Phillies Rumors

Latest On Phillies’ General Manager Transition

By TC Zencka | October 4, 2020 at 9:23am CDT

Phillies GM Matt Klentak stepped down on Saturday after five seasons running baseball operations in Philadelphia. Despite making an impact on the hot stove with significant free agent spending on stars like Bryce Harper, Zack Wheeler, Didi Gregorius, and Andrew McCutchen. The trade for J.T. Realmuto brought in the premier catcher in the game, one of just a couple of backstops capable of managing a staff while wielding a middle-of-the-order bat. He also brought in presumptive third baseman of the present-and-future Alec Bohm with the third overall pick of the 2018 draft.

Klentak’s record wasn’t spotless. The David Robertson signing fell apart due to injuries. He doled out large sums to Michael Saunders and Carlos Santana, only to move on after disappointing starts. First overall draft pick in 2016 Mickey Moniak hasn’t developed into a superstar as one might expect from a 1-1 pick.

But the darkest mark on Klentak’s record was a failure to make the playoffs during his five years in charge. The Phillies have the second-longest playoff drought in the game. Despite many successful moves, the Phillies disappointed year after year, leaving principal owner John Middleton somewhat befuddled. As successful as Realmuto has been for the Phillies, for example, Sixto Sánchez’s success has to be particularly galling. One of the pieces used to acquire Realmuto from Miami, Sánchez helped the Marlins leapfrog the Phillies into the playoffs this year. Realmuto’s time in Philadelphia, meanwhile, could already be reaching an end – he’s an unrestricted free agent this winter.

With Klentak demoted, the Phillies are considering their options for how to fill out the head of the baseball operations department moving forward. They could look to hire a head of baseball operations as well as a GM. They could wait to bring in a head of baseball ops until Team President Andy MacPhail retires at the end of 2021, per The Athletic’s Matt Gelb. MacPhail’s impending retirement is very much a part of Middelton’s decision-making.

The pandemic complicates all significant hiring decisions, of course, and it could be some time until the Phillies make a final decision. There was a roughly 6-week hiring process to bring in Klentak, but his replacement could take more than a year to find, per Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). 37-year-old Ned Rice has been elevated to the interim GM position for now, and it’s on the table that Rice could serve in the role for the entirety of next season.

Middleton spoke highly of Rice, saying in a quote provided by Gelb, “One of the reasons that we chose Ned is because he has by far the most breadth of experience in the organization other than Matt and frankly the most depth as well. For example, he put together the presentation for Bryce Harper when we flew out to Las Vegas the first time. He was involved with all the meetings, discussing strategy and tactics of when to make offers and what the offer should be, analyzing the offers that Scott (Boras) put out and how we should respond. He has significant experience, and his input in that process is invaluable.”

On the surface the process might feel disjointed, but it’s entirely within the realm of reasonable solutions for the Phillies to take their time in deciding the management structure moving forward, especially considering the complicated nature of a mixed-bag tenure like Klentak’s. Middleton remains the unequivocal head of the organization and traditional concerns about continuity and organizational clarity are mitigated somewhat because of the presence of MacPhail and Rice. More important for the Phillies is that whoever comes in next has a clear plan in place with benchmarks that Middleton can use to measure the success of the program.

Matt Klentak Steps Down As Phillies GM

By Anthony Franco | October 3, 2020 at 4:11pm CDT

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.

Latest On Matt Klentak

By Connor Byrne | September 29, 2020 at 10:02pm CDT

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.

Hunter Pence Announces Retirement

By Anthony Franco | September 26, 2020 at 1:54pm CDT

Longtime big league outfielder Hunter Pence announced he’s retiring from baseball (Twitter link). This brings to an end a fourteen-year career spent with four teams, although he’ll surely be remembered most for his time with the Giants.

Pence originally broke into pro ball in 2004, selected by the Astros in the second round out of the University of Texas-Arlington. Notably “awkward and unorthodox” as a prospect, in the words of Baseball America, Pence nevertheless played himself into top prospect status by 2007. He broke into the big leagues with a bang, hitting .322/.360/.539 en route to a third place finish in the National League Rookie of the Year voting that season. Pence continually produced over his time in Houston, earning his first two All-Star nods there, before the struggling Astros shipped him off to the Phillies at the 2011 trade deadline for four prospects.

He continued to perform well in Philadelphia, hitting .289/.357/.486 over parts of two seasons, but the Phillies lost in the Division Series in 2011 and were en route to a playoff miss in 2012. Pence again headlined a deadline deal, this one sending him to San Francisco. His midseason acquirer fared much better the second time around, as the Giants erased a pair of big playoff deficits against the Reds and Cardinals before sweeping the Tigers in the 2012 World Series.

Set to reach free agency after the 2013 season, Pence instead re-upped with the Giants that September. Already a highly productive and popular player, that extension set the stage for Pence to become permanently identified with the San Francisco organization. He combined for a .280/.335/.464 line between 2013-14, garnering down ballot MVP support each year. He was perhaps even more instrumental in the Giants’ 2014 World Series run than he’d been in 2012, going 12-27 with a home run in San Francisco’s seven-game triumph over the Royals.

Of course, it wasn’t simply Pence’s productivity that made him so revered, both among diehard Giants’ loyalists and many baseball fans generally. He played with an endearing energy and exuberance. Coupled with his oft-awkward hitting mechanics and general lack of gracefulness on the diamond, Pence brought something of an everyman feel to the sport that resonated with outside observers, teammates and coaches.

Unfortunately, that high-energy style of play caught up to him in his 30’s. After 2014, Pence only once again managed to exceed 110 games in a season. He continued to produce when healthy up through 2016, but he seemingly hit a wall thereafter. Pence struggled through a pair of poor years with the 2017-18 Giants, seemingly ending his time with the organization (and putting his career in jeopardy).

Forced to settle for a minor-league deal with his hometown Rangers entering 2019, Pence remade his swing at age 36. He rebounded to post a .297/.358/.552 line over 316 plate appearances in Texas last year, picking up his fourth and final All-Star trip in the process. That also inspired the Giants to offer a major league deal last winter, setting the stage for a tremendous return story.

Unfortunately, that was not to be. Pence got off to an abysmal start and was released after just 56 plate appearances. That’ll mark his last work in the big leagues, although it’s fitting that his final games came in the orange and black.

All told, Pence will hang up the spikes with a .279/.334/.461 line over 7006 plate appearances, good for a 115 wRC+. He hit 244 home runs, 324 doubles and 55 triples, while stealing 120 bases. Pence was worth around 31 wins above replacement, in the estimation of both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference. He’s obviously most notable for being an integral part of two World Series winners in San Francisco and for the infectious joy he spread to teammates and fans alike. MLBTR congratulates Pence on a stellar career and wishes him the best in retirement.

Greg Bird Tested Positive For COVID-19

By Connor Byrne | September 23, 2020 at 3:39pm CDT

The Phillies signed Greg Bird to a minor league contract Sept. 15, but the first baseman tested positive for the coronavirus upon physical entry after that, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Consequently, the Phillies did not place Bird on their 40-man playoff roster. Fortunately, though, none of the Phillies at the team’s alternate site were exposed to Bird.

The Phillies signed Bird as a potential insurance policy at first base, where starter Rhys Hoskins hasn’t played since Sept. 12 because of a UCL injury in his left arm. It now seems likely the Phillies, who are battling for a playoff spot, will have to go the rest of the regular season without Hoskins. They’ve used a mix of Alec Bohm, Phil Gosselin and Jay Bruce in Hoskins’ place, while Jean Segura has taken over for Bohm as their primary third baseman and Scott Kingery has slid in for Segura at second.

Meantime, it’s very much up in the air whether Bird will ever play for the Phillies, though the main hope for now is that he’ll be able to recover well from this illness. Once a well-regarded Yankees prospect, Bird burst on the scene in 2015, but a series of health issues have derailed his career since then. The 27-year-old took 522 trips to the plate from 2017-19 but could only muster a .194/.287/.388 line, and Bird didn’t stick with the Rangers for long after they signed him over the winter.

Rhys Hoskins Unlikely To Return Before End Of Regular Season

By Steve Adams | September 23, 2020 at 2:28pm CDT

The Phillies are fighting for their playoff lives, but they’ll have to do so without one of their best hitters, as manager Joe Girardi said Wednesday that first baseman Rhys Hoskins is a long shot to return before the regular season draws to a close (Twitter link via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). Hoskins, out with a UCL injury in his non-throwing arm, took some dry swings today but isn’t yet ready to face live pitching.

It’s been a rough go of it on the injury front for the Phillies. Star catcher J.T. Realmuto was recently sidelined for more than a week due to hip trouble, and Bryce Harper has dealt with back discomfort in recent weeks. Both Harper and Realmuto are in tonight’s lineup and playing at less than 100 percent, per Girardi, which will likely be the case through season’s end. Harper is serving as the DH. Realmuto is at first base.

Hoskins, 27, has bounced back from a last year’s down season (by his standards). Through 185 plate appearances in 2020, he’s batted .245/.384/.503 with 10 homers, nine doubles and a hefty 15.7 percent walk rate. His output at the plate has been 39 percent better than that of a league-average hitter by measure of wRC+.

The Phillies aren’t dead in the water yet, but a four-game losing streak — capped by another bullpen meltdown and a walk-off loss against the Nats last night — hasn’t helped their chances. But at 27-29, the Phils are only a game back in the loss column to the three teams ahead of them in playoff standings (Cincinnati, Milwaukee and San Francisco. FanGraphs still gives them a one in three chance of making the postseason, but they’ll need to right the ship in a hurry — and likely see some of those previously mentioned competitors stumble — to secure their spot.

Mariners Notes: Haniger, Outfield, Sixto, Phillies

By Mark Polishuk | September 22, 2020 at 1:20pm CDT

The latest from Seattle…

Though Jarred Kelenic, Taylor Trammell, and Julio Rodriguez are expected to be part of the Mariners’ outfield of the future, Mitch Haniger is still a part of the team’s present. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times looks at Haniger and the broader outfield plan as a whole, noting that Haniger is expected to be ready to participate in Spring Training. It has been a brutal 15 months for Haniger, who hasn’t played since June 2019 due to a ruptured testicle, a torn abductor muscle, and then a herniated disc. It remains to be seen if Haniger can recapture his 2018 All-Star form when he does get back onto the field, though if he plays well and stays healthy, Divish figures Haniger might still hold some trade value, considering that he is under arbitration control through the 2022 season. Since Trammell and Rodriguez aren’t likely to be in the majors until at least 2022, there is also a case for the M’s to keep Haniger, especially if he remains a productive player and if the Mariners start to become regular contenders.
The Mariners’ 2018-19 offseason was marked by several major trades, including a notable deal that saw Seattle land J.P. Crawford and (the soon-to-be-flipped) Carlos Santana from the Phillies in exchange for Jean Segura, James Pazos, and Juan Nicasio. However, an earlier incarnation of that deal would have seen Segura and Edwin Diaz head to Philly, while Sixto Sanchez would have been part of the trade package coming back to the Mariners, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. It makes for an interesting what-if for Seattle fans, as moving Diaz in that trade would have altered several other future deals, most obviously the blockbuster swap with the Mets that brought Kelenic and Justin Dunn into the organization and sent Diaz and Robinson Cano to New York. Rosenthal adds another interesting detail in noting that the Mariners kept trying to acquire Sanchez even after he had been dealt to the Marlins as part of the J.T. Realmuto trade with the Phils in February 2019. Needless to say, it doesn’t seem like Sanchez is going anywhere for a long time considering how impressive the young righty has looked in his first Major League season.

Quick Hits: Tigers, Cubs, Red Sox, Phillies, Brewers

By Connor Byrne | September 21, 2020 at 9:29pm CDT

The Tigers suddenly have a managerial opening now that Ron Gardenhire decided to retire Saturday after almost three full seasons on the job. Gardenhire oversaw teams that were in full rebuilding mode, evidenced in part by the 132-241 record the Tigers compiled under him, but they’re seemingly moving back toward respectability now and may want to push for contention sometime soon. As such, the Tigers are looking for an experienced skipper to replace Gardenhire, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic hears (subscription link). Former Astros manager A.J. Hinch and ex-Braves/Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez could be among the candidates. Hinch has been out of baseball since the league suspended him last January as a result of the Astros’ sign-stealing violations, though he’ll be eligible to return in 2021. Gonzalez was a candidate for the Tigers’ managerial job before it went to Gardenhire in 2017.

Phillies Option Adonis Medina

By TC Zencka | September 20, 2020 at 9:23pm CDT

The Philadelphia Phillies optioned Adonis Medina after Sunday’s game, the team announced. Medina was called up on Sunday to make his major league debut. In the spot start, the 23-year-old took the loss while yielding two earned runs on three hits in four innings against the Blue Jays. Medina also struck out four and walked three in the 84-pitch outing. The Phillies needed an extra arm after a doubleheader on Friday, which they swept.

Philadelphia now has seven games remaining. They trail the Marlins by 1 game for 2nd place and a guaranteed playoff spot, though they also have a half game lead for the top wild card position. They will finish the season with seven games on the road, four in Washington and a final weekend series at Tampa Bay.

The Phillies will probably need an additional starter to pitch one half of a doubleheader against the Nationals on Tuesday, which would be too soon for Medina to return. Ramón Rosso got the call as the 29th man in a similar situation last week. Jake Arrieta and Spencer Howard are both on the injured list, leaving Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Zach Eflin, and Vince Velasquez in the rotation.

Pirates Announce Three Trades

By TC Zencka | September 20, 2020 at 3:17pm CDT

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced a trio of trades today. The first deal completes their August deal for Austin Davis, which the Phillies announced earlier today. The Pirates sent right-hander Joel Cesar to Philadelphia to complete that transaction. Davis, 27, has 3 scoreless appearances since joining the Buccos.

The other two trades helped build the Pirates’ 2019-2020 international pool money. The Pirates sent left-hander Domingo Robles to the St. Louis Cardinals and right-hander Connor Loeprich to the Baltimore Orioles in separate trades for international pool money.

Robles, 22, signed with the Pirates on the first day of the international signing period in 2014. Across 5 seasons in the Pittsburgh system, Robles owns a 27-36 record with a 3.76 ERA and 6.4 K/9 to 2.1 BB/9. The Dominican southpaw made it as high as Double-A as a 21-year-old in 2019, going 4-6 with a 4.02 ERA across 103 innings. He was not among the Pirates top 42 prospects listed by Fangraphs at the start of 2020, nor the top 30 listed by Baseball America.

Loeprich turned 23-years-old this month, and he’ll now report to a new team in the Baltimore. Loeprich made it to High-A in 2019, though he spent the greater part of the year with Single-A Greensboro. In two seasons since being drafted out of St. Mary’s College of California, the 6’3″ right-hander sports a 3.68 ERA over 124 2/3 innings with 9.1 K/9 to 2.8 BB/9. Loeprich has largely worked out of the bullpen with only 8 starts out of 55 total minor-league appearances.

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