The Phillies hired Matt Klentak as their general manager before 2016. They were amid a four-year playoff drought then, and they haven’t gone to the postseason since. Even in 2020, a year with expanded playoffs, the Phillies finished just 28-32 and didn’t go anywhere, so Klentak’s job security seems to be in question. With that in mind, Phillies owner John Middleton is deciding what to do with Klentak, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports. Meanwhile, a team source told Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer that the club’s likely to retain Klentak.
The Phillies haven’t had a single above-.500 campaign under Klentak, whose clubs’ best season came during an 81-81 effort in 2019. Manager Gabe Kapler then fell on the sword, leading Klentak and the rest of Philly management to replace him with Joe Girardi, but the bottom-line results certainly weren’t better this past regular season. The Phillies never got more than four games over .500 in 2020, and they finished with seven losses in their final eight games en route to another failed campaign.
There’s no doubt the Klentak-led Phillies have come up short of expectations; to Klentak’s credit, though, he has been in charge since they’ve brought in some of their premier players. Outfielder Bryce Harper, who signed what was then a record contract worth $330MM over 13 years, joined the club on Klentak’s watch heading into 2019. The Phillies also added well-compensated veterans such as Zack Wheeler, Andrew McCutchen and Didi Gregorius in free agency, and they’ve traded for the likes of J.T. Realmuto and Jean Segura. For whatever reason, though, those pickups haven’t led to the Phillies earning another playoff berth.
Regardless of whether Klentak remains at the helm after this season, the Phillies will have to work to keep Realmuto and Gregorius – a pair of pending free agents. The Phillies are in for a difficult winter as they try to keep those two, who will be among the best available players at their positions.
Latest??? This story is two days old! I guess better late than never.
is that not still the latest?
@abgb123 Lol
The Phillies should keep Matt Klentak as the general manager. He worked an extension for Aaron Nola. Klentac signed Zack Wheeler which at the time I thought was a mistake. However, it is looking like a terrific signing. The Phillies signed Jake Arrieta to an affordable contract which at the time was a steal after winning a World Series with the Cubs. He was able to acquire Jose Alvarez from the Angels which the Phillies won that trade. Klentak worked out a deal to acquire JT Realmuto. They gave a top prospect but they acquired an elite catcher. Another, excellent signing was signing Didi Gregorious. Also, bringing Joe Girardi as the manager was a good decision they almost got to the playoff. They just needed one more win to qualify. In the last two seasons for the Phillies they have had a lot of injuries and this has affected them.
Agreed. The bullpen being this bad was a fluke. And the bullpen is the easiest part of a team to fix
yeah, if the bullpen is the reason you want Klentak fired then you dont understand baseball. a lot of things coalesced to ruin it. Arano, Suarez, Robertson, and Seranthony alone would have been good but all were injured. Middleton didnt okay a lot of spending and the deadline pickups let us down.
I think a bigger reason why fans want Klentak fired is the overall failure of his tenure, the 2020 bullpen is just the final nail. In five years, with high draft picks and lots of cash to spend (both on major league talent and minor league development), the Phillies organization is a failure.
They’re biggest detriment is its putrid player-development system, which allegedly was overhauled under the MacPhail/Klentak regime. The Phillies’ production of quality players is few and far between. That is why the front office needs a complete overhaul; bring in someone that knows what they’re doing.
Keep him for signings?
Klentak did “NOT” sign Harper. Middleton had to step in a make the deal for him. He failed as a GM there.
Realmuto deal – at the time of the signing was a good deal. But Klentak failed in re-signing him to an extension or before going to free agency. Now the Phillies will need a catcher in addition to a horrible bullpen to fix. AND he gave up a top prospect pitcher for that. He failed as a GM here.
Arrieta deal – was too much money for him at the time. (And were his ailments already known by other team GMs?) If you recall, no other team was willing to give him a deal. Klentak signed him in a last ditch deal. You don’t pay a big sum, when the market isn’t there for a player or players.
Alvarez deal – I could give him that one. But a pitcher who doesn’t wear a cup? That’s playing with fire for a player and anyone willing to sign that high risk stupidity thinking player.
Gregorius deal – Yes, Gregorius played to his potential. But was it worth giving up money that could have been spent elsewhere (bullpen) for better needed pitching? Absolutely! When you consider the Phillies had an infield already under contract, Hoskins 1B, Kingery 2B, Segura SS and 3B – well, there again Franco. Didn’t pan out under Klentak’s watch. He didn’t deal him when he could have and instead let him walk for nothing. Another bad move for Klentak.
Girardi as Manager? – LOL! Where did you get this was a Klentak move??? First, all reports were Klentak wanted to keep Kapler. Second, it was all us fans who were pleading with Middleton to sign Girardi. All the polls were showing strongly we wanted Girardi over the “probable Klentak/McPhail choice” Showalter. So, Klentak failed in two attempts here. Wanting to keep Kapler and (suggesting?) Showalter for his replacement.
Now, please tell us again, what has Klentak “really” done, that was so great or even average for a GM. His last five years?
Seriously? The injury excuse? The Tampa Bay Rays had 22 injuries, of which 7 of them were 60 day ILs. They lost Morton, one of their “top” starters for most of their season. And they WON the AL East. Remember, this is the same division that has the Yankees. Again, the Yankees had 21 players on IL throughout the season and again Paxton (one of their top starters for 60 days), Judge, Stanton and LeMahieu all for a couple of 10 days IL stints. So, don’t try playing the injury excuse card. That’s a lame excuse if you are a GM who knows how to build a team with players and depth.
Needs to be shown the door. Period
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Matt Klentak’s burner account…
I don’t think Klentak is the village idiot or anything, but he has done an awful job.
He inherited a team with some young talent, and spent ~ $115M this year on acquired talent. Realmuto is a star, but they gave up a lot to get him. Now they missed the playoffs completely, and will have to outbid some deep pockets to retain his services.
In addition, he should’ve spent some money on the BP.. I don’t blame him for the RS trade, since he had to do something, but he should not have put himself in a position where something had to be done.
Put another way, you won 80 games two years ago. Then you traded your best prospect for Realmuto, then spent $96M on Harper, Didi, Cutch, Wheeler & Segura.
Is thee even a single Philly fan that wasn’t expecting 90+ wins?
As much as I like JT maybe we’d be just as well off with Alfaro and Sixto especially if JT walks think about it.I would hope we can get Didi to stay.
Who wrote this? His mom????
Really?
However current you believe the story is, I suspect that thumbnail of a smiling Matt Klentak is not the latest picture of him.
THE PHILLIES SUCK. THE METS ARE THE TEAM OF THE FUTURE. SMITH MCNEIL ALONSO DAVIS ROSARIO NIMMO CONFORTO AND A PITCHING STAFF FULL OF ACES.
k
im sure this is sarcasm, but they finished after us with a team that probably performed up to expectations and a Phillies team that would have made the bullpen with just one or two decent RP.
its funny you say the mets performed to expectations with 2 out of 3 of their best starting pitches done pretty much at the beginning of the season along with cespedes opting out (granted he may have not been big in the field but he was showing a decent bat) unexpectedly..
What major players did the phillies lose for most of the season? Also the phillies picked up 2 decent RP but not sure what they did to them but they got destroyed in philly.
Robertson, Seranthony, Arano, Suarez – you know, basically our whole pen.
Better than you know the rotation….
The Mets had stroman and Syndergaard our for the year. Degrom and Peterson our for 2 starts and Wacha missed two starts too. (Ik you think he sucks but the replacement was somehow worst… Phillies where healthy for most of the year except he last 2 weeks. Stop
so what? its not like the Mets just lost the games where these guys were injured. and dont say the Phillies were mostly healthy except two weeks. they played 15-16 games out of 60 during those weeks and were doing pretty well until that point. and inspite of choking down the stretch still finished ahead of that supposed super-lineup the Mets have.
You really just said they didn’t lose games the games they missed??? Lol that’s the pitching staff.. you don’t understand baseball if you think the Mets missing stroman and Syndergaard and replacing them with Lockett and Jurado doesn’t mean a huge difference
They were 8 games below. .500. Take away all the wins the Mets got with their replacements. Give Syndergaard and Stroman about 5-6 wins each. Puts the Mets at .500. I mean it’s pointless to talk about fantasy. Take away the Braves injuries. Take away the Phillies bullpem injuries. It’s all just excuses.
Phillies and Mets fans arguing over mediocrity. Braves are laughing. Nationals are shining their rings. Marlins are like “keep overlooking us.”
The nationals are at home on their couches.
Yea. With their rings.
And Starlin Castro is sitting on his couch while Miami goes to the playoffs.
Nobody is scared of the marlins bro. Next year they’ll be back in the basement
Every team in the MLB would be mediocre with the pitching injures the Mets had guy.
This again. The Mets were healthy and mediocre in 2019 guy. The Braves had far more injuries than the Mets in 2020. Stroman isn’t great. Syndergaard is just ok.
You’re both delusional and in-denial about your favorite teams. Philly would have been fortunate to have Syndergaard or Stroman in year’s past.
I don’t deny that. Phillies pitching is horrific outsidw of Nola, Wheeler and Eflin. I just don’t see Stroman and Syndergaard fixing all the Mets issues that Metsfan2w keeps ignoring. As I said, both teams are mediocre…even when healthy.
The 2019 Mets team won 86 games and Diaz sucked….Not a mediocre team… 86 wins was like 95+ in the AL last year….
You fail to realize who replaced them… it’s so sad that people think those two don’t make a difference.. Syndergaard has had one year with a era over … you can’t say the dude is just ok. And stroman is good too. Look the numbers. You must think wheeler sucks too.
I didn’t say it didn’t make a difference. I said it doesn’t make them good. Pitching was a huge problem for the Mets, but stop acting like it was their only problem. It’s embarrassing arguing over which team is more mediocre. And your claim that the Phillies were healthy all year is ridiculously untrue, but keep that one in your back pocket.
They lost Syndergaard, who was 10-8 with a 4.28 last year.
Maybe, and I am just speculating here, maybe their mediocrity has something to do with Porcello, Wacha, and Matz going 2-16 with a 6.92.
To repeat, 2-16 & 6.92
I stand by my statement. Syndergaard maybe gets them to .500 and that’s being generous. Still mediocre. I can talk what ifs about the Phillies injuries too. It’s just sad.
It’s really hard to argue with someone who think Syndergaard who only has one bad year above 4 era and stroman only gets them to 500… it’s ridiculous… look at who replaced them…
So, if they had Syndergaard, and didn’t promote Peterson, then Syndergaard’s career average of 9-6 replaces Peterson’s actual 6-2, how much do actually pick up?
As a RS fan, that would be like me saying had we kept Betts, we’d be much better, without acknowledging the fact that his replacement played really well.
As a Nats fan, I think the the rest of division fans can agree that this isn’t true.
Please get rid of this guy- he’s a turd; have you seen that bullpen he rolled out there this year??
Ruben Amaro is back in town bitches
Ruben Amaro couldn’t win with the most talented team in baseball. I don’t want him either.
Go figure out how to throw the ball back to the mound, Mackey.
i wouldnt assume he’s staying yet. Middleton waited a bit to dismiss Kapler last year. obviously we as fans see it as a simple issue, but he’s the guy making the decision. i dont think he’s going to make the decision not knowing who he might bring on to replace him.
I want a job that I can spend other people’s money, and even if we lose I still have job security.
As Gelb outlined in his piece, the difficulties in hiring a new GM during COVID might be too big of a hurdle for Middleton to chance.
the trendy thing to say is he is splitting hairs over replacing him and having to keep paying him and the replacement, but that’s probably not it. I imagine too he may be waiting to see who else gets fired. very possible he wants to not break the bank on a replacement because of Klentak’s salery, and if there are several teams with GM openings a popular candidate may have a bidding war over him. (like Chaim probably had) I think seeing how many suitors there might be is a smart idea. it doesnt really matter anyway, Middleton would probably handling potential JT and Didi negotions anyway, and he has plenty of time before the start of the free agency period to make a choice.
Realmuto and Gregorious have probably already decided to go elsewhere. They will get their money regardless. But in terms of baseball, these guys will both be past age 30 when the season starts. In all likelihood, they will be looking at options that are more conducive to winning.
“Have probably decided to go elsewhere”
This is baseless nonsense. Where is it even coming from? Realmuto has decided to get the most money possible. Whether from the Phillies or elsewhere he doesn’t care. Didi hasn’t decided anything yet. No point in just spreading gossip.
and for Mr. Brookover, ill allude to Doug Peterson’s comments on wanting to retain his OC and then him being canned right thereafter. these teams make information public for a reason, and sometimes it wasn’t even from them and is just plain false.
Guess Girardi wasnt the super manager every Mets fan thought he was when they were losing their minds when the Mets didnt sign him
Can him. He clearly has no ability to build a culture or direction around this team, he’s got no conception of how to build a pitching staff, and the premier signing, Harper, happened because Middleton made it happen.
I’m rarely one to just jump up and scream for somebody’s head, but enough is enough. General Manager is supposed to be a leadership position and he is not a leader in any sense of the word.
Just like with pocket AA in poker, Eppler and Klentak won easy hands with those money-driven moves. It’s the 9-10 suited moves though that matter most.
Signing good money deals is a good attribute of a GM. I believe Eppler should still have a job.
Eppler just wasn’t the right guy to go to battle with Moreno. As much as I hate to say it, Trader Dave is probably the right mold for that unless a young analytics driven guy can sell Arte on his vision like Elias in Baltimore
What tradeable commodities do the Angels have that other teams would want?
Cey Hey Is an Angels hater. Take the comments with a grain of salt.
Angels hater? No, I am an adult and a baseball fan. I asked what tradeable commodities the Angels have? If someone brought up Dave Dombrowski as a possible GM, that is a fair question. How do they fill all their holes and contend with Trout, Rendon, Pujols, and Upton making a combined $116 million in 2021?
Adell and Marsh are the two tradeable assets that could help while Trout and Rendon are still prime. One of them needs to stay, though.
Adell for one of Detroit’s top 3 pitching prospects, preferably Manning IMO, makes sense for both sides. Or a package deal with Adell and say Jeremiah Jackson for a TOR arm and a later rotation guy.
That is Preller’s strength. For all the talk about the Padres supposedly strong farm system, that team has been built almost exclusively through trades and free-agent signings. In fact, they have the fewest homegrown products of any of the 16 playoff teams (the Dodgers have the most).
Eppler’s atrocious draft and player development record is reason enough to can him. Last year’s first pick and Griffin Canning, who fell due to injury concerns, are the only two picks in 5 years expected to help on the pitching side.
The system also has no catchers or likely infield help above A ball.
Eppler was pretty good at position players and bullpen pieces, but he can’t build, draft, or develop a pitching staff.
IMO, after four+ years on the job, you better have a good pro team, or a robust minor league system. If you have neither, then you have to raise the question of why not?
I have no idea why Adell is burning through service with the Angels. He was possibly the worst play in AAA last year. He was very young for that level, but all the more reason to keep him in AAA.
Not sure why Pujols is still on the team. He has a cumulative 0.7 WAR over the past 5 years, and a negative WAR over the past 4 years. If you have no one to replace such a pitiful performance, everyone should be fired.
And, at some point, you have to consider trading Trout. It might be too late, since the two most robust farms in BB have been trading out. But Angel fans are in the same position as RS fans. Do you want to watch a generational player, or do you want to win? I love Betts, but the trade had to be made.
Just like with pocket AA in poker
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Great analogy. Way too many fans give a GM credit for signing the most expensive free agents (Harper, Wheeler), or trading their best prospects for veterans (Sixto). I could do that.
The real skill is picking up a couple of young prospects with live arms, for pieces that you won’t need, or signing those 2-WAR veterans for $5M contracts.
5 years under .500 with that payroll? Those resources? He had his chance, time for a change!!
Billy Eppler is looking for a job
Whatever they decide they better do it quick. Like Bryce Harper said, the Phillies can’t afford to lose JT Realmuto to the Mets, Braves or Nationals.
Whomever signs Realmuto is going to have to overpay big time. Phillies are in a horrendous spot. Lose a very talented player to a division rival, and destroy team and fan morale, or vastly overpay for a 30 year old catcher.
I’ve been saying that all year. He’s a perfect player for the Phillies, and the best in the game, but this could be a 5-6 contract for a player that has two great years left in him.
Or you let him walk, and listen to Sanchez/Alfaro comments for the next 6 years? With the ancillary benefit of watching them in the playoffs.
I DO NOT want to resign Realmuto. He will need to play at 1b in two years and his numbers are below average for someone at first base. Pass!!!!!!!!
Sign McCann/Bauer with the money you’d sign Realmuto
Focus on the bullpen this offseason.
Phillies have no future lol
oh the irony
Mets future is way better tho. Idk what you’re taking about.
‘lol’, what are you 6 years old? Ffs…
he killed our farm system. it was ranked #7 when he took the job now the it’s ranked about 26th. that’s what he was suppose to master
It is hard to argue Klentak has done a good job with these subpar results despite the payroll he has taken on and the farm system he inherited. Sooner or later there has to be some accountability. Middleton is a good businessman and he’ll understand what needs to be done.
Losing those three to the Orioles set a tone for the rest of the season. Those deadline moves were also a disaster. I thought they would win with Girardi. Losing those three to Tampa when Tampa had little to play for hurt.
They need some young pitching. Giving up Sixto looks like it’s gonna haunt them for awhile. Maybe moving a guy like Bohm can grab them a starter.
When you make a commitment to spending money you wind up with players who have made a commitment to making money. The Dodgers and yankees who have spent more money than some countries, have nothing to show for quite some time. The Red Sox had to dump salary because they went in the tank. It is getting harder to build a consistent winning team in baseball that also wins Championships. Good luck to the Phillies.
At this point in his tenure you’d at least like to feel that the team is about ready to reasonably contend in the NL East.
Klentak is a cuck. Cut him loose!
The key question is “Who failed for the Phillies this season?”
Finishing the way did is absolutely no surprise considering they had to play so many games at the end with all those double headers.
So again, who failed?
The players for not performing?
The front office for not having quality pitching ready in the minors?
The coaching staff for not setting up the pitching staff for daily match ups?
Is it really that hard to play 7 inning double headers when you have a 60 player pool available and Nola, Wheeler, Arrieta and Eflin – they should all be able to go six quality innings against this season’s watered down rosters, eliminating the need to use “filler” arms.
The Phils were in the wild card picture with 2 weeks to go. The bottom line is, the franchise has failed to win important games as a whole because their “stars” can be beaten by just decent pitching.
That’s a fair way of framing the question.
IMO, it was Kingery, the #4/5 SPs, and almost the entire BP.
Once that question has been answered, the next question is, can Klentak have anticipated this? Is anyone shocked by the performances of Arrieta & Velasquez? Is anyone shocked by the BP (other than how epochly awful they were)?
I think mostly none of this is a surprise. And that’s on Klentak.
The Phillies GM has had the opportunity to right this ship. His communications skills with the public are poor. His inability to kick start the Phils’ sub par minor league operation bears his fingerprint. Goals? Accountability? Other teams in the NL East have eclipsed Philadelphia over same time span. This says so much. Matt’s appraisal abilities which includes judgment of character and chemistry (strength/weakness) has been average.
Pat Gillick seemed to be excellent at this while always having his eye on talent elsewhere that kept on coming. He rarely struck out with players who did not fit in. Is Klentak eyeing pitchers for next year? Bullpen possibilities ought to be pounced on as soon as it is legal to grab them. Seems like Phils are last to sign these pieces. Oh yeah, wonder what contribution MacPhail is making to the club. Another PR problem. There isn’t any sense that this administration has any connection to the fans or their concerns.
This fan base craves the signing of JT as well as Didi, yet the message is that this is all about money. Other teams hovering around have money concerns too. Phils know these players and their value. Get them signed!
I’m most concerned about player development especially in the starting pitching department. They have no one.
The key concern with Klentak is the farm system. Most GMs can sign free agents, manage the money effectively. What separates the men from the boys is identifying talent. Klentak gets a D- for that. He did select Bohm. I’ll give him that. Moniak was a mistake. He wasnt hank Aaron out of high school and you made him the #1, selection. Unforgivable. You can not miss on the #1 pick of a MLB draft. More importantly he has not “hit” on any minor leaguers aside from Bohm. He drafted a bunch of fringe players. No stars. No potential starters. Here sucks!!!!
Moniak didn’t work out, but so far, most of the 1st rounders haven’t. Out of the top-10 that year, the only one that looks like a HR so far is Ian Anderson. Some of the others will likely develop, but not yet.
Okay, I’ve read all the comments here..I was never a fan of Klentak or McPhail. The Phillies spend money, so we can’t say they didn’t make moves for lack of money..I think entering into the season , they felt the pen while not great because of some injuries was still adequate for the job..That was a fail.. He then late made some moves to fix that issue..Once these guys put on the uni, they forgot how to pitch….
Next year, they have a snootful of holes..They need a solid starter or two since Arrieta is outtahere.
I have no idea what they’ll do with the pen .. Captain Obvious says fix it.
Didi will be gone, J.T. looks like he will be gone..Cutch looks like he will be gone..
They moved Cesar thinking Kingery will be moving to his natural position..I think he was better at 3rd and center..I do not think he is very good defensively at 2nd base..He just can’t hit a lick..He has miles to go just to get to average.. Rhys is not very good at 1st base defensively either and his offense seems to be going backwards.. Bohm looks like he will hit forever because he is not pull crazy..Uses the entire field..I love that..However, he also does not have a good glove anywhere..
This team I love has issues..lots and lots of issues..
Roman Quinn swings like he is a power hitter when he should choke up and just try to hit the ball on the ground..What use is he….Spencer Howard has some kind of huge medical issue..how else do you explain. the loss of his FB after the first inning..
I’ve taken up too much space..I’ve been away from here too long..I have so much to write..
I apologize for this rant