The Phillies are a Directionless Mess
When Phillies’ President Andy MacPhail spoke to reporters during his end of the year Zoom conference call on October 30th, no one really knew what to expect.
Would he announce he’d be stepping down from his role, ending a five-plus year run of failure?
What would he have to say about the prospects of re-signing catcher J.T. Realmuto?
Unfortunately for Phillies fans, MacPhail’s conference was not promising. In fact, it was sort of a disaster. The biggest take away from this was the Phillies are a directionless mess, a ship without a rudder.
Take in point, the search for a new General Manager, a necessity after Matt Klentak was reassigned this offseason.
MacPhail made it seem like the Phillies might not hire anyone right now, and instead, stick with interim GM Ned Rice.
“Who’s going to uproot in the middle of a pandemic? I could see this thing going longer. Certainly, through until ’21, when you have a little more clarity with what it is we’re facing.”
Photo: David Maialetti/The Philadelphia Inquirer
Let’s break this part down first. Who’s going to want to move during a pandemic? Well, the Sixers were able to hire a new head coach and president of basketball operations during a pandemic. The Angels have interviewed at least 14 candidates for their general manager opening. So MacPhail’s assertion that no one wants to do this at this time is entirely false.
Then saying you don’t have clarity with what you’re facing? It’s pretty clear what you’re facing, Andy.
Yes, the pandemic has eaten into the team’s finances (more on this later). But this is a team that expects to win now. Money has been put into this team to win a World Series. If they don’t, they’ll be facing an angry fan base.
Let’s continue with MacPhail’s absurdity.
“I just try to underscore this, you want the next regime to do well. You want to put them in a position to succeed. In my estimation, if you brought somebody in here right now with a limited capacity that they could affect positive change, it’s just borderline not fair to them.”
What makes MacPhail the one who decides what is or is not fair for the next GM? Let them make that decision for themselves. After all, plenty of people are interested in the job, including former Red Sox President of Baseball Operations, Dave Dombrowski.
On top of that, MacPhail is not able to affect positive change currently, especially as a lame-duck president. He’s already said he’s done once his contract is up at the end of next season. Or sooner, as he’ll gladly step down to give the right candidate his title.
MacPhail touched on the Phillies’ financial losses ($100 million-plus) and how that will impact the teams’ chances of re-signing Realmuto. While they’re going to give it a shot, it seems like this will drag on as well.
But there’s no reason for that. MacPhail seems to be using the pandemic as an excuse to not pay him. After all, the Dodgers signed Mookie Betts to an enormous contract earlier this year. And the Phillies will have money when fans come back, as long as the team is competitive. But if the team is terrible, fans will not come, and the financial strain will be even greater.
The bottom line is, with MacPhail’s poor leadership, this feels like a Phillies team that has no clear direction for its future. He is entirely uninspiring and seems completely disinterested in his role. Almost like he’s begging John Middleton to reassign him too. And that’s not a good thing. If we notice that, you can guarantee potential free agents realize it. Same with the current players.
The Phillies need to quickly figure out the direction they want to go in. But it needs to be a direction that allows them to sign the best players and general manager available, and get this team back in the playoffs.
Anything less than that is a disservice to the fans and the players on the team.
Featured Image: David Maialetti/The Philadelphia Inquirer
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