Joe Girardi, Buck Showalter ‘considered favorites’ to be Phillies manager

The Philadelphia Phillies cast a wide net two years ago when they searched for Pete Mackanin’s replacement. The net, well, it isn’t very wide this time.

The only three candidates reported to have interviewed for the team’s managerial vacancy are Joe Girardi, Buck Showalter and Dusty Baker. It’s unclear if any internal candidates – such as third base coach Dusty Wathan and/or bench coach Rob Thomson – have been given due-diligence interviews for the job, but it appears one of that trio will be the team’s next manager.

In fact, Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote Thursday that the Phillies will have second interviews with Girardi, Showalter and Baker this week, and the expectation is that at some point next week a new manager will be hired. Notably, Breen says that Girardi and Showalter “are considered the favorites.”

Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia was the first to note that the Phillies are believed to have conducted their first interviews with Girardi and Showalter Monday. Baker’s first interview didn’t happen until Wednesday, though that may just have been a logistics issue.

Girardi, who turned 55 earlier this week, has a 988-794 career record as a manager, having managed the Florida Marlins in 2006 and the New York Yankees from 2008-2017. He guided the Yankees to their 27th World Series title in 2009, when they defeated Charlie Manuel’s Phillies in six games.

If Girardi ultimately emerges as the Phillies No. 1 candidate, they may have to compete with the division-rival New York Mets for his services. Perhaps the pace of their managerial search has been expedited because of that reality.

Showalter has managed the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles. The 63-year-old is 24th all-time in managerial wins, with 1,551.

It’s been a week since the Phillies announced the decision to fire Gabe Kapler, after managing partner John Middleton weighed his future for over 10 days.

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