Last week in the wake of the Phillies officially promoting Don Mattingly to manager, there was a very interesting/crazy report about some of the other candidates they considered. We already knew about their multiple attempts to attract Alex Cora, but now we also know that they reportedly approached former Phillies outfielder Raúl Ibañez and newest member of the Phillies Wall of Fame Chase Utley about their open managerial position.
Ibañez has been named as a candidate in multiple manager searches
across baseball the last few years, and it feels like it’s only a matter of time until he finally steps back onto the field and out of the Dodgers front office where he is currently employed. To this point Ibañez has declined all overtures, but the aforementioned report from the Athletic’s Jayson Stark mentioned that he at least considered the Phillies coaching job for a few days before deciding to decline.
Utley on the other hand sounds as though it was something straight out of the mouth of a WIP caller. The report says that he quickly declined the opportunity and even includes quotes from Utley where he expresses that now is not the time for him to consider managing. Perhaps this was just a courtesy from the Phillies organization to get their former star’s name involved in the managerial carousel for future hiring cycles. Or maybe it was a way to placate the types of fans that call in to radio stations to suggest this type of thing.
Speaking of, let’s all let that part of us run wild for a second. Who’s your all Phillies alumni coaching staff? Here’s mine for example:
- Manager- Chase Utley
- Pitching coach- Cole Hamels
- Hitting coach- John Kruk
- Bench coach- Dave Hollins
- First base coach- Jimmy Rollins
- Third base coach- Shane Victorino
- Infield coach- Larry Bowa
- Bullpen coach- Brad Lidge
