The Phillies' "leap from the past to the future is chiefly the work" of Managing Partner John Middleton, who is taking the club in a "far different" direction with this week's hiring of manager Gabe Kapler, according to Bob Ford of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Middleton hired Phillies President Andy MacPhail in '15 and "directed him to seek a young, analytics-driven" GM. That hire turned out to be Matt Klentak, who in hiring Kapler has tapped a manager to "further the process in the clubhouse, so that the organization is being remade not just from the top down, but from the bottom up." Middleton "doesn’t know for sure" how the new process will work, but he is "certain it will work better than maintaining the methods that walked hand in hand" through team strategy in previous decades. If it "involves the risk of taking on some unique personalities and trying different things, so be it." Middleton said, "Is it risky? Yes. But what’s not said enough is that it’s risky to not take those risks in a competitive world that’s changing all the time." Ford notes as Middleton’s seat at the table "increased over the years," so did his "determination that the organizational culture had to be brought up to date." The hiring of Kapler "isn’t the culmination of that process, but the new manager’s ideas will probably be the most visible public manifestation of it for a while." Middleton made the decision to "push for the modern, analytic course, even though it represented a radical departure for the organization and an uncertain timeline for success." Ford: "He has his GM and manager in place now, and he is quite sure it is the right path" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 11/3).
FACE OF A MOVEMENT: In Philadelphia, Matt Gelb writes the Phillies will ask Kapler to be the "public face of their progressive movement." It will "demand more than Kapler evoking the grittiness" of former Phillies manager Larry Bowa and 2B Chase Utley, as he did Thursday in his introductory news conference, and "preaching principles from his lifestyle website." But Kapler is the "biggest persona in the room and baseball is an insular fraternity built on tradition." He will "break that down within the walls of the Phillies clubhouse," as Kapler is an "extension of the front office, driven by data to make decisions." Gelb notes Middleton was "struck by Kapler’s outside-the-box thinking." Middleton has "emphasized the club’s need to seek outside opinions, which were suppressed in the decades before he gained power." Kapler "spoke his language." Middleton said, "I’m a reasonably intense guy I’ve been told, so I think we connected literally on a visceral level." Klentak added he talked to Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman, who was "very supportive" of Kapler's candidacy. Klentak: "That means a lot to me because I really value Andrew’s input. I respect his contributions in the industry" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 11/3).
