Hello, Charlie!
Charlie Manuel looks like the most appropriate man to pick for the role of Andy Reid. His tenure in Philadelphia was the longest stretch of success, thus making him the closest match. Evidently, his run as Phillies manager resulted in far better results than Terry Francona, Larry Bowa, and Pete Mackanin.
Now that we have found our Andy Reid, we can start digging into which players are the Doug Pederson.
We need someone with a good relationship with Manuel. A real player’s coach, Manuel had many players who enjoyed working for him.
Long-time Phillies like Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Carlos Ruiz are three guys I see coaching in Philadelphia someday. Unfortunately, none of them match Pederson perfectly. They were true Phillies. Pederson’s Philadelphia stint was far shorter.
Aaron Rowand looks like one outside candidate, but is he really manager material? He did spend one year in Philadelphia just like Pederson. He fits that qualification.
Instead of focusing on that one factor, I want to instead rely more heavily on the relationship with the manager. When we do this, the answer is clear. The Phillies’ version of Doug Pederson is none other than Jim Thome.
Thome had a much different career than Pederson. This summer, he’ll go into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He also spent a little more time playing in Philadelphia than Pederson did during his NFL career. When we look at these factors, Thome is far from Pederson.