Coaching upheaval a sign that Middleton meant what he vowed
PHILADELPHIA » More than any game, any atbat or any pitch, and more than any rookie or veteran or record-setting highlight, it was one underrepeated but wildly important statement that defined the Phillies in 2017.
Said on a radio program, then discussed but not obsessed over, it came from John Middleton, the wealthy front man for club ownership. His franchise losing games and fans and status and momentum, Middleton promised to broadcaster Angelo Cataldi that he would return the Phillies to contention … or he would die trying.
World Series. Or death. That was Middleton’s vow, give or take some hyperbole room. It didn’t resonate at once, but it echoed the other day when Pete Mackanin was fired and Matt Klentak announced the Phillies were entering a new phase in their slowed rebuilding process.
Though Klentak insists it was his decision to post a job opening, his in-season about-face had to have been wind-aided by Middleton’s bluster. Why else would a general manager give his manager a contract extension and an eviction notice in the same season?
“I think one of the important things for us is to understand that, particularly when you’re fielding a roster of this many young players, growth can come quickly,” Klentak said. “Sometimes it comes a little more slowly. You just don’t know with young players.”
For that, the Phillies were prepared to be patient. And because it was Pat Gillick, in charge at the time, who approved of years of tolerance, few were ever in a rush to complete the job. But several things happened during a season when the Phillies were otherwise useless. They had several rookies not only impress at the major-league level, but excite, including Rhys Hoskins, J.P. Crawford, Jorge Alfaro and Nick Williams. And the other thing that happened was that the upper front office began making those noises about returning to greatness.
When those pressure systems collided, Mackanin would be washed away by the storm. Suddenly, his tolerance of mediocrity, or at least his inability to maneuver the Phillies out of last place, was inconsistent with what is about to be a restructured timetable for contention.
“Trust me, I’d like nothing more than to contend next year right from the very beginning, but I don’t really want to place any limitations on that,” Klentak said. “I do think we have seen over the last two months or so with a lot of these young players that it bodes very well for our future. How quickly that manifests itself and takes shape and turns into a playoff team remains to be seen. But we’re going to do everything that we can to make sure that happens.” Everything. And so, it will begin with a new manager. And the new manager will have deep influence over a rebuilt coaching staff. And that new staff will be expected to guide Hoskins and Williams and Crawford and Alfaro and Aaron Altherr, something that could not have been done with the inning-to-inning outfield bloopers, base-running follies and batters-box blunders that were too frequent under Mackanin.
“We want to make sure the candidate we bring in is the best person to connect with our players and our fans, to connect with our front office ultimately to help this team win,” Klentak said. “That’s ultimately what it’s going to be about.”
If it ultimately had to be that way, there would have been a case to be made to keep Mackanin, who was not a bad manager, just an unsuccessful one. But the Phillies are not about “ultimately” any more. And they were not about “ultimately” the moment Middleton made like George Steinbrenner on WIP.
Under another plan, Mackanin might have overseen the continued growth of Hoskins and Williams, played out his contract and made way for a new manager next October. But somewhere in a season that should have been better, that plan was shredded.
For the Phillies to complete their project, they will need to do more than reassign Pete Mackanin to the front office. They will need better players. And they will need a more competitive payroll. The real spending will likely come before the 2019 season. But Klentak and his supervisors may not even be that patient.
“I know we will be open to making investments this offseason,” Klentak said. “But it has to be the right fit.”
The Phillies are supposed to be a glamor franchise, with a three-billionaire as their owner, robust cable TV revenues and the largest monopoly market in baseball. Middleton didn’t need months of vacant upper decks to know that frolicking around 30 games under .500 is a business disaster.
The Phillies will need more than a new manager to contend before 2019. But Pete Mackanin wasn’t hastening that process. Neither was patience.
That was John Middleton’s message around midseason.
That was Matt Klentak’s at the end.