Buck Showalter will interview with the Phillies on Monday, according to multiple sources. The club is expected to also interview Joe Girardi and Dusty Baker later in the week, according to published reports.
Showalter, a three-time American League Manager of the Year, was fired from the Orioles following the 2018 season, but not before taking the club to three postseasons in nine years. Before his time there, he managed the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Texas Rangers.
Showalter is an appealing candidate for the job. He already has connections to team president Andy MacPhial and general manager Matt Klentak as the three spent time together in Baltimore.
During a 57-minute press conference on Friday following the firing of Gabe Kapler, managing partner John Middleton, along with MacPhail and Klentak, were coy in outlining what the club is looking for in a replacement.
"We certainly know what proven, experienced managers don't have jobs and are looking," Middleton said. "We also know where those managers have indicated a preference to go and where we are slotted in their personal pecking order."
The Phillies managerial vacancy is one of eight available in baseball.
Middleton admitted on Friday he overruled Klentak on the decision to move on from Kapler, claiming the late-season collapses over the past two seasons were too egregious to overlook.
Klentak is in charge of the search to find a replacement and all three execs were quick to dismiss any suggestions of a power struggle at the top of the organization.
"I don't think there's a relationship more important in a baseball organization than the manager and GM," MacPhail said. "If those two aren't simpatico, you really have issues. I believe it's John's and my goal that Matt goes out and starts the search. At the end, he's going to have to have the approval of John and I, just like with Gabe. John or I could have vetoed Gabe; we chose not to. But I can't imagine us hiring somebody that Matt is not fully on board with. John and I will have some influence on the guys that fit that criteria who we think might be the best fit, but it's got to emanate from the GM."
Though the criteria MacPhail refers to isn't publicly known, it's more than likely the club goes a different path than Kapler, who was a rookie manager, and hires a veteran that's comfortable with analytics but brings managerial experience to the dugout.
The carousel is just getting started.
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