Sandberg promoted to Phillies staff
Less than 48 hours ago, Charlie Manuel didn't sound like a man with a plan to overhaul his coaching staff.
Sandberg promoted to Phillies staff
Ryan Lawrence
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.
Comments (89)
Nice!— BobbyD- Who is going to replace Mackanin as bench coach?— phillyl0
- This comment has been deleted. — Dew Schbag
- What a great comment, D.S. Of course, what I see is that Ryne Sandberg will be, de Facto, the second in command, but without the "bench coach" designation. — BEMiller
- Reading is fundamental the sequel: RICH DUBEE is the de facto second in command. — jimbo jones
- Hey Dew, Love your tag. Best of the net — jfly1222
- Understanding how internet news sites work is also fundamental. There was no mention of the bench coach status in the original post. It was added after my comment. Dew Schbag ... that, you are. — phillyl0
- fire Char— Serge_Matthews
- fire Char— Serge_Matthews
- So this makes Charlie feel better, that Sanberg won't be his bench coach? I like CHarlie, but I think if you are going to change the tenure of the team, you need Sandberg as manager. Charlie let too many guys get away with lackadaisical play this year. Not enough oomph. Look at the last tow games. OK, they were meaningless to the Phils, but they could have messed up DC's home field advantage. Could have kept the above.500 streak alive. Could have gotten Lee some support.Too many times during the season they showed no want to and that has to be changed by the head man. If they get off to a bad start next season, how soon before Amaro pulls the plug.— mike l
- Like the changes except Manuel should have been bumped upstairs and the job given to Sandberg, he then could fill out his own staff. Also I think Dubee should be the bullpen coach and Nichols the pitching coach, every time Dubee screwed up a pitcher Nichols had to fix him when he was optioned down to LV.— bigtbone
- Frankly, I cannot understand all the grief people want to give to Rich Dubee, and that is 'nuf sed, since it's pointless to attempt reason with people who've made up their minds! — BEMiller
- Please don't extend Cholly. It was a nice ride, but it's run its course. Time to move on. Sandberg promoted to manager when the team is drifting in June.— HorshamGuy
- The Messiah has arriven !!!— Konstanty
- WOT??????? — BEMiller
- 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
- why? did Charlie blame the bench coach for not making the playoffs this year?— high alpine
- why? did Charlie blame the bench coach for not making the playoffs this year?— high alpine
If Sandberg is such a great manager prospect, why did the Cub's pass on him twice?— HappyBob- And since not hiring Sandberg, the Cubs have done what? Maybe it's a power thing with the GM. — mike l
- Sandberg was an intelligent player. I hope it translates as a coach. Charley made sure Brumett, a career minor leaguer, got a taste at the majors in meaningless game. I will give him points for that. Still this makes me feel retaining Manuel shows RAJ has no backbone. Few respect Manuel as a manager. Phills have holes to fill. A dependable arm for 8th inning. A righthanded power bat Frandsen played well particularly when you factor in injured foot but is he answer for 3B? CF a question. Reasonable good health for Utley, Halladay, Howard would go a long way. There will always be some that overachieve and some that underachieve. 5 years later Howard still unable to read strikezone. Ryan has to change this or he will not be an elite player. Also have to factor in Nats are young and talented.— Don w
- I really liked that Brummet move last night by Charlie as well. This move flies in the face of your "few respect Manuel as manager" comment. I strongly disagree. I think you read too many negative comments about Charlie here and assume they mean something to the people who know baseball and make actual baseball decisions. Believe me, the guys that make the decisions and play the game respect Manuel. — vafan
- I would have made Manuel bullpen coach. Let's hope Samuel declines the offer of first base coach and moves on.— Edward L Norton
- Too many coaches.— mick1219
- Yo Mike, Just what will Sandberg be able to do that Charlie couldn’t, or wouldn’t, do to address “lackadaisical play” of the multi-million, multi-year contract players? Will he send JRoll back to LV the next time he fails to run out a pop-up?— lbeidel
- dross, the problem with HOF hitters as coaches is they had talent to hit. You can't teach talent.— palmyra21
- If the Phils flounder in 2013, expect a change. Chollie may not like it, but the future is now standing at 3rd base. If Chollie can't get veterans like Rollins to give 100% and earn their high salaries despite declining production, get rid of the players or send the manager into retirement.— VANDERGRAAFK
- Dross - Pete Rose is banned from baseball. He can not be in a clubhouse of any kind. If the Phillies were caught having him as an instructor they would get killed.— oharabri
- @Scootch: Sandberg has managed for six years in the minor league system; four for the Cubs and two for the Phillies. He's taken three of those six teams to the playoffs (2006 A ball, 2010 AAA ball, 2011 AAA ball). He won Manager of the Year in 2010 with the Cubs AAA team, and again in 2011 with our own Iron Pigs.
Nothing is certain of course, but it seems a pretty worthwhile risk to give the man a chance in the big leagues.— PeteInPhilly - how can you misspell Phillies so many times?— puddin
- "Juan Samuel, who has acted as the third base coach in the last two seasons..." Like Juan, but acted is the perfect word to use in that sentence.
— jp8899 - Like Sandbergs pedigree but wonder why Cardinals didn't hire him— Johnny Callison
- It doesn't matter who the coaches are. It doesn't matter who the manager is. This team is suffering from a lack of on-field talent, pure and simple.— Jeff Dowder
- Maybe now that Nichols is on the major league staff, he'll be there to help the pitchers that Dubee screws up, and maybe Dubee will leave with Charlie at the end of next year, and Nichols will become pitching coach. I'm glad that the Phils hired someone other than Milt Thompson or GG to be hitting coach, they've recycled the same 2 guys for the last decade and the players approach at the plate is still stupid. Samuel won't be able to kill them at 3rd anymore. But Charlie and Dubee are now one entity, that means Sandberg will have no problem with firing Dubee when he assembles his 2014 caoching staff.— drbob1
- Put Cholly up in a senior office position. Sandberg time is NOW!!!— PhillyTerm
- Ω Scootch, HappyBob, and others. I've been preaching the same sermon for two years. Sandberg was an excellent second baseman, but that does not equate into being an excellent manager. Ted Williams was one of the elite players in history, but was a failure as a manager. I'm old enough to remember how the German people chanted, and saluted a leader until he was completely in charge. I'm not equating the character of Sandberg with the little corporal, I'm just drawing attention to mass hysteria on a much larger scale, but none the less similar to how almost everyone is clamoring for change.. I had great respect for Sandberg until he openly with support from Amaro, was pleading for Charlie's job.
If he succeeds, I'll wish him well, but to me, his honor is tarnished.
— phineas - Ω Scootch, HappyBob, and others. I've been preaching the same sermon for two years. Sandberg was an excellent second baseman, but that does not equate into being an excellent manager. Ted Williams was one of the elite players in history, but was a failure as a manager. I'm old enough to remember how the German people chanted, and saluted a leader until he was completely in charge. I'm not equating the character of Sandberg with the little corporal, I'm just drawing attention to mass hysteria on a much larger scale, but none the less similar to how almost everyone is clamoring for change.. I had great respect for Sandberg until he openly with support from Amaro, was pleading for Charlie's job.If he succeeds, I'll wish him well, but to me, his honor is tarnished. (HTML deleted)— phineas
- To me, the big story here is the new hitting coach. I'm not sure why that's getting buried in the story other than to satiate the baffling Sandberg frenzy.— guyguy4
- As I have said before, as long as Chuck and Amaro are in charge, we will never see another pennant in Philadelphia.— nagrom
- In moving Samuel from 3nd base coach to 1st base coach we will see more tag outs at 2nd base instead of at home plate. Yeah thats an improvement!— Borkey
- Keep Charlie! Extend his contract!— damageboy
- WHY is Juan Samuel promoted to first?
He was the worst third base coach in the league and the players dont appear to be very affectionate with him anyway.
Ever since Davey Lopes left, Rube the Boob has been an abysmal failure in choosing coaches..— astroqueen0 - Red Sox have asked the Phillies permission to talk to Sandberg for Manager job since they just fired Valentine. Changes might not be over. Bring Valentine here to be Charlie's bench coach!! That will surely bring hope and change!— sonnybuoy01
- I think Manuel would be an excellent choice for the Red Sox job! Maybe
RAJ can work out a trade and then he could move on Sandberg for Mgr.— larryv - Actually from a players standpoint in Boston, Charlie would be a welcome change from Bobby V. He could take Dubee with him, since Dubee is from Boston. Take Samuel while he's at it. — sonnybuoy01
- Manager in waiting?— Boto
- Keep Bonds away from the Phillies!— dwp66
- if HappyBob were perceptive, how come 87,632 persons have ignored him to date?— warbiscuit
- if Victor Cruz could be a good NFL receiver how come 32 football teams passed on him?— warbiscuit
- if Ruben Amaro could be a competent g.m., how come the Cubs never offered him a job?— warbiscuit
- how come there are so many morons on this site?— warbiscuit
- Yesterday, I thought this GM was finally going to get serious about winning when he fired Pete Mackanin, but today I see it's just more of the same old Phillies, only worse, because now they've eliminated the bench coach position all together. Unless you have somebody on the bench like Sandberg telling Charlie Manuel what to do, I predict the Phillies are start the 2013 season approximately 17-35 by the end of May. Maybe that's the GM's master plan, but that seems like a dumb and unnecessary master plan. Why doesn't he just make a managerial change now or at least hire a competent bench coach?— Freedom Fries
- On a side note, I listened to the Phillies press conference on the radio, and it was one of the most depressing things I've ever listened to, because not a single journalist or TV reporter or radio commentator asked a compelling question. The Phillies just eliminated the position of bench coach, even though Charlie Manuel is one of the worse strategists in the game, and yet not a single reporter is going to ask about it?!— Freedom Fries
- They really need to move Charlie into another position in the organization. This manager in waiting is putting everyone in a bad spot. Charlie is looking over his shoulder, Sandberg has to toe the line even though he may not agree with it. The players have to decide if they are supposed to look to the current manager or the next manager. Hopefully Charlie looks to get extended, Rube says no, and viola and excuse to bump Charlie somewhere else,— blah
- The only one who matters is the Manager. They control everything. If Manuel wins next year Sandberg will be gone.— BOBMATT
- to the morons like phineas, happybob, scootch: nobody has any clue whether Sandberg will be a successful major league manager...the only thing for certain is that the current Phils manager is a failure who lost 3 of his last 4 post-season series with a series of bone-headed inexplicable moves and followed up his post-season failures in 2009, 2010, and 2011 with a season of bone-headed moves that prevented the team from even competing for a post-season spot -- and only a complete fool would somehow see fit to insert a discussion about one of the most evil tyrants in the history of mankind into a discussion of whether someone can or cannot be a successful baseball manager— warbiscuit
- if Dickey were any good, how come nobody wanted him 2 years ago?— warbiscuit
- if Brandon Moss could hit .291 and 21 homeruns in under 300 at bats, why did the Phils get Wigginton and Nix?
— warbiscuit - if Vogelsong and Grilli could be effective pitchers, why did the Phils let them go and go acquire Baez,Contreras,Oswalt,Qualls, Willis, Lindblom,etc?— warbiscuit
- if Phillies management understood talent, how come they spent the highest budget in the league and finished at .500?— warbiscuit
- if Bobby Valentine were a poor manager then why was he hired?— warbiscuit
- if Raul Ibanez were worth $36 million for 3 years, then why wasn't he worth $1.1 million for one?— warbiscuit
- Why does the GM need an excuse to bump Charlie somewhere else? Because if they fire Charlie now they'll owe him more money than the Phillies are willing to pay, or because they think if they fire Charlie Manuel now they'll take a PR hit, or suffer a player revolt? How is it going to look when the Phillies are dead last in the NL East at the end of May, because Charlie has no bench coach to tell him what to do, and Dubee is just as useless as an adviser to Charlie as he's always been? Won't the Phillies take a PR hit then for throwing away the 2013 season?— Freedom Fries
- Bobby Valentine was as dumb a color commentator as Wheels, so why did the Red Sox think he'd be a capable manager? At least the Phillies haven't tried to promote Wheels to Phillies manager, yet.— Freedom Fries
- I wish I felt better about these moves. I sure wish all of them the best.— sillybilly
- So, my wife's friend, Mickey, goes from bullpen and catching coach to "being promoted" to one of the two positions he previously held, catching coach? Ryno is the third base coach? Henderson and Nicols. OK. But, no bench coach? There is something wrong with the report. My bet is that Mickey stays as the BP coach, Ryno is the bench coach, Sammy goes to 1B coach, and either Henderson or Nicols are the new 3B coach.— Squonk64
- New guys in place. Sandberg/Nichols/Henderson. About time.— alwaysphil1
- I like the moves except for Sammy. If they like him that much, I'd send him to the minors for more coaching experience. I would've made Ryno the bench coach and looked to see what kind of contract Lopes has left, then concede they made the mistake and ask him back. I would've also asked if Bowa wanted to come back as a 3rd base coach. He was to crazy for a manager, but he knew baserunners and outfielders strength and weaknesses. Ryno on the bench would give the players a taste of what they'll have to do....he'll be like Utley, but with words. He won't take chicken $%#T excuses or efforts.— WBFO
- I will add to the moron suggesstions: Sign Freddie Mitchell— NewMick314
- It would be nice if Ryno had ever done anything. He's a great guy and obviously was a great player but he's never managed a big league game. Wonder what he would've done with Rollins doggin it???— Hitman20
- "Less than 48 hours ago, Charlie Manuel didn't sound like a man with a plan to overhaul his coaching staff." These moves were made by Amaro, not Manuel. When you're not happy with a coach, you just let him go. These guys were let go specifically to immediately replace them with someone else. Manuel was happy with his coaches, but Amaro wanted to get some new blood in there.
— JimG - The real reason for no bench coach: Cholly probably didn't want anybody sitting behind him yelling for him to sit down and shut the hell up. Mackinin said that bubble gum chewing hillbilly can get pretty annoying at times. Mack said Cholly would have loud conversations with himself, about his playing days back in Japan and even speak Redneck Japanese. All this when the rest of the staff is trying to win a GD baseball game!— cooperhawk
- Who is going to chart the pitches now that Dubee is the de facto bench coach. What a mess. LOL— Dull
- Minimal changes for '13............they're going to "hope & pray" that the fountain of youth is discovered this offseason - and there won't be a lot of money tossed around in the FA market............watch it play out.— Northcountry
- This sets us up for another train wreck in 2013. Charlie doesn't sound like a guy who is looking to be replaced. They should've fired the whole crew, brought in Francona for the bench and a legit GM. That's what a big budget team would do after this fiasco. But the social club that is Phillies management is primarily concerned with keeping people happy and keeping the peace.— jtj06
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