In addition to predicting that Roger Clemens ultimately returns to Houston, Newsday’s Jon Heyman rubs his crystal balls and tries to identify the next manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The speculation hasn’t yet started, but Lou Piniella could be the best choice to turn around the Phillies.
Jim Fregosi, Davey Johnson and Jimy Williams also might be in the mix once GM Pat Gillick does the inevitable and fires Charlie Manuel, a nice man who’s not cut out for Philadelphia. As the popular manager of the ’93 team, Fregosi might elicit even more reaction than Piniella in Philly.
Piniella (above) has told friends he’s waiting for the right situation, generally taken to mean the Yankees. But his old boss Gillick might have a chance to convince him the Phillies are better than they’ve played for Manuel, who finally got around to correcting his bizarre original lineup by moving Chase Utley up to second, where he belongs, and Ryan Howard up to fifth.
Piniella paired beautifully with Gillick in Seattle for 116 victories in 2001 before growing tired of what he saw as the tightfisted ways of ownership and going to Tampa Bay, which turned out to beeven tighter. Piniella originally told folks he wanted to take a year to decompress; when we called Friday, his wife said he was out water skiing.