Ryne Sandberg is currently the manager of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, returning to the organization with whom he became a professional ball player. He began paving his way into his managerial role by taking on a part as a spring training instructor for the Chicago Cubs for many years after his retirement.

Sandberg's first job as a manager was with the Peoria Chiefs, Class-A affiliate of the Cubs, in 2007. He had lobbied for the Cubs managerial position left vacant by Dusty Baker following the 2006 season, but Jim Hendry, Cubs General Manager, decided to go with Lou Piniella. His debut in the Midwest League was a successful one. The Chiefs knocked off the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 9-5 on a cold night in the Fox Valley to give Sandberg his first career managerial win.

Sandberg held the reigns as Peoria's Chief for two seasons. He definitely made an impression. It took Sandberg 11 years to get ejected from a game as a player. It took him just over a month to get tossed as Chiefs manager. To prove the first ejection wasn't a fluke, he was thrown out of 12 additional games during his tenure - a total of five times his first season and eight times his second. On top of that, he was suspended twice.

In 2009, Sandberg was promoted to the Double-A club, the Tennessee Smokies. In his only season in Kodak, Sandberg led the Smokies to the North Division second-half title. After knocking off the Huntsville Stars in the North Division playoffs, Sandberg and the Smokies advanced to the Southern League Championship Series, losing to the Jacksonville Suns three games to one.

In 2010, Sandberg was promoted again to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs. He led the Cubs to a tie atop the North Division of the American Conference of the Pacific Coast League but did not earn a playoff berth after losing the tie-breaker to the Memphis Redbirds.

In 2011, his first with Lehigh Valley, Sandberg led the IronPigs to a wildcard berth in the International League playoffs, losing three games to one in the finals to the Columbus Clippers. As a result of his team's play, he was named 2011 Minor League Manager of the Year by Baseball America.

Sandberg believes in discipline and expects his players to respect the game. He has no problems disciplining the team as a whole, including making them run sprints back and forth from foul pole to foul pole.