Philadelphia Phillies: Have Faith, Charlie Manuel Will Be Paid

After four straight NL East Division crowns, three trips to the National League Championship Series, two trips to the World Series and one World Series ring, the Philadelphia Phillies have yet to extend manager Charlie Manuel‘s contract.

If a new contract is not signed by the time the Phillies host the Houston Astros to open the 2011 baseball season, Manuel says he will not talk about it until the end of the season.

“I think, once the season starts, I don’t want to talk about my contract,” he said.

Manuel’s self-imposed deadline for a contract has caused a bit of a stir in the Philadelphia media and by extension, parts of the fanbase, but is there really a reason to be up in arms with the fact that Manuel has not been signed to an extension?

Have faith and be patient.

Unless the Phillies go through a prolonged losing streak to open the season and hit 30 losses before they win 15 games, it is inevitable that the Phillies will sign their manager to a contract extension.

General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. remains hopeful that a deal can be worked out between the two. “We want him to be our manager,” the GM said in a report by ESPN’s Jayson Stark. “And we’re hopeful we can make that happen.”

By not having Manuel signed to an extension, the Phillies are inviting an unwelcome distraction into the clubhouse, as the media will continue to ask about the status of the manager. But do not expect contract talk to be a distraction for Manuel.

“My extension and my contract—I definitely don’t want it to be a distraction for my team,” Manuel said. “I definitely put my team first.”

Amaro seems confident that there would be no distraction as well.

“I’m not worried about that,” he said. “I’ll let other people worry about distractions. … It wouldn’t be the first time in the world where a manager goes into the season without a contract extension. There’s a lot of those, actually.”

Let’s recap Manuel’s career with the Phillies in brief.

Only two managers in franchise history have won a World Series and Manuel is one of them. No manager in Phillies history has managed the team to four straight NL East crowns except for Manuel.

Manuel has won 594 games with the Phillies, good for fourth in franchise history and with 50 wins he will move into third on the list. Winning 92 games will tie Manuel for second with Hall of Fame manager Harry Wright. Winning 103 games would move him past Gene Mauch.

Manuel got off to a slow start as the team transitioned from pretender to contender, but few will argue that he doesn’t know how to push the right buttons at the right time with this roster. He has proven it season after season in Philadelphia and the front office knows that. So why keep him waiting?

Manuel will make $3 million this season. How much more should he make per year? Nobody is thinking he will earn Joe Torre-Yankees money ($7.5 million in 2007), but would it be too much to expect the Phillies to set aside $3.5 million to $4 million per year for Manuel? Nobody thinks Manuel is going to fight with the club for an inappropriate amount of money, so why let this drag on?

If Amaro has proven anything over the past couple of seasons since taking over the general manager’s role, it is that he knows what he is doing and every move is a calculated decision. Relax and have faith that he knows what he is doing here with Manuel.

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