MLB: 5 Major League Managers on the Hot Seat
6. <strong>Record:</strong> 93-111 (.456) with Philadelphia. Manager. Philadelphia Phillies. Ryne Sandberg. 2. player
Similar to his NL East rival Fredi Gonzalez, Ryne Sandberg is caught in the middle of a franchise transition.
The Philadelphia Phillies dumped manager Charlie Manuel in August 2013 and named Sandberg the interim skipper. After the Hall of Fame second baseman led the team to a 20-22 record, he signed a three-year deal to manage the Phillies.
Sandberg led the Phils to a disappointing 73-89 record in his first full season at the helm, and it was rocky to ay the least.
In August, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal wrote:
"“Charlie Manuel was a player’s manager, and perhaps it was inevitable that his successor would encounter friction. Sandberg inherited an old, bad team, and might simply need more time to grow.”"
Sandberg may turn out to be a great big league manager, but the Phillies are a sinking ship with the worst odds to win the World Series (150-to-1 according to online sports book Bovada).
Even with Cole Hamels (for now) they’ve got one of the worst starting rotations in Major Leagues and an aging collection of players past their prime. Plus, the organization isn’t exactly stacked with talent either having been ranked 21st overall by Baseball America.
Also, the club will probably need to eat a large chunk of the contracts of aging position players Carlos Ruiz, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley or closer Jonathan Papelbon to have any hope of moving them and accelerating the rebuilding effort. Plus, none of the four are likely to bring back much in terms of promising Major League-ready prospects anyway.
Basically, the Phillies need to blow up their roster and start over (similar to what the Braves are doing and the Astros are close to emerging from). Therefore, Sandberg’s only hope is to lead the team to a surprisingly strong season, which seems very unlikely.
Next: Terry Collins