Valle: Is Charlie Manuel on the hot seat in 2012?

Well…at least he’s not on the Conlin hot one chair.

This is Manuel’s eighth year at the helm. Are the players tuning Manuel out? Or is it simply the fact that at this stage in their careers, they simply can’t or won’t make the necessary adjustments needed to propel the Phillies to their second world championship in five years.

Barring a major injury to one of their starters, the Nationals and Marlins seem to be a year or so away to the point where the Phillies should win their sixth straight NL East crown. If anyone thinks this year will be a cakewalk however, think again. Will Chase Utley regain his batting stroke? Will Howard get his groove back after a brutal achilles injury when he returns? Is the bullpen strong enough?  Will it be the same scenario as the last two seasons where the bats go ice cold come playoff time and 100-plus wins means absolutely nothing?

Yes, you have to enjoy the ride because as I said, it can’t go on forever. More and more players from that 2008 squad are moving on or aren’t even playing in the majors anymore. If I were the Phillies, the mentality HAS to be World Series win or bust.

Despite the Phillies coming up short in recent years, no other coach amongst the four major teams in this town has raised a trophy other than Manuel since 1983, and the Phillies should let him go out on his own terms. It seems likely that Manuel can squeeze out a another run or two from this Phillies team, so hopefully,  the powers that be will let him finish the last year of his contract in 2013 before he retires and possibly moves up to the front office.