4:11 pm: Team President Andy MacPhail, who was instrumental in Klentak’s initial hiring, will remain in that position, Middleton confirmed to reporters (including Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer). MacPhail will be involved in the search for the club’s next GM, the owner added.
3:03 pm: The Phillies announced that Matt Klentak has stepped down as the team’s general manager. He’ll remain in the organization in another position. Assistant general manager Ned Rice will take over on an interim basis while the club conducts a formal search for Klentak’s replacement.
“I have stated publicly that winning is what matters, not just in Philadelphia but in all cities and in all sports,” Phillies managing partner John Middleton said in the accompanying press release. “While Matt made many significant contributions to the organization, we did not accomplish our goal of playing baseball in October. Consequently, we have mutually agreed to allow new leadership to head Baseball Operations.”
Previously an assistant GM with the Angels, Klentak took over the Phillies’ baseball operations department in October 2015. He inherited an organization somewhat in flux. The club’s massive success at the tail end of the previous decade was squarely in the rearview mirror. Outgoing GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. had already kicked off a rebuild, but the organization was surely anticipating some growing pains coming off a 63-99 season.
That proved to be the case, as the Phillies’ revamped roster struggled through a pair of miserable years in 2016-17. By 2018, though, the organization was ready for a push toward contention. Philadelphia brought in Gabe Kepler to manage that offseason and saw core young players like Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery cement themselves as everyday players. The club even added Jake Arrieta and Carlos Santana on three-year free agent deals, moves that proved ill-fated when Arrieta struggled and Hoskins proved incapable of adequately playing left field to open a spot for Santana at first base. Philadelphia didn’t make the playoffs that year, but their 80-82 record was a fourteen-win improvement over the prior season and seemingly positioned them on the verge of a breakthrough.
Clearly, the organization felt they were just a few players away from putting themselves over the top. The Phillies swapped out youngsters like J.P. Crawford and Sixto Sánchez for established everyday players Jean Segura and J.T. Realmuto. To top it off, Philadelphia broke the bank for Bryce Harper, inking him to a record 13-year, $330MM free agent contract in February 2019.
Unfortunately, those offseason splashes didn’t translate into on-field improvement. Philadelphia plateaued at 81-81 last season, leading to Kapler’s ouster in favor of Joe Girardi. As Middleton noted, Klentak’s big ticket acquisitions generally performed well. Harper, Realmuto, Segura and fellow free agent addition Andrew McCutchen all turned in solid to very strong seasons, but the club never found answers in the rotation behind Aaron Nola.
To Klentak’s credit, he attempted to fix that deficiency over the offseason, signing Zack Wheeler to a five-year deal. Wheeler was highly productive in year one, while Zach Eflin locked himself in as a capable #3 starter. Yet again, though, the team as a whole fell flat. Weighed down by an atrocious bullpen, Philadelphia went just 28-32 in this year’s shortened season and missed the expanded playoff field, punctuated by a season-ending sweep at the hands of the Rays. Ultimately, the team’s lack of productivity despite plenty of high-priced acquisitions proved too much for Middleton to ignore.
Philadelphia is the second team to look for a new baseball operations leader this offseason. Angels’ GM Billy Eppler was let go last weekend. After the hiring of Kapler, a first-time manager, didn’t work out, the Phillies turned to the more experienced Girardi. Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link) anticipates the club will similarly target a long-tenured front office executive after Klentak’s first GM job came up shy of expectations. The Phillies should have plenty of interested suitors, given the club’s high-quality core and generally aggressive ownership.
First on the docket for any new baseball ops head could be a call with Realmuto’s camp. The All-Star headlines this year’s free agent class at catcher; the two sides have had extension talks in the past, and it stands to reason any incoming executive would similarly have interest in keeping Realmuto in the fold.
Somehow I don’t think this was his choice. I’m guessing that ownership gave him a chance to save face, offering him another front office job to step into vs. getting fired. Smart move by Philly; they have him plenty of leash and he ended up hanging himself with it.
Even if it was his decision clearly(from Middletons own public statement)they would have made the decision for him. I feel like while the Phillies made some improvements they went after the big signings and big trades without filling out the roster around them. If you can invest in guys like Harper or Arrietta even then you need to be able to invest a small fraction of that price on bullpen arms for example.
Time to bring in a real GM, Sabean? Colletti? Enough with these supposed new wave geniuses!!!!!!
Coletti, as much as he gets panned, has his strengths and might provide proper balance with old-school scouting and new-wave analytics.
Klentak did some positive things for the Phillies like signing Zack Wheeler, Didi Gregorius and acquiring JT Realmuto. He worked an extension for Aaron Nola to name a few. The Phillies missed the playoff by one game this season. At least to me Klentak wasn’t bad as a GM. However, it’s going to be interesting seeing who will be the next GM of the Phillies and how he does. The Phillies might consider Jeff Luhnow.
To your point Klentak had some good signings and got some good production from players he traded for. I think this is just like Middleton stated a clear lack of winning issue. He gave him the financial freedom and let him use the farm system to win now and that didn’t happen for whatever reason. I think you can clearly point to an atrocious bullpen to start. I don’t know what kept him from pushing to improve the pen. You can’t just grab a handful of really good-great players and expect them to make the postseason. You have at least mainly quality guys around them and certainly can’t have an enormous hole like their bullpen became. As good as Realmuto is if it’s financial constraints that kept the Phillies from filling out the roster I’d have to let him go elsewhere and spend that money on rounding out the bullpen and team in other areas. They have a lot committed to a little right now.
That’s already been reported on wip.
Maybe Klentak is staying on as the clubhouse water boy?
This had to happen. Phillies last 3 seasons have been purgatory of starting off well and collapsing at the end. Sixto making the playoffs before Realmuto was the final kick in the gut.
How is that the GM’s fault? He put together a great team. Replace the field manager if the team is not sustaining good results down the stretch. What is the GM supposed to do. Wave a magic want to make good players to their potential?
he put together a team with a good lineup and rotation with a glaring blackhole in the pen. how can anyone do well with a pen that cant do anything?
A gm is supposed to identify good players.Klentak did not put together a great team,when there has been obvious holes every year.
MacPhail should be gone too,considering his m.o is to develop pitchers,and sign hitters,and the pitching hasn’t quite developed.
They alresdy fired the manager lol.
How does this affect their ability to sign Realmuto, if at all? A new GM could make it their mission coming in to retain them, representing burying their flag. Feels like it’s wide open, especially since ball is in Realmutos court.
Where did I mention re-signing him? Its a bad trade to move a 22 year old who looks like Pedro Martinez to a division rival for 2 years of Realmuto and a comp pick if he leaves.
General question. Sorry, on the app, thought I was at the bottom to start new thread.
I would agree with GoLandCrabs here for sure. If the Phillies were a team on the cusp that needed one more piece perhaps you trade some future years for a couple great years at catcher especially but they really weren’t and were always flawed. I would definitely separate what they paid to acquire him from what it takes to retain him they are two separate issues. One is done and over that cannot be changed or corrected(if you agree the price paid was too high). If you can sign Realmuto and fix all the holes(bullpen is glaring)then perhaps that makes sense but if resigning him keeps you where you are then what you paid to bring him in cannot/should not make resigning him any more important. You don’t double down on a bad move. It’s was stated it really is a shot in the gut that the Marlins just beat the Cubs in the first round(even if it was a little silly format). You can point out every good move a guy has made(obviously more active because of the power ownership gave him to do so)but it all comes down to winning as Middleton stated in public. Klentak failed to produce a winner and bleed out prospect and dollars in the process. Any gm can offer top dollar to sign free agents and throw around prospects to rebuilding teams and make improvements. It’s about building a roster from top to bottom and that takes more than a superstar or even two or three superstars.
If they could of had good arms in the bullpen , they would of been a playoff team. Plus having another starter.
Another John Middleton move. Ok, happy the guy has a job. However the new GM must be His own man. They need someone to rebuild the minutes and start drafting players that can be successful in the majors.
If you’re looking for them to back off win now mode and focus on drafting and development to fill out the roster I think you’re going to be very disappointed. Whoever they bring in will be in win now mode. I didn’t think Dave Dombroski would get another GM job but this may be the one. Dombroski is solely a win now gm but that’s Middletons main mission right now and Klentak spent enough to fall short he may prefer a guy who has proven success building a team that way even if it’s more short sided of an approach. Dombroski may blow it up but the Tigers could have easily won a WS or even two and the Red Sox won one and probably could have pushed just a little further and won a second but elected to reset the luxury tax while cutting ties with him. If you’re going to spend big money and go to the farm to bring in talent like they did you have to win
If you’re going to spend big money and go to the farm to bring in talent like they did you have to win
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There’s the issue. Everyone can go for it, but only one team can win. If the RS don’t win 2 one-run games in the ALDS, then DD would’ve been a complete disaster.
In addition, any GM that is allowed to blow up the farm, and blow up the payroll, is likely to win a lot of games. If I were the RS GM, and I inherited Bogaerts, Devers, Benni, JBJ, Betts, ERod, etc., and was allowed to spend an almost unlimited amount of money, and was allowed to trade away almost the entire well-rated farm, I am definitely giving you a .600+ team.
DD did not blow up the Tigers farm. They had the worst in MLB when he arrived. Chris Sales for Yoan Moncada is not blowing up the BoSox farm.
Chris Sales for Yoan Moncada is not blowing up the BoSox farm.
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He traded 6 guys that were, at one time or another, in the top-100. My point still stands. Give me a team with talented players, the ability to add a lot of payroll, and the permission to trade everyone in minors, and I am going to get you a really good team.
Joe isn’t that the point? Or are you trying to win the AAA Championship every year?
That’s the dumb ass rhetorical question and baseball. Yeah, sometimes you have to win a AAA title before we went to the big leagues
Joe I don’t understand. Klentak was given tons of firepower and obviously didn’t capitalize enough. My point is if that’s indeed the case then maybe not everyone can break the bank and pluck from the farm and build a winner because Klentak couldn’t. Building a winner even with huge recourses doesn’t always work out. My point with DD is he has had success in doing so while Klentak has not. Would I hire DD? Not a chance in hell. But I wouldn’t have taken the path Middleton did two years ago. If that’s the path Middleton is hell bent on going then DD makes sense under that premise.
Joe isn’t that the point? Or are you trying to win the AAA Championship every year?
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My point about DD is that anyone can do what he did, at least with the RS. It’s not hard to sign the most expenses and trade the farm.
“Please step down.”
“No.”
“Please step down or we’ll fire you.”
“OK.”
Stepped down? I’m a little sad. He landed Harper and signed Nola to a great contract. Couldn’t figure out relief pitching, though. Oh well.
Middleton landed Harper to be fair.
He landed Harper
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I never understood why people credit a GM for outbidding everyone else for a player. If you find an underrated player, and sign him cheap, kudos. Paying more money is something any one of us can do.
No winning seasons, whiffed on the first pick of the draft, completely barren farm system, massive payroll obligations, questionable trades….oh yeah, and ignored pitching. He was A DISASTER of a GM. Good riddance to bad rubbish. What about MacPhail?
id blame Moniak more on scouting then the GM. but still partially his fault.
How does Klentak pass on Ian Anderson
to be fair, HS arms are dodgy and Anderson was one pick above Pint, who’s probably never making it to the high minors, let alone the Majors.
IIRC Anderson was considered a reach at #3 at the time. Jay Groome was considered the top talent and somehow fell to #12.
Seriously though, there were many safer picks. How could scouting be off that much? Glad they passed on Ian Anderson (& Shane Bieber 4th rd).
Sometimes it’s not all about who is the best player. The Braves reached at 3 for Anderson so they could spend less money on a signing bonus for him and use that savings elsewhere.
Depsite being picked third overall, Anderson got the 8th highest signing bonus, only about a million more than the Braves second pick, Joey Wentz, at 40 overall. They nabbed Bryse Wilson in the 4th round and paid him a 1.2 million signing bonus, the biggest for that round.
I’d say it worked out well for the Braves.
Just noticed something weird. The Braves drafted a guy named Brandon White in the 12th round and then another guy named Brandon White in the 13th round. Both RHP.
That’s not logical. Just because someone taken later, winds up being better, doesn’t mean it was a bad pick. There is way too much variance for that.
“Completely barren farm system”? Alec Bohm says “Hello”.
Alec Bohm is no longer a prospect and has graduated from the farm system, so he doesn’t count.
Phillies currently have three prospects on the MLB.com list. Howard at 28, and then two guys in the 80’s.
No bueno.
Why does Alec Bohm say “hello”. He is not a prospect anymore.
he’s being reassigned. he can still provide insights from another position.
With fans returning next season, I’m sure he’ll enjoy new job next summer as a beer bendy.
Vendor
Dave Dombroski … Uh Oh!!
That’s my choice
People will call you crazy but it’s not like Klentak didn’t sell off prospects and throw money around but the Phils don’t even have a playoff appearance on his watch. DD may spend and mortgage some future but he’s brought success in return. I’m not saying the Phils approach of win now was the correct move I think they needed to wait a year or two to make that move but they’ve made the move none the less and if that’s the direction they want to go DD is your man
So, what’s the excuse for next season when the Phillies have an 80-82 record?
I didn’t hear any excuses this year. Phillies fan knew their bullpen wasn’t good enough to compete.
I’ve read plenty of posts on here complaining about the GM and blaming him for this and for that.
Last year it was Kapler. I’m just curious to hear who is going to get the blame next season. Maybe the Phanatic?
excuse or reason? Kapler and Klentak have failed to help this team, plain and simple. Klentak doesnt pay enough attention to the BP and Kapler didnt make good enough in-game decisions.
Lol. Fair enough. I was not one of those people and have no illusions about this team. They need another starter, bullpen help, an outfielder, JT and DiDi. They aren’t going to get all those things. Drastic changes were needed. Klentak arguably should have been fired last year. I was no fan of Kapler, but I didn’t blame him for 2019. I don’t think Girardi handled the team any better, but I don’t blame him for 2020. The 2020 Phillies had one of the worst bullpens in history. No excuse there.
Darkside, tomayto, tomahto
I think they. need to go over the tax for one year to make a big jump. Meaning give JT what he wants, go get another pitcher. Fix that bullpen. They also need another bat, resign DiDi or get Brantley
They seem pessimistic about landing Realmuto as well. Not good times in Philly.
Honestly, if you were Realmuto, would you want to go back?
I think Realmuto just wants to get paid. He seems to enjoy Philly, but he’s the type of trying to get the most money possible. Can’t blame him for that. Also it’s not like the Phillies are a disaster. They aren’t far off. Pretty much finishing .500 with the worst pen in history shows their offense is on the right track.
When I saw the Yankees are not too thrilled with Gary Sanchez, I started coming to the opinion that they will be all in on Realmuto and trade Sanchez for help in another area of their team.
As for Realmuto, he’s probably regretting forcing the trade from Miami. Okay, we wouldn’t have gotten Sixto Sanchez, but we already had Alcantara, Lopez and some of the other prospect pitchers in place, so this season was probably going to be the same with him for us. We ended up making it to the playoffs before he did.
Sorry but the phillies got to do whatever it takes to keep realmuto. If I was middleton , I would sit down with JT and his agent, and ask whats your number. My final offer would be 6 for 150 with a 7th year option. Take it or leave it. I did hear them talk about how mookie betts got incentives in his deal, maybe philly can do the same.
Weird. First you say they need to do whatever it takes to sign him. Then you say they should make an offer and say “final offer, take it or leave it.”
And Realmuto, like most free agents, is going to prefer guaranteed money over incentives.
Nothing worse as a catcher than calling a great game just to have the bullpen come in and blow it, night in and night out.
I’ve felt like the last couple of years there’s just this losing attitude in Philly. The last three seasons they’ve been in position to make the playoffs late in the season, but then have a brutal stretch the last month of the season, and just completely tanked.
13-17 in September 2020, missed playoffs by 1 game.
12-16 in September 2019, 3.5 back at start of September.
8-20 in September 2018, 2.5 back at start of September.
You can blame the coaches, the GM, whoever, for not bringing in the right guys, but it’s a culture of losing and choking late with the Phillies right now.
And it’s not like they didn’t try. Traded for Workman: 6.92 era. Traded for Phelps: 12.91 era. Hembree: 12.54 era. Morgan had his worst season since he’s been a reliever as well. Who is to blame if pretty much every single guy you bring in can’t get the job done, even guys you traded for? Workman had a 4.05 era with Boston and Phelps had a 2.77 era with the Brewers. Hembree had a 1.86 era with Boston before giving up four runs in his final game before being traded to the Phillies.
And contributing this year to a potential losing culture is the Phillies broadcaster that called the Marlins “Bottom Feeders” at the beginning. Arrogantly underestimating, ticking off and giving chalkboard material to a division rival is a great way to start a season.
Rice has to go as well.
Jim Rice?
Ned Rice. Not qualified to do anything.
Dave to the Angels or Phillies now.
I hope they don’t go get Dave Dombrowski , they need somebody who can bring a championship to this city. I doubt they would go after Jeff Luhnow. I say somebody in the dodgers , rays or a’s organization.
It doesn’t appear Dombrowski has interest in the Angels job. Artie brings his own form of challenges.
This is a great day for phillies fans. He stinks and his staff at pointing out talent.
I hope they can get somebody smart , and hopefully they get Realmuto signed
I joked last week that maybe the Angels & Phillies would swap GMs. I love it when a plan comes together.
No thank you , Eppler was terrible. Maybe the same as Klentak. I thought of this idea , what if they made Charlie Manuel? I doubt that would happen. I said somebody who is smart, and they can bring a championship to philly within two years.
Eppler wasn’t terrible the situation is terrible. Angels are a terribly run organization top to bottom. Almost zero scouts in international market prior to eppler barren farm 30 before he got there and top 5 payroll in all of baseball inheriting josh Hamilton’s, pujols and jered weavers deals. Expected to compete with no way to improve roster outside of cheap bargain bin moves. Had to rebuild farm and as of last year sits around 15-20 range. Eppler is not a bad gm by any stretch. Signed trout, signed ohtani and made excellent trades for simmons and bundy all while staying under the cap and not trading top rated prospects.
But they failed to sign the pitching that they needed. They needed that ace, something they haven’t had since weaver left. Maybe this year Moreno pulls the trigger for Bauer.,
Eppler WAS terrible.
How in the world is that eppler fault? You arm chair gms act like you could do better. He offered deals to all arms and Cole only used they to up yankees offer. No one wants to go there so maybe you could say he should have drafted more arms but outside that or traded no one was going there.
No eppler was not terrible. Guaranteed that whoever steps in will be in same position as eppler is 4/5 years. Angels stink, bottomline need to overhaul analytics and double down on scouts both stateside and overseas. Need to overhaul from ground up new scouts new tech and new foundation model after rays and a’s models for success. Consider tanking for a few seasons and truly rebuild with top talents and let those big contracts fall off the books like pujols and upton. It’s not gonna be a 1/2 year process maybe 4/5 years if done correctly.
I think the angels line up is actually good , just some bad contracts gotta go. If they could add pitching, they would be a playoff contender.
How in the world is that eppler fault?
He inherited the best player in BB, and a team that had had won 91.5 games in two previous years.
@imindless
For someone calling other commenters on here “arm chair GMs”, you sure are sounding like one. Go tell the best player of a generation who your predecessor signed to the richest contract in history that you’re going to TANK for 4-5 years while he’s in his prime
Funny thing is that Klentak worked in that front office that handed that mess to Eppler, and the Phils thought that was a good enough resume to make him their GM. Then he did the same thing to the Phils as what happened to the Halos.
Charlie Manuel as GM? No chance.
oh God i dont want Eppler
Should be kicked out of baseball for life
For being a subpar GM? A little harsh, don’t you think? Would you execute the Trashtros for their sinister deed?
What did they do wrong?
thank you thank you thank you God I do hate the fact that he’s still in the organization but as long as he’s not making a call on player personnel and draft no more I’m good now if we can get mcphail out everything will be right again well not everything just more things will be right than it was yesterday
Paging Jeff Luhnow
Don’t know the underlying reason of letting him stay, maybe the economy‘s bad and at least he can have a job for now.. but if they’re keeping him to potentially let him be GM again I’d be very disappointed in ownership as a fan. No one wins if he stays long and the fans will have resistance to him ever becoming the GM I imagine, especially a fan base like philly’s
I doubt Klentak was seen as the best option for the job. But MacPhail knew him from their days in Baltimore, and figured he’d take his chances.
A similar failure happened when David Montgomery hired his friend, Ruben Amaro Jr., and continued to give him lifelines long after Amaro was showing his incompetency.
God I hope it ain’t too late to sit there and get saved and brows get to come here instead of the Angels hopefully John’s already been on the phone with him over the last day or so
If not for the difficult circumstances and modifications made for the 2020 season, the lack of attention to the bullpen would have been one of the greatest MLB abominations in recent years.
I can definitely see Dombrowski here. Both Giradi and DD may pay lip service to analytics, but back them both against the wall and they’ll take the eye test over metrics every time.
And enough about DD taking a torch to farm systems. Trade every one of your Top 30 and get the trophy? Do it every time. Three times on Sunday. Let 2025 take care of 2025.
The Phillies have lots of money; DD likes that. He’d be a good choice, better than LA where Arte Moreno is constantly sticking his nose in, more concerned with being a smart guy than winning.
Angels & Phillies are in the same boat, Arte Moreno fails to sign pitching to get trout to the playoffs. They have a set line up just like the phillies , The phillies need to fix their bullpen. Dombrowski is not the answer for the phillies , I wonder if Middleton can get somebody from either the dodgers , a’s or rays organization.
Call me when you can’t run through the Dodgers, A’s or Rays’ clubhouse because you’ll trip over their World Series trophy(ies).
Just win baby.
We got Kapler from the Dodgers. No thanks.
bobtillman, I am a huge fan of Girardi when I say this; but he is more of a ‘book guy’ than you give him credit for. Remember when he was with the Yankees? He lived in that binder. Now, he does use the eye test more as he matured as a manager, but I still think he uses binders more than eyes. That said, I am a fan of his and it was a good Klentak move. I would be fine with DD as GM too.
Hard to peruse the binders while donning blinders.
Oh, I’m not implying that either DD or Joe G. disregard analytics, but I think they realize that metrics enhance and flavor the stew, but they’re not the stew. Exit velocity is good to be aware of, but I’ll value a player based more on how he reacts to his contract situation than how hard he hits a baseball.
I just can’t see DD in Anahiem (watch; he’ll sign there tomorrow). I’m not sure his and Arte’s egos can fit in the same clubhouse; DD’s good, but like LaRussa (which is why they never got along in Boston) has no hesitancy in telling you he’s good.
Wasn’t Klentak DiPoto’s right hand man when they were both with the Angels? I don’t think Klentak makes sense for the Angels or Arte.
Typical Philly team. Tank for several seasons and wind up with nothing to show for it. Has to be brutal for that fan base.
What the Phillies, Angels Yanks and Twins need to finally learn is “Pitching beats hitting in baseball all the time!” You take care of your pitching needs 1st before handing out 300 million contracts because you think you can hit your way to the playoffs? That thinking is Insane! Klentak deserves his fate.
That’s not always true. The Braves had a historically great staff during the 90s run and came away with only a single WS.
You absolutely need pitching, but you need offense, too. I’m not a NYY fan, but I’d point to the fact that they have a full trophy case behind some vaunted offenses.
Braves have a trophy case of NL champs with that pitching staff in the early 90.s as well. WS wins are a crapshoot and be assured the other team pitched well. I stand by my statement pitching beats hitting .
How long until they blame middleton?
:: Kapler Grabs Popcorn::
that’s already happened
I love this dude. Gave the Phillies no future lol
Says a Mets fan? Really? Literally any other franchise can say that and get away with it, but not the Mets…or Pirates…
The Mets have a way brighter future.. look at the age of the main players and the performance. It’s not even close. We have guys getting payed nothing hitting the same as realmuto and harper. And we just got the richest owner in baseball..
I heard this in 2007…
On Klentak, I had no strong feeling.. But, this team has major issues..
Quinn swings like a power hitter and is not.
Kingery isn’t good defensively and sure can’t hit a lick.
Rhys hasn’t hit in two years .
Gonna need a SS, LF and catcher…not to mention two starters..all that without starting on the pen..
New GM is under siege before he or she starts..
Here is my options for them.
1. Resign Realmuto
2. They can get two starters for the price of bauer. Stroman & Quintana
3. Liam Hendricks , Blake Treinen & Alex Colome for the bullpen
4. need another bat, resign Didi plus Brantley.
Are they made of money?
According to the Angels’ fan they are.
How is that working for the Angels?
That’s a quarter of a billion dollar off-season you just spelled out there. Plus, other teams are going to be trying to sign those players too, no way every one of them chooses Philly.
You’re not wrong about their many needs, but there’s no way they’re fixing everything in one offseason. The new GM needs to do a mini tear down and aim for competing in 2022 and beyond, otherwise this team will be no better than a wild card team over the next decade.
How many re-builds can a fanbase handle? Rhetorical question.. I want to make clear, at no time am I suggesting they throw “Stupid Money” at all their problems…Just that the incoming GM starts out behind a giant 8-ball!
As a Marlins fan, i’m pretty sure Phillie fans can handle another rebuild.
Let Robertson and Neris walk. Also dump Morgan, Hale, and Hembree. Use that $20 Million to sign Melancon, Soria, and Watson. The bullpen gets exponentially better for the same money. You still have Phelps (who is better than he pitched for the Phillies this year), Parker, Romero, and Brogdon. That’s a solid pen. You can likely bring back Alvarez for the same money, or Tommy Hunter at $3-$4 Million to round it out. Phillies don’t necessarily need a top of the line, big money closer, but rather a few guys with long track records of success at the back end.
LOL ^^^New GM is under seige before he or SHE starts. ^^^
Where are the Kim Ng social justice warriors? Hold the presses! There is another GM position open! Make it a woman so we can say we had a woman! LOL Yawn.
Right here…She might know more about the game than most of the GMs working..It is why I wrote he or she..Nice catch
You know I wouldn’t doubt it. Most GMs are Harvard educated bean counters nowadays anyway. They are hard at work ruining the game! She may just qualify then!
I wanted Kim Ng over Klentak.
With the track records of most GMs, she may be just the ticket..She has solid Bona Fides..She’s been in the game at the heist levels..
On Klentak, we all know that this departure was in part the result of finishing behind the “Bottom Feeders”. He should send a thank you note to the Phillies broadcaster that made that statement when the season started. We in Miami thank him.
finished above the Mets. lets face it, that’s all that really matters.
I mean I like the Marlins story and I love the young talent. They absolutely own the Phillies. No denying that. But Ricky Botallico (former reliver who made the bottom feeders comment) was totally right. If the Phillies were a legit team, they would beat the Marlins. The Phillies are not a legit a team.
This dude actually thinks the marlins are good after a 60 game season. What going to happen when they lose 90+ next year???
Seriously, do you just put down all teams and wave your pom poms for the Mets?
The Marlins have a very good team made with young players..Their farm is solid..
The only issue they have is the same one they’ve had since they came into the league..NO FANS.. I live here. I go to Marlins Park every time the Phils come to town. The place while empty, had more Phillie fans there than Marlin fans.. It’s a beautiful park..Pick your parking space because they are all empty..
Miami is not a baseball town..never will be.. It’s either the Dolphins or it’s All About The “U”!
The problem here in Miami is they can’t be bothered with losers. Every team in the last 10 years has had major attendance issues when they are bad.i have dolphins season tickets since 2005 and in the last couple years that stadium was no where near selling out. What Jeter and Sherman are doing is building a base to come see. If the team can put a sustainable winner on the field and market the young exciting talent then you will see attendance rise. The next step will be locking up some guys long term to prove what they are doing. The renovations to the stadium are amazing. They don’t need to sell out every game but if they can average 18k plus over the season then things will really change.
Wayne said he would spend whatever it would take to win. If the fans still didn’t show, he said he would sell off all the pieces.. They went out and won the World Series..The fans still never showed..He did exactly what he said he would do then sold the team…
Man,when Realmuto leaves…that trade is going to look awful. Like Texiera bad. Sixto is turning into a star.
Realmuto staying or leaving won’t make the trade look any better or worse. They traded for two years of him. That’s what they got. Realmuto staying in Philly beyond 2020 was never part of the deal.
Trade was obviously a clear miss for them cuz Sixto looks very promising, Alfaro is at least useful and the Phillies didn’t make the playoffs the last 2 years.
Fair enough, but I think if Realmuto stays and is productive it would’ve been a palatable deal. He leaves and they get no payoffs and a comp pick…different story.
No, trading for Realmuto had no bearing on him signing or not signing with Philly. The only way him staying makes the trade look better is if he verifiably leaves $ on the table to sign with Philly.
How do the Phillies decide to keep that clown? The whole front office should have been cleaned out. Philly teams love to keep buffoons in positions of power and that is why it will always be the city of losers
If Realmuto leaves, trade Mick Abel and Kingery to the Red Sox for Vazquez and Martin Perez. Definitely resign Didi.
Gonna trade Mick Abel after drafting him , don’t pull what the dbacks did when they traded Swanson for Shelby Miller
lmao no way. Martin Perez is a dime in a dozen player and we could just sign McCann.
So, where is Realmuto going to sign? He’s going to want to get paid and is, imho, the best catcher in mlb. I don’t envision Philly re-signing him, but that’s pure conjecture. Any chance with all the issues Sanchez has that the Yankees sign him?
Philadelphia Phillies: 400million reasons to die
Klentak spent a lot two years ago on relief pitchers and they all got hurt.The three decent ones that he got at the trade deadline this year all stunk.
He was heavily reliant on statistics and Middleton may have finally figured out there is more to baseball than numbers.
His backing of Kapler last year did not help his job security.
His biggest mistake was not improving the farm system as several of his first round choices have been jokes.It may not have been scouting as he may have outvoted the director of scouting.
And the Phillies do not need Billy Eppler.
In defense of Klentak, Kapler had a better record with the Phillies than Girardi. The manager was not the issue.
Mediocre bullpen and the Phils cruise into the playoffs. I’ve never seen a baseball team that has their fans pacing when they’re up by 3+ in the 9th inning. They gotta figure this out. Was the poor performance by the pen acquisitions a reflection of this unorthodox season or do they really suck that bad? Enough faith in VV pitching in relief to warrant the raise he’s due for? Medina a starter or destined for the pen? And finally, are we ever gonna see Seranthony pitch again?
The issue, imho, was that Klentak tried to create a WS contender before he created a good team.
They only won 66 games in 2017. They added Santana and Arrieta for ~ $45/year between them. Both were past their best days, and were unlikely to bridge the gap and make the Phillies a contender. And to exacerbate the issue, they tried to pretend that Hoskins was a legit LF, which he isn’t.
Then added Segura at the expense of Crawford. Again, a decent player, but with a $14M price tag. Then they went all-in trading Alfaro and Sanchez.
IMO, you only sign guys like Harper when 90% of the team was developed. I think they should’ve kept the kids, and waited for them to develop, before trying to sign all the FAs.
It’s not a horror show, yet, behad they not made a single move, their team would be:
C-Alfaro
1B-Hoskins
2B-Kingery
3B-Bohm
SS-Crawford
OF-Quinn
OF-Hasely
OF-Moniak
SP1-Nola
SP2-Sanchez
SP3-Eflin
SP4-Howard
SP5-Velasquez
That’s not a good team, but it is a lot of good players. And more importantly, it would be a team that cost virtually nothing in payroll. It’s a lot easier to start filling in once you have a team of mostly home-grown players.
While in hindsight people hate JT for Sixto there are some things to remember.
Sixto was considered a problem. He was overweight and they were down on him at the time. They said he did not go through with his conditioning and such. When he was traded people loved his arm but not his attitude. Something in the guy changed coming to the Marlins because you saw videos of his training like crazy just months later. Either he was unhappy with the Phils or the trade motivated him. At the time though people wondered if the Marlins got enough.
He made plenty of mistakes but at the time was this one? Probably not. In hindsight yeah absolutely.
Klentak is lucky he was only demoted. Lots of money spent the past couple of winters yielding zero results
Hoping for a reunion in Anaheim…?
“while Zach Eflin locked himself in as a capable #3 starter.” For a losing team. If he’s the #3, this team won’t make the playoffs again. They needed to get at least 2 new starters last offseason, if not 3, and they only got 1, and hmm, here they are out of the playoffs and people are shocked. Am I missing something?
You can only go so far with a guy named MacPhail running the team.
Best thing Klentak did during his tenure was the Nola contract, hands down. Ashame none of the guys in the Giles flip panned out, unless you consider VV a success. Unfortunately, the year the Phillies picked #1 there was no bonafide cant miss prospect.
I agree with the commenter who said JT just wants to get paid. I think the Phillies should offer him 5/125 and bring Didi back too. After falling flat these last few years, I think they should go over the luxury threshold this year. Resign JT & Didi, and buy a bullpen. What else are they going to do, rebuild again?
Firing Klentak may or may not be the right move but that won’t solve their problem next season. What they need is home grown talent to start contributing more. Their top producers this year by WAR is:
Z. Wheeler 2.9
*A. Nola 2.2
B. Harper 1.7
*Z. Efflin 1.6
JT. Realmuto 1.2
J. Segura 1.2
D. Gregorius 0.9
J. Arrieta 0.8
*A. Bohm 0.7
*R. Hoskins 0.7
*A. Knapp 0.7
The astricts mark home grown talent. Now compare that to the Braves:
*F. Freeman 2.9
*M. Fried 2.9
*D. Swanson 2.6
M.Ozuna 2.3
*R. Acuna 2.1
*I. Anderson 1.3
*AJ. Minter 1.2
C. Martin 1.2
S. Green 1.0
M. Melancon 1.0
T. dAnaud 0.6
Those are the top 10 in the Braves and Phillies WAR producers. In case anyone is concerned, I do know how to count to 10 but I kept dArnaud there for the sake of some perspective for how valuable the Braves bullpen has been; I digress. The difference here is the Braves top WAR producers by far is home grown talent. It’s obvious the Braves are paying much less for more WAR.
This isn’t intended to be a statement that the Braves are better but just a comparison where I think the Phillies have gone wrong. Their rebuild hasn’t yielded enough production. Most of it is coming from the FA market and that is expensive WAR. How many more large contracts can the Phillies sign? They really need some of these guys graduating to start producing. Despite poor defense, Bohm’s bat has made him a plus contributor so far and they need a LOT more of that.
Andrew Knapp made a case to be the starting catcher next year if JT does walk. I’d go as far as to call Knapp’s plate discipline, ELITE.
1. Resign JT & Didi.
2. Sign Cole Hamels to be the 5th starter and appease a frustrated fan base (plus give us 1 lefty).
3. Break the bank for two of Colome, Treinen, Greene.
4. Sign Robbie Ray to be a mutil-inning reliever/swingman/spot starter and see if he can rebound- maybe become a solid rotation piece.
5. Trade Rhys Hoskins and a pitching prospect to Colorado for Arenado. Move Bohm to 1st base.
Cutch LF
Harper RF
Arenado 3B
Bohm 1B
Didi SS
Realmuto C
Segura 2B
Haisely CF
Bench: Kingery, Gosselin, Quinn,Joc Pederson(?), FA (LH corner INF w/ pop).
Rotation:
Nola
Wheeler
Eflin
Howard
Hamels
Bullpen:
Robbie Ray
VV
Suarez
Alvarez
Romero
Neris
Treinen
Colome
1. Resign JT & Didi.
2. Sign Cole Hamels
3. Break the bank for two of Colome, Treinen, Greene.
4. Sign Robbie Ray
5. Trade Rhys Hoskins and a pitching prospect to Colorado for Arenado.
Just for fun, have you added up those numbers? That might put them past all the payroll penalties, and that approach is exactly what’s gotten them in the position of having a $200M+ payroll and not in the playoffs.
Hamels? He’s done, dude.
Yay.
I think Philly should definitely keep Realmuto for about $150 million. Nothing like having that kind of money tied up in a catcher, except maybe signing a clubhouse cancer to a 13-year deal! LMAO