The future of the Phillies front office has been in flux since general manager Matt Klentak stepped down in the first week of October. Since that time, president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and interim GM Ned Rice have been leading day-to-day operations, an arrangement that reportedly could continue through the end of next season.
However, Philadelphia expects to begin interviewing potential candidates next week, reports Jayson Stark of the Athletic. It seems the Phillies are planning to make a pair of hires: a president of baseball operations to lead the department, and a new general manager to serve as that individual’s top lieutenant.
That kind of arrangement has become increasingly common throughout the sport, but the Phillies are leaving open the possibility of taking a less typical approach to the hiring process. The Phils would unsurprisingly prefer to hire the team president before turning to the GM search, Stark notes. However, that’s not a mandate, as Stark suggests the organization could hire the GM first if circumstances dictate.
That’d be an odd course of action- one would think any incoming president would want to have a say in the GM hiring process- but it’s apparently not out of the question. It also remains possible, Stark says, the organization elects to halt the hiring process midway through and allow the MacPhail-Rice pairing to continue to run the club next year. (MacPhail is generally expected to retire after the 2021 season, but it’s possible a more immediate restructure leads him to step away sooner).
Assuming the Phillies do commit to finalizing the front office this winter, they could opt to pursue a number of different candidates. The organization is leaving open the possibility of pursuing high-profile executives with past experience leading baseball ops, as well as considering “rising stars” types similar to recent Angels hire Perry Minasian, Stark adds. There remains plenty of uncertainty regarding the Phils’ ultimate course of action, but it seems the process will kick into gear in the coming days.
there’s no rush in my mind to hire new guys for these positions imo. there is no standout candidate that I think they absolutely need to snare before anyone else, and I think Rice is more then capable of leading day-to-day operations for the time being.
Would you like to see Jeff Luhnow as the general manager or president of baseball operations of the Phillies? Cora and AJ Hinch are back as managers.
no. I think at least Hinch and possibly Cora were actually good at their jobs. Luhnow i dont think ever did anything good enough to allow me to overlook how much of a slimeball he is.
I agree with you that Hinch and Cora were good at their jobs. However, I wanted to see Cora manage a different team, but he returned to the Red Sox after the scandal. I guess the decision came from the owner/s to rehire him.
Dude they all cheat
Get over it
Being good at one’s job is easier when you’re able to cheat. People deserve second chances once they pay the piper. Barretta used to say “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time”. Such obviously doesn’t apply to cheating in MLB. Penalties for PED use should be based in part on years in and contracts signed. Automatic reimbursement of the full deal should be part of the restitution. Such would stop established players like ARod (in the past). Let players strike, if the PA fights this. Zero tolerance. Same thing with managers and others in management. To skip a short pandemic season is no penalty. Some voluntarily gave up their salary to not be in the field. Both managers once allowed back in should have done a “rehab” stint in the minors or been forced to take a coaching job. Same thing with Beltran. If he wants a managerial opportunity, he needs to earn it. To hire him now is a slap in the face of others who have worked their butts off.
Dude they do not all cheat. Get real.
Who was talking about “all” wordonthestreet? I was specifically referring to those PED users and those involved in the recent scandals that have plagued MLB. I’m thankful I’ve been just a fan. Had I bet against the Astros for example, I’d be screaming for justice. Sports used to take painful steps to try to protect the integrity of each game (for example, the NFL’s injury list and rules was because of gambling). Now with the leagues married at the hip with gambling companies. One would think they would do even more and be stricter.
No They all don’t cheat. But most do to some degree. I don’t mean the trash can banging type. But teams in opposing dugouts are always looking for some kind of advantage . Stealing signs. Pitchers tipping pitches. Pitchers using a foreign substance on the ball. Batter loading up on pine tar on the bat. Some batters try to sneak a peak at the signs the catcher is giving pitcher. If you don’t cheat you, ain’t trying.
It doesn’t matter this FO/ownership group is AWFUL
Is it just me or does it seem irresponsible of the Phillies to not begin interviewing until now? I think they should’ve already interviewed their choices by now and began narrowing the group at about this time…
There’s no rush.
This may be the least exciting winter meetings (have they been canceled due to covid or are zooming?) in recent memory.
Teams are projected to be cutting players and salary.
The one sure fire fix they had a chance at was Brad Hand but his salary was too rich for a lot of teams.
When are teams expected to start cutting players?
At that time you’ll need a GM and someone to make deals official for 2021 for guys who’ve been cut.
Dec. 2 is the non tender deadline so players not offered contracts will become free agents. I think you will be surprised at the names not offered contracts.
I agree. They should be looking to capitalize on a down market and already have their gm.
Maybe they’re waiting to see how lunhow’s image holds up while also saving money by not firing macphail.
The Phillies went for it too early. The should of built up their farm system. The good teams have good farm systems. You can’t fill every position with trades and free agents. Bryce Harper went for the money. He could have signed with a good team.
Phillies drafted horribly for many years. They have to throw money at players to just be component on the field. Only good homegrown players they produced the last 10 years are Bohm, Nola, Giles, and Hoskins
@Fred This is it right here. Everyone likes to say Phillies went for it too early, but that’s not it. They need to spend money because they cannot develop internal talent. This has been the case for the majority of the teams history. Had they not spent and waited, they would’ve been in an even worse spot than they are now. Albeit with Sixto Sanchez, but not much else.
what bothers me here is people wanted to blame Klentak for the drafting but the reality is that their picks have been much better in the latter half of the decade. obviously still enough bad misses, (Moniak stands out as the glaring one, but the reality is we need to put that into the context of having dozens of draft picks a year) and a bigger problem I’ve realized is they tend to trade away low minors “lottery tickets” who seem to turn out to be good players more then other teams’ lottery trades do. (I look at Josh Taylor as an example, and perhaps a Sam McWilliams even) i dont think their drafting is great still, but i believe it has improved, and they seem to be able to find undrafted guys well enough. (Taylor again)
That’s the thing. Bad drafting and player development gets you no where. No team, not even the Yankees or Dodgers can spend enough to buy a championship. There always, always, always has to be a homegrown core for any perennial contender.
I’ll give you Bryce Harper because the length of his contract means the Phillies could have cycled through at least two contention periods, but Santana, Arrieta, McCutchen, Robertson, Realmuto, Wheeler, and others had no business being signed.
It was a mandate from ownership to spend after years of losing. Now that GM has lost his job and they haven’t made the playoffs since 2011. The only difference between where they are now and where they were five years ago is the large amount of money on the future books and unmet expectations.
Yankees suck at drafting and keeping good players. All the Rule 5 picks, or domestic player drafts they do seem to backfire. They’ve bypassed guys like Will Smith (C) and Walker Buehler, Mike Trout and Cody Bellinger, to name a few, while the people they selected in their place are simmering in the minors.
The only good draft picks seem to get traded and flourish elsewhere. Our only saving grace for drafting is the competent international draft picks.
I mean in recent memory they hit on Judge, Severino, Sanchez and Betances. That’s something at least.
I am a lifer. I grew up and lived within 20 minutes of Phila and, due to work, moved to the Midwest before they finalized Bryce’s deal.
I live for the hot stove after seasons like this. And this year I still am sickened by the way the organization is leaving everything in MacPhail’s hands.
Every conference, every comment, the guy gives off “I’m cooked, I haven’t been able to handle this, I have been off my game for over a decade” vibe. They trusted him too long and, I realize everybody in the organization was a mess when Dave Montgomery was sick and they let pass-his-prime Gillick overstay, but that made more sense than this guy talking about “nobody wanting to move or take a new job during Covid” and then saying your just going to hang in there with him until he retires. Wtf!
Remember when they called him Andy NoPhail.
There was no reason to delay the search this long. MacPhail should have been fired even before Klentak. No wonder Realmuto is anxious to leave. Middleton has turned the Phillies into a laughing stock.
Could someone…anyone… explain to me why Klentak is still with this organization? He has nothing. Absolutely zero to contribute.
i wouldnt say that. its not like he’s BVW or Dave Stewart. I think he probably has some insights to provide, just making him the guy who pulls the trigger isnt a good idea.
I agree with darkside. There are a lot less successful FO guys out there and this guys young. He was given a somewhat rushed opportunity that Middleton probably judges it as such to keep him. Not everyone is fired and told to get out but it’s rare to see him stay so he must have promise as a hard working administrator or talent evaluator. At 40 maybe someday we see him properly lead a team as GM again but for now he’s considered someone who can help them win a championship.
But yeah still gonna be weird that he’ll around the office demoted lol
I mean, all the Phillies need to do is re-sign JT, and pilfer the overly saturated non-tender market.
Like if we’re being honest, market value in the 2020-2021 offseason is well below what we’ve seen over the past five years. As a big market team take advantage of it.
Especially when they have Cutch and Arrieta coming off of the book after 2021. If you have to exceed the lux tax in 2021 so be it. .
Give Realmuto a 5-year/$125m deal, paying him $20m in 2021, $30m in 2022, and $25m every other season. It’s not like he’s not worth it.
Then add 2 relievers and a starter. Top 10 free agents are projected to earn less than 40 million this year.
Also, add Alex Powers, Adalberto Mejia, Scooter Gennett and Jimmie Sherfy for good measure. Use Powers and Sherfy in relief and Mejia as an opener (4.14 ERA his first time through the order vs. a 6+ ERA afterwards). Sherfy has a top 10 career ERA in Dbacks history and has peripherals to back up his success.
yeah, i think we act like the team not wanting to spend crazy ammounts of money means they cant contend. basically make last year’s BP league average and they probably cruise into the playoffs. as long as they can get a stable solution at C (JT is preferable, but in reality McCann should do the trick as well) and add some solid BP pieces (which can generally be done for very cheap) they are in solid shape. you’d like to replace Didi’s production but hopefully a full year of Bohm and a healthier Kingery helps balance that out. (and with a saturated pair of SS markets from this to next offseason, they could get one of them for a bargain anyway) the non-tender point is good too. id love to add a swing man that isnt VV, and id think you could drop him and add a better swing option for less then you would be paying him.
I saw a deal proposed from a writer that the Yanks trade Sanchez to Philly for Adonis Medina and another prospect. He could significantly boost your offensive production, if he doesn’t fall flat. Thoughts?
Uh, no
It was rumored when Klentak “stepped down” that they were gearing towards a run at Theo Epstein to be their new president after 2021 when his contract with the Cubs is up. The Phillies looking for a new president and gm now after over a month of no gm makes me feel like they have an idea that Theo won’t be on board.
After Ng’s announcement, one can almost hear the screaming, “Forget Theo, find me a woman!”
Ned Rice is not capable nor accomplished. He is a huge part of the problem along with Andy MacPhail and Klentak–They all have to go. They are wasting a year by keeping them around.
Klentak should have been shown the door and ordered to take all his techie nerds with him. All that money spent on analytics like it was an exact science when everyone knows it is not. In a broadside fired at analytics and general managers with MBAs, I once had a former MLB player, coach and scout tell me, “I’ll watch any baseball game from T-Ball on up to the majors and in twenty minutes I’ll tell you who’s the best player on the field. I don’t need no effin computer!”.
Tis the cold winter of discontent in the city of brotherly love.
Honestly… a committee made up of 50 fans could do a better job than the clown show that’s been the Philly Brass since RAJ took the reigns fully.
they could ask about Rick Hahn. I’m sure he’s so blindingly mad at old daddy Warbucks Jerry Reinsdorf he’d jump
McPhail, not Klentak, sent this franchise back 10 years. The dude needs to go and they need to start fresh in the FO.