4 Takeaways from Phillies Front Office Press Conference

Phillies front office members John Middleton, Andy MacPhail and Matt Klentak held a press conference this afternoon as sort of a post-mortem of the 2019 season. Lasting almost an hour, the three fielded questions from the media and touched on a variety of ranging topics about the season. Make yourself a very strong drink, and settle in – here are some of the key takeaways:

1. Everybody wants to talk about Gabe Kapler

And for good reason. The Phillies officially let their manager go yesterday, somewhat unceremoniously after 11 days of deliberation. How he tells is, Middleton had more than a few people approach him on the street telling him to send Kapler packing. His process was interviewing several people within the organization, at the request of MacPhail and Klentak. He meant to get a broader picture before making the decision he wanted to make from the beginning – which he thought of in July! Sure, people had nice things to say about Gabe Kapler the person. But rightfully, Middleton couldn’t reconcile keeping someone who managed two back-to-back September collapses.

2. “September baseball matters” and other fun quotes that made a big impact this year

The Phillies front office is a big fan of sound bites. Two other popular ones from this year were of course “spending stupid money” and “If we don’t, we don’t.” MacPhail was asked about the latter, and acknowledged regret about his choice of words, although he did try to blame it on out of context. For the September quote, of course September baseball matters – the fans never felt differently. It is only the front office who needs this reminder.

3. The front office has a unification problem

For as much as Middleton tried showing that he backs MacPhail and Klentak no matter what, it feels like there’s no confidence there. As a fan, I lost any confidence I had left in the three of them after watching this. They could not pinpoint a cause for the regression of key players, explain why they fell apart with only a few weeks left in the season, again. They vaguely insinuated that the next manager could create a more cohesive atmosphere, although tepidly. They spoke about the need to find a common unifier within the organization, and their inability to produce a concrete answer of what that might be should startle you a little.

4. The analytics approach

The most interesting part of the group’s remarks came when the media challenged them on the success of their analytics approach. With Gabe Kapler and hitting coach John Mallee’s dismissal, two big analyst-first advocates failed. When questions about qualifications these three are looking for in the next manager arose, they asked about bringing someone on who was less data driven. The enthusiasm from the podium was palpable. Middleton rejected that analytics didn’t work. But it’s worth wondering, if we are sitting through our eighth consecutive season no playoff post-mortem, is the analytics or bust approach a hill worth dying on.

The Phillies season may be over, but the lackluster attitude that haunted the team around midseason carried the front office into October. There’s a lot left to be done, and while removing Kapler was a good start, it’s not the all-encompassing answer. The Phillies thought they would still be playing baseball right now. Instead, they watched the Braves and Nationals outmaneuver them and aggressively shove them aside as they made it to the playoffs. Looking at the (youthful) talent for those two teams, we could be looking up for quite some time. Today’s press conference is concerning at best. It’s indicative of what to expect next season at worst. Unfortunately, now all we can do is wait for their next move, and hope the other three teams can revive the city a bit.