces this sort of situation from time to time. When Mets All-Star lefthander Johan Santana left the game after eight innings Monday night and the bullpen couldn't hold a three-run lead, the public outcry suggested that New York must have been mathematically eliminated. Manager Jerry Manuel patiently sat and explained his thinking the following afternoon.

He said that, while he hadn't specifically asked his ace lefthander if he was done, he knew Santana had already mentally taken himself out of the game by watching his body language at the end of the inning, observing the way he accepted congratulations from his teammates.

The crisis was defused and the Mets won the next two games to take over first place for the first time since April.

That's the sort of subtle clue managers have to always be looking for.

Charlie Manuel did what he had to do yesterday. Whether it works, ultimately, will be up to Rollins.

The hot corner

* The Marlins are in the thick of

the race, but it wouldn't be surprising to see the Fish trade away a significant player before next Thursday's deadline. Reason: Revenue-challenged Florida has first baseman Mike Jacobs, second baseman Dan Uggla, outfielders Josh Willingham, Cody Ross and Jeremy Hermida and pitchers Scott Olsen, Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco all eligible for arbitration at the end of the season.

* The Blue Jays say they're not

shopping ace Roy Halladay, but the Newark Star-Ledger reports they're doing a "quiet survey" of what teams might give up to get him, with the Dodgers and Cardinals among the possibilities.

Around the bases

* The Nationals have two

complete games this year. Tim Redding did it yesterday. Jason Bergmann did it May 31. And both pitchers lost.

* On Sept. 6, the Giants will

unveil a statue of Orlando Cepeda to go with the ones of Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal already on display at AT&T Park.

* Brewers general manager

Doug Melvin signed outfielder Jay Gibbons, released earlier this year by the Orioles, even though his name appeared in the Mitchell Report. That wasn't an issue, he added. "He was just a guy we looked at, a lefthanded bat," Melvin said with a shrug. "He comes across as a guy who wants to get back and play. I don't know exactly what his issues were, but they weren't anything serious enough not to give a guy a second chance."

Finally

Hirsute Tigers reliever Fernando Rodney got a haircut last weekend. Which wouldn't be worth mentioning except that, by his own account, it was the first time he'd gotten a trim in 3 years. He told reporters that the reason he did it was that the heat and humidity in Baltimore got to him.

Here's an indication of exactly how much hair was cut. After he was done, he had to go to the equipment manager and get a new size 7 hat. He had been wearing a 7 3/4. *

Send e-mail to hagenp@phillynews.com.