After two less-than-stellar years as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, Ryne Sandburg has announced his resignation from the team’s top job.
Sandburg announced he is stepping down on Friday saying it was not an “easy decision.”
“It’s a difficult day, a challenging day and a tough day for myself,” Sandberg said at a Friday news conference. “It was not an easy decision. In a lot of ways I’m old-school and I’m very, very much dissatisfied with the record and am not pleased at all by that.”
“Ryne shouldn’t feel like he should shoulder all the blame,” Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. maintained. “We do things as a team. It is disappointing. Ryne, he was here as our manager for a reason. He showed us he was prepared to take on this task but I completely understand and respect the decision he’s made.”
The Phillies quickly named Pete Mackanin, the third-base coach, as the team’s interim manager and moved assistant hitting coach John Mizerock to third base coach.
By all accounts Sandburg was handed a difficult task two years ago, one strewn with roadblocks and hurdles and despite disclaimers to the contrary there had been speculation that the team leadership was going to fire him at the end of this season anyway.
As Ian Denomme of Yahoo! Sports notes, “Sandberg was put in something of a no-win situation from the beginning. The Phillies have an aging, expensive core group of players…. The Phillies are trying to go young and rebuild but still have the eighth highest payroll in the majors at more than $143 million.”
Sandburg may have seen the writing on the wall, but even if his tenure wasn’t about to be cut short by the team, it is apparent he has decided to leave on his own terms.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com
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