Posts tagged Charlie Manuel at FanHouse

Our MLB editor files dispatches from the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas in Notes From Sin City.

While the baseball world watches and waits for Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia to make up their mind, or even just for a scrap from super-agent Scott Boras, closer Francisco Rodriguez has become the belle of the Winter Meetings ball.

Though the Mets have yet to publicly acknowledge that they have signed the record-setting reliever, it is widely believed that Rodriguez has agreed to a three-year deal with the club worth roughly $37 million and containing a vesting option for a fourth year that could push its value past $50 million.

Problem solved, right? Third straight September swoon averted, right? Hardly.

Look, there's no doubt that the Mets' biggest need heading into the offseason was to fix their wretched bullpen. And there's no doubt that Rodriguez is a big part of the puzzle in that regard. But they also play in the same division as the reigning world champions and a pair of clubs in the Marlins and Braves who are capable of winning 85-plus games if things break right.

New York has some elite talent -- Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Johan Santana -- but it also has a roster that is perilously thin at the margins.

After giving the city of Philadelphia their first championship of any major sport in 28 years, Charlie Manuel is hoping to stick around a while. His current contract goes through this season with a team option for 2010, but he's hoping the Phillies will guarantee both years while adding another to boot.

His agent, Pat Rooney, was asked by the Philadelphia Inquirer how negotiations were progressing:

"Slow," he said, sounding frustrated. "We had hoped to have had this done before now. We hope to get it done this week. Charlie wants to manage another three to five years and wants to be treated fairly. He'd like to retire a Phillie."

I'm guessing the two sides come to an agreement. The Phillies have posted a winning record every season Manuel has been in charge, winning the division the last two years. Even if they didn't win the World Series last year, that's enough to warrant job security beyond this season.

Much like the Cubs and Rays Rookies of the Year, the two teams took the Manager of the Year honor in each respective league with very little question. The only realistic candidate in either league, other than winners Joe Maddon and Lou Pinella, was Charlie Manuel of the Phillies, but the award is a regular season award.

During the course of the regular season, Lou Pinella led his Cubbies to the most victories the franchise has had since 1945, securing the number one NL seed with ease for the postseason. Of course, the Cubs were swept (again) in the playoffs, but, as I said above, this is a regular season award. Manuel's case, though he's a very solid manager, wasn't near as strong. I'm sure he's really worried about not winning, considering the ring and trophy he earned in the playoffs.

In the AL, the drastic turnaround by the Rays -- especially after losing Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford for the stretch run -- made the choice the easiest on the entire ballot, including the ROY selections. The Rays had never won more than 70 games, and had only avoided last place once -- when they won 70 games and finished fourth in the AL East a few years ago. All they did this season was win 97 games. It was a no-brainer.

The AL Cy Young Award winner will be announced tomorrow.

Last year, the Red Sox celebrated their championship by re-signing World Series MVP Mike Lowell and bringing back several other role players. Their only major addition from outside the organization was bench bat Sean Casey. Needless to say, that kind of stability in the era of free agency has become increasingly rare, and the Phillies won't be an exception.

Of course, the Phillies aren't exactly the 1997 Marlins either. They have a strong young core intact. Cole Hamels, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard and Brad Lidge are all under contract or the club's control for the near future. That five-player spine should be enough to make Philadelphia one of the favorites in the National League next season.

But the status of some of the second-tier players who were integral in the championship run is up in the air heading into the winter. Pat Burrell is at the top of that list. The left fielder is a woeful defender and will never hit for average, but his patience and power will be sorely missed if he signs somewhere else.

Jamie Moyer is also a free agent. He could pitch until he's 50. He could walk off into the sunset. Either way, he made 33 starts for the Phillies during the regular season and three more in the postseason. That too will not be easy to replace.

In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

Things move fast in the Internet Age. That's the nature of a 24-hour news cycle or maybe just the short attention span of Americans. Either way, before you know it we're going to be talking about CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira (And Jake Peavy and Manny Ramirez and maybe even Prince Fielder).

So let's take the chance, while we still can, to pay tribute to the 2008 champions. With a cheesesteak in one hand and a Yuengling in the other, here's to you Philadelphia.

- Here's to the Phillies fans, first and foremost. You're not always the easiest folks to understand. You've booed just about everyone including many of your own players. Even among East Coast baseball fans you can seem like a cynical, sour bunch. But your passion and loyalty is undeniable.

In frigid temperatures and pouring rain on Monday night, Citizens Bank Park was packed to the hilt. In more than 100 years of existence, you've been rewarded for your devotion with a title only twice. It hardly seems like enough.

- Here's to Cole Hamels, who at just 24 has established himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball, and just maybe its greatest changeup artist.

Until his magical October run, Hamels wasn't widely recognized by casual fans for his dominance. He wasn't even an All-Star this year. Hope you enjoyed the relative anonymity while it lasted, Cole.

Two days ago, we prepared for Game 5 of the World Series by wondering if the Rays could step up in the face of two ugly losses and find a way to beat the best pitcher in the post-season to keep their World Series hopes alive. Today, we're still wondering about Game 5, but the complexity of the game has changed entirely. The score is tied at two, we're 5 1/2 innings in, and neither team has played for two days.

Poor guy looks like he's running on a big piece of beef jerky. It must have been like stealing second on a Crocodile Mile. But hey, one more day of baseball means one more day of World Series Dugouts.

The sequel to the popular FanHouse Era classic is after the jump.

There was nothing normal about this particular World Series win for Philadelphia. For starters, Tim McCarver actually called the five-man infield for the Rays in the ninth inning, so you know things were straight up weird. It was a game that ended at 1:47 am EST on Sunday morning and saw the first Series win in the city of Philly since 1993.

Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Carlos Ruiz provided solo shots and Jamie Moyer provided an inexplicable six-and-a-third innings of one-run ball after playing the role of punching bag for most of the NLCS.

The game ended as late as it did because weather created more problems than we thought, and the first pitch didn't get thrown until after 9 pm EST.
Eric Bruntlett and his sickening beard provided the game winning run, sliding in under Evan Longoria's underhand grab/throw on a dribbler to the left side of the infield. It was eerily reminiscent of Jamie Moyer's earlier play on a Carl Crawford bunt single, in which a 47-year-old man made a grab and flick with his glove that should have forced Crawford out regardless of the bad call.

Matt Garza was good, but not great, and it was a night when youth got served by the elderly Moyer and the Philly bats really got going. But more importantly, it was a Philly win that didn't involve Cole Hamels on the mound -- we all know that the Phillies are good, but it seemed like a distinct possibility that the Phils might need Cole to pitch three times. That could still happen, but a win tonight at least means there will be options.

Sunny might be a stretch for Philadelphia's forecast tonight (especially, you know, since the sun won't be up). But the good news for everyone involved is that the rain which was originally predicted for Philly tonight is probably going to hold off.

This is awesome for those of us who like to watch baseball on Saturday nights. And Phillies fans. But probably not Fox executives.

Network honchos are probably upset because the ratings for weeknights are always higher than on weekends -- although even bothering to throw a game on Sunday seems kind of futile, no?

Philly fans are taking the opposite stance though because, as Alper mentioned earlier, a delay would have made things spicy for Charlie Manuel in terms of when to start Cole Hamels. Obviously, the Phils want to use him three times in this series, if possible. But in order to do that, he has to pitch in Game 3 or 4 on Sunday, and running him out there with the series standing 1-1 is a lot less appealing than knowing -- based on the outcome of tonight's game -- whether using him on Sunday is the smart play or not.

But, even though it's going to be cloudy, windy, cold and generally pretty miserable (or: "totally different than Tampa"), it's not likely going to rain. And that means we get Game 3 tonight as planned.

In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

For a one-run game in October, Game 1 of the World Series wasn't exactly a thriller. That's not because it lacked tension or it was a poorly-played affair. It's because Game 1 played exactly to form. As they have three times already this October, the Phillies breezed to victory with Cole Hamels, their best pitcher, on the mound.

A dazzling performance from Hamels is exactly what people expected out of the Phillies, even though they are overwhelmingly considered the underdog in the World Series.

The hard work, and presumably the real drama, lies ahead in this Fall Classic, and Game 2 should be the beginning of it all.

A win from Hamels in the opener is what the Phillies needed to turn the World Series into a competitive one. Everything came easy. Hamels dominated for seven innings, showing once again he's the best starting pitcher in October, and Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge proved unhittable again in relief. The next time Philadelphia will have the starting pitching edge is the next time Hamels steps on the mound.