Charlie and Jim

Jim Leyland is not the man to manage the Phillies.

Indeed, he is a disaster waiting to happen. Leyland wants the job, for now, but some day, when we least expect it, he won’t. And while his track record includes several triumphs, it consistently reveals he will bail out when he no longer wants to put up with [fill in the blank] ________ . This is no way to build for the future.

What the Phillies need is a manager of even temperament and persistence. Charlie Manuel may not be the second coming of Casey Stengel but he will provide precisely the sort of stability the Phils desperately need in order to focus on the real tasks at hand: acquiring some good starting pitching and another position player, hopefully a center fielder.

Manuel is the man for the job.

He is as capable a baseball man as any candidate the Phillies interviewed; moreover, he is more likely to remain committed to the organization. I expect the Phillies to announce his appointment as early as today.