Joe Girardi has emerged as a "clear favorite" for the Phillies managerial job.
ESPN reported the Phillies are leaning toward the former Yankees and Marlins manager, who was in Philadelphia on Monday for a second interview with the team.
Former Yankees manager Joe Girardi is in Philadelphia today for a second meeting with Phillies management. He is the clear favorite for that job as the Phillies are all in to try to win in 2020.
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) October 21, 2019
Girardi, 55, won 910 games and a World Series in 10 years with the Yankees before being fired after the 2017 season and is 988-794 (.554) overall including his one-year stint with the Marlins in 2006.
He has been connected to several open jobs, including the Cubs and Padres, as he stated earlier this month that he's definitely interested in being a manager again.
“When you look at managing in Major League Baseball, there are only so many jobs,” Girardi said on Chicago's 670 The Score. “So obviously anything that comes across your desk, you’re going to be very interested in. You can’t just go to another city and say, ‘I’m going to be an orthopedic surgeon here.’ You can’t do anything like that.
“So, there’s 30 jobs. Obviously, there’s 10 teams in the playoffs, so those jobs probably aren’t open. You start to look at the other jobs available and obviously I have a lot of ties to Chicago. Any job out there is going to interest me, because I would like to manage again.”
The Phillies are searching for a manager to replace Gabe Kapler, who led the team to a 161-163 record over two seasons in his first managerial job. It appears Philadelphia is searching for someone with more experience as Buck Showalter and Dusty Baker both recently interviewed, MLB Network notes.
Girardi stepped down as the skipper of USA Baseball earlier this month, giving some indication that he could be back on a major league bench next spring.