The Phillies finished with five non-winning seasons and no postseason appearances during Klentak's tenureGetty Images
The Phillies removed GM Matt Klentak after five non-winning seasons and no postseason appearances, and since he is under contract for two more seasons, Klentak "will remain with the team in a yet-to-be-determined role," according to Matt Breen of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. The Phillies had a "record-setting payroll this season but finished four-games below .500 and missed the playoffs" despite the fields being expanded. Phillies Managing Partner John Middleton: "We've made progress but we haven't made progress fast enough." He added, "I looked at what we'd be doing a year or two from now and I said, 'You know what, I'm not sure I see that it's going to necessarily lead to the things I want to see.' So I made the decision to move on." The Phillies reassigned Klentak, but retained President Andy MacPhail, who "interviewed Klentak five years ago and presented him to Middleton as a finalist for the team's vacant GM job." Middleton said that MacPhail "will be involved in the search for a new general manager." Assistant GM Ned Rice "will be the interim GM." Middleton said that a search for a new GM "could take an entire year because of complications brought on by the coronavirus pandemic" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 10/4).
STRUCTURE CHANGE IN WORKS? THE ATHLETIC's Matt Gelb cited sources as saying that the Phillies "could hire two people this offseason -- a president of baseball operations and a general manager." The next GM -- or President of Baseball Operations -- "faces harsh realities." For one, Middleton is "engaged and opinionated and the owner of the franchise with the second-longest postseason drought in the sport" (THEATHLETIC.com, 10/3). Middleton said, "The problem the Phillies have had for a hundred years is they don't evaluate talent well. ... Matt's had a pretty successful track rate with free agents. We just haven't been able to bring up the people internally to support them. ... That's haunted us." In Philadelphia, Scott Lauber noted Middleton in discussing Klentak "painted a picture of an executive who got dragged down in the legacy of losing more games than any team in North American pro sports history." (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 10/4).
