It's official.
Juan Samuel will not be returning to the Orioles' staff in 2011.
Samuel has been announced as the new third base coach and outfield instructor for the Philadelphia Phillies. He is moving his old Orioles' boss, Sam Perlozzo, from the third base coaching box to first base.
Here's what Phillies' manager Charlie Manuel had to say about adding Samuel, who spent most of his best years as a player with the Phillies.
"I feel fortunate that we were able to add someone of Juan's stature to our coaching staff," Manuel said in a news release. "He was a tremendous major league player and a big part of Phillies history and I'm looking forward to him passing on his knowledge of the game to our players. He's a great addition to our organization."
About 10 days ago, Samuel was ready to re-join the Orioles and be the third base coach for Buck Showalter, who had replaced Samuel as the club's manager on Aug. 2. But according to several sources with information on the subject, Samuel and president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail could not agree on financial terms and eventually reached an impasse.
Around the same time, Davey Lopes left the Phillies' coaching staff, leaving an opening that seemed natural for Samuel to fill. Samuel, 49, is on the Phillies' Wall of Fame and becomes the 34th person to both coach and play for the Phillies.
The Orioles still have two spots remaining on Showalter's staff: bench coach and third-base coach. Some potential candidates for the openings include Willie Randolph, Gary Allenson, Rich Donnelly, Rob Thomson and Mike Bordick, among others.