Klentak has two more years remaining on his contract with the PhilliesGETTY IMAGES
Phillies Managing Partner John Middleton is believed to be taking a "rigorous approach as he decides to either retain or fire" VP & GM Matt Klentak, and there are "no indications that a decision is coming quickly," according to Matt Breen of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Middleton's decision this offseason "comes with implications brought by the coronavirus pandemic," as two weeks ago, the Phillies offered their full-time employees a "voluntary-separation package in hopes that it would allow the team to lay off fewer employees." This came after a season in which Middleton said that he "expected to lose 'substantially more than $100 million.'" Breen notes employees yesterday received an email that the buyout packages "had been increased, after so few employees accepted the first offer." The Phillies are "expected to lay off employees next month." In June, the team "cut salaries for all employees who make at least $90,000," but now, it is "eliminating jobs, perhaps in anticipation of another year of lost revenue" in '21 (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 9/30).
UNCERTAINTY REMAINS: In Philadelphia, Jim Salisbury wrote "some might say there is no drama at all, that Klentak is under contract for two more seasons, that that's the way it is until ownership says otherwise." But Klentak's job security "became a major issue 11 months ago" when Middleton "stepped in and fired Gabe Kapler, the GM's hand-picked manager, and Klentak acknowledged the magnitude of the issue when he attached must-win importance to the 2020 season." If the Phillies had won "just two of their final eight games, they would have made the playoffs," but the "poor finish and lack of a postseason berth clearly turned up ownership's scrutiny of Klentak -- not to mention the rage of Phillies fans" (NBCSPORTSPHILADELPHIA.com, 9/29).
