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Phillies Announce Significant Front-Office Shakeup, As Montgomery Returns As Chair

The Phillies yesterday announced "significant changes to their leadership," with President & CEO David Montgomery rejoining the franchise as Chair, not as President, the role he had held since '97, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Montgomery "took a medical leave of absence in August following jaw bone cancer surgery in May." Pat Gillick replaced Montgomery as interim President, but the team yesterday "removed the interim tag." Gillick said that he will serve in the role "as long as ownership wants him." Chair Bill Giles "has moved" to the Chair Emeritus position. Montgomery said, "This is the best of all worlds for me." Zolecki noted Gillick will "continue to run baseball operations," while Senior VP/Administration & Operations Michael Stiles "will run the business side" (MLB.com, 1/28). In Philadelphia, Jake Kaplan writes the front-office shake-up "could pave the way for another new team president in the next year or two." Gillick last night said that he "doesn't see himself in the position two or three years from now but 'definitely' at least through this baseball season." Gillick has "previously served" as GM for four teams, including the Phillies (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 1/29).

PROS AND CONS: In Philadelphia, Bob Brookover writes given the fact that Gillick "started filling in for Montgomery at the end of August, this really is not a change at all." But it is "good that Gillick has agreed to accept this role even if it's only for the short term." It also is "good because he is going to be a different kind of team president than Montgomery, who wore a lot of hats, including many of which [that] had nothing to do with the product on the field." Additionally, it is "good because John Middleton, the wealthiest of the Phillies' ownership partners, is very comfortable with Gillick." Montgomery admitted that Middleton and ownership partners Jim and Pete Buck "played a role in his decision to relinquish the title of team president." He also admitted that they are "gaining more influence in franchise decisions." But Brookover writes the "best news of the day was that Montgomery, 68, has recovered enough ... to return to work" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 1/29). Also in Philadelphia, David Murphy writes the "only way the Phillies' latest shell-shuffling makes sense" is if they have settled on Gillick "as their architect for the future." Chances are, the Phillies' decision to move Montgomery out in favor of Gillick "is nothing more than cosmetic alteration designed to buy time while offering the fan base an illusion of significant change." The "last time Gillick was charged with building a roster from the ground up, there was no luxury tax, no hard slotting system, no international bonus limits, no analytics; hell, no Internet." Meanwhile, an evaluation of GM Ruben Amaro Jr. "is in order, and any decision to postpone that evaluation" suggests there is "something Amaro can do in the next year to dictate his fate." Any such suggestion "is ludicrous" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 1/29).

BIRDS OF WAR: The GLOBE & MAIL's Robert MacLeod wrote Blue Jays President & CEO Paul Beeston "took the high road" despite the "tawdry manner in which his own employment status was handled by Rogers over the last couple of months." Beeston is "choosing to move forward, and not focus on what has transpired" as the team tried to hire Orioles Exec VP/Baseball Operations Dan Duquette. Beeston: "We’re now looking at what’s happening from this day forward. I don’t think there’s any benefit at the present time of discussing any of that. I wanted to stay here through 2015 and I’m here through 2015" (GLOBE & MAIL, 1/28). The NATIONAL POST's Scott Stinson wrote "someone in the Rogers corporate hierarchy ... went off on a now-aborted quest to land someone who would be installed as the new Blue Jays’ boss." Unfortunately for Blue Jays' ownership, "settling on someone who was under contract for four more years in Duquette proved to be a considerable challenge." So Beeston "is back, for a bit, but the questions raised by the last few months of uncertainty remain largely unanswered" (NATIONAL POST, 1/27).

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