Gabe Kapler's coaching staff will now be filled out. (SportsTalkPhilly)
By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies curiously long search for a first base coach appears to be over.
Juan Samuel, a Phillies Wall of Famer that has been on the staff in some role since 2011, will not be the first base coach. According to Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, the Phillies have elected to go with an unknown external candidate:
Source says Phillies have made decision on first base coach and hire will come from outside the org. Interviewed to outside candidates this week at meetings.
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyNBCS) December 14, 2017
This is simply my opinion, but it feels possible that the reason this search took so long was the Phillies were waiting to see if Samuel was interested in staying on as Kapler's first base coach, which feels like something of a demotion given that he most recently was the team's third base coach. That job ultimately went to Dusty Wathan, who finished runner-up to Gabe Kapler in the team's managerial search and has had tremendous success as a minor league manager in the Phillies organization.
Many have asked about Davey Lopes, who is a free-agent after Dusty Baker's staff was let go in Washington. Lopes was on Charlie Manuel's staff from 2007-2010 with the Phillies, and has since worked with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the aforementioned Nationals. At 72, it's unclear what his future is. One would imagine an organization would be interested in him in some role, though it may be in more of an advisory capacity. Or he may not want to coach anymore. In any event, he probably wouldn't qualify as "outside the organization," given his history with the team.
Given Kapler's vast experience around the sport, and that he has his detractors, it's difficult to speculate on who may fill the role of fist base coach. Former big leaguer Bill Haselman, a New Jersey native, served in various roles on Terry Francona's staff in Boston when Kapler was a player. He's currently the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers Triple-A affiliate, which means he probably had quite a few dealings with Kapler in recent years, given that Kapler was the Dodgers director of player development. He could be an interesting candidate.
The MLB Winter Meetings conclude Thursday. It seems reasonable the Phillies will announce the selection prior to the meetings concluding.
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