PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies made news the past day with all their shuffling of the coaching staff.
And though he’s on for 2013, Charlie Manuel has become a hot topic.
With Ryne Sandberg waiting in the wings to be a Major League manager soon, and preferably in Philadelphia, Manuel talked about his plans after 2013 when his current contract is up.
General manager Ruben Amaro made clear that Sandberg was not promised the Phillies job in 2014 and that Sandberg has permission to interview with other teams. Manuel also said that he is not pursuing a contract extension this season and will evaluate what he wants to do after the 2013 season.
“I know how old I am,” said Manuel, who will be 69 at the end of 2013. “I have a favorite saying, ‘know thyself.’ I know myself. I still have a lot of passion, I have a drive, I still love baseball, things like that. I think my contract is fine. I think at the end of the year, I’ll be glad to sit down and not only take inventory of myself, but talk to the people and see where I’m at and see what I want to do. I’m not saying I’m going to retire or I’m going to quit or nothing like that. I’ve been in the game a long time and I love it.
“I’m looking forward to this year because I think it’s a great challenge, a great challenge for me and a great challenge for our team.”
The last sentence of that quote could possibly mean that Manuel will evaluate how 2013 will go.
This off season and next year will fall under a lot of scrutiny for Manuel and Amaro after this past season, which saw the Phillies miss the playoffs for the first time in five years.
TTB 