It’s not always fair to judge baseball operations leaders for free agent signings. In many cases, the biggest contracts are negotiated to varying extents by ownership. The same can hold true of major extensions. It’s just tough to know from the outside.
There’s obviously involvement from above in trade scenarios as well. But, when it comes to exchanging rights to some players for others, it stands to reason the role of the general manager is all the more clear.
In any event, for what it’s worth, it seemed an opportune moment to take a look back at the trade track records of some of the general managers around the game. We’ve already covered the Diamondbacks’ Mike Hazen, former Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, the Brewers’ David Stearns, the Angels’ Billy Eppler, the Rockies’ Jeff Bridich, the White Sox’ Rick Hahn, the Tigers’ Al Avila, the Braves’ Alex Anthopoulos, the Padres’ A.J. Preller, the Blue Jays’ Ross Atkins and the Mariners’ Jerry Dipoto. Let’s now head to Philadelphia to evaluate Matt Klentak, who has worked alongside president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail with the organization since 2015. (Deals are in chronological order and exclude minor moves; full details at transaction link).
2016 Season
- Acquired UTIL Jimmy Paredes from Blue Jays for cash considerations
- Acquired C A.J. Ellis, OF Joey Curletta and RHP Tommy Bergians from Dodgers for C Carlos Ruiz
2016-17 Offseason
- Acquired RHP Pat Neshek from Astros for player to be named later or cash
- Acquired INF/OF Howie Kendrick from Dodgers for 1B Darin Ruf and 2B/OF Darnell Sweeney
- Acquired RHP Clay Buchholz from Red Sox for 2B Josh Tobias
2017 Season
- Acquired INF Jose Gomez and RHPs J.D. Hammer and Alejandro Requena from Rockies for RHP Pat Neshek
- Acquired OF Hyun Soo Kim, LHP Garrett Cleavinger and international bonus pool money from Orioles for RHP Jeremy Hellickson
- Acquired LHP McKenzie Mills for Nationals for INF/OF Howie Kendrick
- Acquired INF Elieser Alvarez from Cardinals for RHP Juan Nicasio
2017-18 Offseason
- Acquired RHP Enyel De Los Santos from Padres for SS Freddy Galvis
2018 Season
- Acquired INF Asdrubal Cabrera from Mets for RHP Franklyn Kilome
- Acquired LHP Aaron Loup from Blue Jays for RHP Jacob Waguespspack
- Acquired C Wilson Ramos from the Rays for cash or a player to be named later
- Acquired 1B Justin Bour from Marlins for LHP McKenzie Mills
- Acquired LHP Luis Avilan from White Sox for RHP Felix Paulino
- Acquired OF Jose Bautista from Mets for cash or a player to be named later
2018-19 Offseason
- Acquired SS Jean Segura, RHP Juan Nicasio and LHP James Pazos from Mariners for 1B Carlos Santana and SS J.P. Crawford
- Acquired LHP Jose Alvarez from Angels for RHP Luis Garcia
- Acquired C J.T. Realmuto from Marlins for RHP Sixto Sanchez, LHP Will Stewart, C Jorge Alfaro and $250K in international slot money
2019 Season
- Acquired INF Hunter Stovall from Rockies for LHP James Pazos
- Acquired OF Jay Bruce and cash considerations from Mariners for INF Jake Scheiner
- Acquired UTIL Brad Miller from Yankees for cash considerations
- Acquired RHP Mike Morin from Twins for cash considerations
- Acquired INF Jose Pirela from Padres for cash considerations
- Acquired OF Corey Dickerson from Pirates for international bonus allotments and a player to be named later
2019-20 Offseason
- None
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What are your thoughts on Klentak’s trades in Philly (Poll link for app users)
Grade Matt Klentak's trades
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C 45% (2,034)
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B 28% (1,283)
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D 17% (757)
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F 7% (313)
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A 3% (142)
Total votes: 4,529
I mean this is literally the definition of meh. Realmuto is the only big trade and we still have to see how that pans out for Miami. He’s had some decent rental pickups but beyond that there really isn’t much here.
Yeah. Sixto may be a stud and Realmuto could walk out the door next year. Or the reverse.
Klentak’s trades look really good when you compare them to his free agent signings. That’s my best explanation for why there’s so many “B votes here.
My problem with him is that the Phillies went through a rebuild and then said screw it.
Don’t know if he was pressured by the front office or what.
The TV money is helping plus the Mets being maybe the most dysfunctional team in baseball in the current.
I was likimg their direction until last off-season.
If you add in the average drafting as well and the free agency I say D maybe F.
Just with the trades a C right now.
NYM most dysfunctional team in MLB?
What say you, Pirates fans? Are you going to let them take that away from you?!
Where is the Ken Giles trade from the 2015 offseason?
I could be wrong but i don’t believe that was Klentak
Yea I think that was still Amaro , Klentak took over in the 2016 offseason I believe.
It was Klentak
See a lot of parallels between the Phillies and my beloved Padres. Both spent several years rebuilding and then before they had made it back to the playoffs organically they just said “Hell with it” and started throwing money/prospects at the problem thinking that would fix it. So far, it hasn’t.
He could have waited for Trout.
But I guess Trout to the Phillies wasn’t going to happens because of Bryce Harper.
Leaks out of Washington last year pretty much said the guy was a cancer.
We will see with Philly.
Trout to Philly isnt happening bcuz Trout signed a 400M deal with LA already
After the Phillies signed Harper.
Pretty much right after tney signed him
Wasn’t a coincidence.
Or it completely was. You dont know for sure.
there were still plenty of people thinking they’d get Trout and Harper. stupid IMO, but they were out there.
That was realistic. Trout (probably $40MM) and Harper ($26MM) makes up less than $70MM on their payroll.
They probably wanted to make that happen. Trout wanted to stay in LA though.
Everyone kept saying that when the phillies landed Harper, Trout was gonna be there in 2 years , I don’t think he was ever gonna leave L.A. I think two reasons why he signed long term, 1. He stayed loyal to the team that drafted him and 2. I don’t think he wanted the media attention , because the media in philly is a lot different then it is in Anaheim. Since the phillies do not have to worry about trout, they can use that money on realmuto and a star in center field.
As a Phillies fan I have no problem with Trout’s decision to stay in LA. I respect him for staying loyal to the team he wants to be with. Would I have liked him to land in Philly, yes. Bu he probably wouldn’t have liked the attention and the pressure of being close to home. Btw I think it’s very likely that Realmuto will hit free agency. I hope I’m wrong.
Trout was never gonna leave LA
The little goat boy says he wasn’t going to leave LA!
Who wouldn’t trust a goat?
It’s the truth. There was a lot of talk that he might move on if he didn’t think the Angels could contend but clearly that wasn’t the case. He took a massive discount to stay with the team that drafted him even though they had done nothing to established themselves as likely contenders before then and still haven’t.
i think the trades themselves are worth a B, but his lacking willingness to trade for important pieces at the deadline (SP or RP) has to bump the ranking down.
They better hope Bohm is the answer at 3B. Sounds like the bat is above avg. but the glove and speed are lacking. Reminds me of a Pat the Bat who moved from 3B in college to LF.
Howard will be a nice #3 in this rotation. Where they need to spend the money and get a guy is CF for 2021 and get a Closer. Money comes off the books after this year and if they do those 2 couple things, they should be a top team in the NL. For this season if there is a season, they will be just above .500 which doesn’t get it done.
Marte would be perfect, Or do they wait for Micky Moniak to develop. They could sign Marte then trade Hasley & a prospect for another pitcher or bullpen piece.
Marte still has 2 years left in AZ. I could see them making a run at Springer though.
I forgot about Springer , but they might extend him since they lost Cole. I thought Starlin Marte was a rental.
i think between Haseley and Moniak you have at least one above average CF solution for the foreseeable future. i feel like what we really need a solution at is closer. Neris is not the answer, but he has always been great when performing as the setup man. getting a good closer improves the 9th a lot, but perhaps the 8th even more. (though Suarez is could be the solution there as well, even id rather him start over VV and Pivetta)
I think Moniak is projected to be a 4th outfielder at this point
I see Klentak as always been close but never doing anything at the right time or the right player. He signed Morton the year before he broke out as a star pitcher. He got next to nothing in the Giles trade and with every week it looks like his trade for Realmuto may be Sixto for one and a fraction seasons of Realmuto.
I hope they can work out a deal for Realmuto. For trading away Sixto Sanchez & Alfaro , I say pay him whatever he wants.
@angelsfan4life412 they didn’t have to trade for Realmuto first to be able to pay him whatever he wants.
Morton was a catastrophic leg injury for the Phils that season. If anything I would argue Klentak was out in front of that breakout year but took a bad beat. Giles trade was a loss but Vince is still a major league pitcher so it wasn’t a total fleecing. This was supposed to be the year we make the final call on Velasquez. TBD on Realmuto but you may be right. If they don’t extend him they are screwed because there is nothing even close in the system. They would have been better off holding Alfaro if JT walks. I pray JT will get his catcher altering Pudge Rodriguez money from Klentak in the end.
I’m not a fan of Klentak and less so of MacPhail. That having been said, their efforts to drag a backward organization into the data driven era will probably be their biggest contribution.
If I was Middleton I would of cleaned house and bring in Dave Dombrowski or Chaim Bloom from the rays who is now with Boston.
Dombrowski, lol. Trade off every single prospect in the system for 1 or 2 year rentals then have nothing when they walk away? No thanks, rather have Klentak
The Philies got screwed with Bryce Harper. This past year he hit .260 with 35 home runs. You can pay 15 million for someone else who can do the same thing.I don’t think that the Philies should’ve wasted so much money on a bum. Look at what it said they did this offseason. Oh! there is nothing there. The philies are going to be terrible, and the Brewers are going to win the World Series against the Angels. The Braves are going to defeat the Philies in the division. I don’t see the Philies being anything besides a .500 win team. Tell me if I’m wrong please.
MARK MY WORDS!!!!!
Brewers winning the World Series?
Yikes
A rotation fronted by Woodruff/Houser…good luck, Yeli!
Yeah that’s a bold take. I’m going with Cards winning the division and Reds taking Wild Card. The Phillies might make WC too or even win the division since Atlanta’s starting pitching last year might have been a fluke. But we’ll see regardless after life resorts to normality first.
They have a solid 1-2 punch with Nola & Wheeler. I think if Eflin can find that success he had his first 10 starts last year, then they have a solid 3. I would put Arrieta at the 4 spot, then hopefully bryan price can fix both pivetta & vinny v, plus spencer howard looming . I still think they needed another starter like Keuchel.
I’d actually put the Reds winning then the Cardinals, Brewers, Cubs a toss up.
4.6 fWAR, 125 wRC+, 3rd in baseball with 15.58 WPA+, Gold Glove finalist. He wasn’t the problem. Klentak never should have thrown money at Santana and Arrieta, and all of the veteran relievers were either injury prone or vastly underperformed. They had no pitching.
Crumpy, I loved Santana. Take away that fluke first month of 2018 and he was gold. The reason they tanked down the stretch that season was Asdrubel forgetting how to hit when he got to Philly (in addition to playing out of position) and only getting a sprinkle of Wilson Ramos juice. There were also far too many games played by Aaron Altherr.
I liked Santana too, but the move didn’t make sense because it moved Hoskins to LF full time. Even if Santana put up the year he had in Cleveland last year the move still wouldn’t make sense in my opinion.
They hired Girardi and signed Wheeler and Gregorius. Solid offseason in my opinion.
The Nationals might have something to say about that.
The nationals really didn’t do anything in this offseason, they lost Rendon who was their best hitter imo , but people might argue that soto was.
April fools was yesterday. Thanks for the good laugh though.
GMs are like people,, right? The best laid plans sometimes don’t quite work out. It’s a baseball not a crystal ball.
But Klentak doesn’t strike me as one who reacts quickly. The Phils have been on the cusp for a while, without really becoming significant. And this is not the toughest division in MLB. And the Phils have a LOT of money.
Too many years with too few results.
Did you see the NL Central!!
The Phils have been on the cusp for a while
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I think the issue is that they haven’t really been as close as many thought.. And then that resulted in Klentak making ill-advised moves to make up a difference that they weren’t close enough.to do so.
$75M/3 for Arrieta was ridiculous. He joined a 66-win team with Hoskins, Nola, and Crawford as their sole rising stars. What was the point in entering into a short-term agreement, at a high price, hoping they could compete in his 3rd year?
Then trading away Crawford, Alfaro & Sanchez. This was kind of similar to the Pirates trading away three good prospects for Archer. They weren’t just one player away.
They probably still aren’t ready, but they are down 3 good prospects, and are paying $35M for Arreita & Segura that could’ve been spent on someone like Cole.
good points
JoeBrady, the Arrieta signing was a gamble, but they were in on short term starting pitching moves and waited him out through free agency until his asking price dropped into realistic territory. The only question is whether there were any other suitors left at that point. I had no issues with the deal at the time. You pay more to lower your long term risk via fewer years. It looks bad in hindsight but hardly the end of the world. The occasional Arrieta gem sure beats watching Vince and Pivetta try to figure things out YET AGAIN.
Trades are soso but I give A+ anyway for hiring Joe Girardi. Essentially he traded Kapler for him.
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Hiring Giradi was a great move but it seems like the owner forced him to reluctantly fire Kapler, who he also hired. So a wash on that front.
Yea Klentak wanted to keep Gabe , but he had to go. Girardi was the best move or joe maddon. Middleton should of fired klentak & mcphail
C
It’s too early to judge the Realmuto trade.
But I am not like the Segura trade. Crawford might be as good as him as soon as this season. Then they moved Segura off SS.to 2B, further devaluing him. So next year, they will have Segura, Kingery and Bohm to play only two positions, but no true SS.
The issue, imo, is that they rushed the process. This wasn’t a team of rookies looking to make the big move. I think they’d have been better off waiting for Crawford, Alfaro, Kingery, and Hoskins to mature another year before adding veterans.
I don’t mind that trade that much. Santana was moved, and that allowed Hoskins to move back to first. That led room for McCutchen. My biggest issue with that trade is why the Phillies even signed Santana in the first place. Santana is a great player, but it didn’t make sense to move Hoskins into LF full time. I still think Segura will be better than JP over the next 2 years. In a “win now” mentality you go with Segura. For a rebuilding club like the Mariners it’s in the best of their interest to see if Crawford can develop into a star or not.
To see JP play defense was to fall in love with him. In the end though he’s a sexier Freddy Galvis with a lot more eye, a little more hit tool, less power, less glove. I’d rather have a true 2 or 5+ hole guy in Segura with a SUPERIOR hit tool and a solid glove than Galvis or Crawford. I don’t think Crawford will ever hit. He’ll just enjoy his walks and looking smooth as hell.
I suggested on Preller’s rundown that San Diego may want to give Dave Dombrowski a holler. If I had to go all-in on DD’s next location, it’d be Philadelphia though. On paper they still look like the third best team behind Washington and Atlanta. Maybe Wheeler is who they paid for and maybe Girardi is that much of a difference than Kapler.
If you’ve made big time trades, signed multiple big contracts, gone through two managerial hires, and STILL can’t reach the postseason, let alone a World Series; it’s time to change the cook in the kitchen.
Agreed, the Padres should go all in on wasting their talent.
Y’all forgot the Ken Giles trade
On the bright side of my boredom whilst reading this article, it helped me remember that Hyun-Soo Kim existed.
I think the Phillies front office is among the most misguided in the league. They saw that the old regime did absolutely nothing in regard to analytics, so they did a complete 180 and now they ONLY use analytics, and completely ignore the common sense aspect of the game.
I saw someone ask why they signed Santana- the on base percentage. They just saw that he was among the best bats on the market and said, “Screw it, we’ll just move Hoskins to left- how hard can it be?” Well, we saw how that one worked out.
They basically run the team like its a computer simulation, not a team with actual players. Yes, Moneyball can work, but you still have to apply some level of old school methods.
I give Klentak credit for his rental steals like Ramos and Dickerson but overall, not a fan
There was a lot of hate for amaro and how he ruined the team and then the smart sabermetric klentak rebuild the team but I don’t quite see that.
The homegrown core of the current team (nola, hoskins, kingery) was already acquired by almaro and most of the draft picks of klentak despite being high picks didn’t do much and generally lots of prospects failed. Not saying amaro was great but klentak didn’t do much either.
He did good trading cash for pat neshek then flipped him the next year for three prospects and the realmuto trade
The trades he’s made are ok. Nothing brilliant. No disasters. Unless Realmuto walks. The issues with Klentak are: he hired Kapler…he signed Santana when Hoskins couldn’t play LF at all…he hired Kapler…he didn’t address the bullpen this offseason…and most importantly, he hired Kapler
Stick with physics, Sheldon
Klentak was in over his head rom Day 1. has no eye for evaluating talent. The ragged arms he’s assembled in the bullpen are terrible.
What he can do is spend Middleton’s money (Harper, Didi and Wheeler). His trades were no better than a C-. And if Realmuto walks, make that a D.