Fan Forum--Charlie Manuel

Is it time for Charlie Manuel to receive his walking papers from the Phillies? Manuel’s misguided and unnecessary blowup with a Philadelphia talk show host on Tuesday has only intensified calls for Manuel to be fired. When a manager of a losing, underachieving team starts losing his temper with the media, he sends a subtle message to his players: It’s not your fault, it’s the media’s. And that doesn’t help the Phillies at all as they try to right themselves after another brutal start to yet another season that started with so much anticipation.

I’m not one to usually call for a managerial change only two weeks into the season, but the Phillies look like a listless, unintelligent team under Manuel. In Monday’s game, the Phillies failed to back up on an overthrow, exacerbating a physical error. On another occasion, almost the entire team lost track of how many outs there were—which is simply inexcusable for a professional ballclub. And then there are the physical shortcomings, most notably the repeated failure to drive in runners from scoring position.

That brings us to our Fan Forum question of the week. It’s actually a two-part query:

*Should the Phillies fire Manuel now?

*If so, whom should they hire as his replacement? Assuming that Lee Elia and Frank Lucchesi are not available, here are some candidates whose names I’ve heard whispered:

Davey Lopes: He’s one of two former managers on Manuel’s staff. Lopes is the opposite of Manuel in many ways—tough, fiery, and aggressive. Lopes would almost certainly improve the Phillies’ attention to detail when it comes to the fundamentals, including the art of baserunning, of which Lopes is a master. On the down side, he had almost no success during his first managerial go-round with the Brewers. He might also have problems with the notoriously nitpicky Philadelphia media.

Jimy Williams: A longtime friend of GM Pat Gillick, Williams ranks as the favorite to step in as manager. Also a member of Manuel’s staff, Williams has courted media and fan debate wherever he’s gone, be it Toronto, Boston, or Houston. Some observers hate Williams’ style of managing; others defend him to the hilt. Williams does have a tendency of making strange strategical decisions and he’s never led a team to the postseason, but his teams have won more than they’ve lost, with a .535 winning percentage. Williams’ teams usually finish second (seven times in 12 seasons), which might be good enough in this age of the wild card and a watered down National League.

John Russell: The manager of the Phillies’ top farm team, the Ottawa Lynx, Russell won the International League Manager of the Year award in 2006. He knows the organization well, has interviewed for the Phillies’ job previously, and narrowly missed out on the Rangers and Nationals jobs over the winter. So what’s the down side? Well, he’s not a big name and has never managed in the major leagues—and sometimes that matters too much to organizations that are obsessed with name recognition and repetition.

Joe Girardi: Assuming that the Phils can convince the YES Network to release Girardi from his contract, this would probably be the best managerial candidate they could muster. Girardi knows the Phillies’ talent well from his lone season as a manager in the NL East, will play young talent over complacent veterans, and has a strong sense of discipline that will make Phillies players far more accountable than they’ve been under Manuel. It’s still a disgrace that Girardi was fired by the Marlins in the first place—just weeks before he received his Manager of the Year Award.

Dallas Green: This one will make the Sabermetric folks run for the cliffs, largely because of his disdain for pitch counts and refusal to lift starters until they’ve shouldered their load for the day. I don’t think there’s much chance that Green gets the job—he hasn’t managed since the mid 1990s—but he does have longstanding ties to the Phillies’ organization and represents the diametrical opposite to Manuel, who is simply too friendly with his players. The militaristic Green would make Phillies players long for the soft, cushy days of Larry Bowa.