Phillies’ Fuld seems to be managing just fine
There was a real chance two years ago the Red Sox could have introduced Sam Fuld as their new manager. The Durham, N.H., native fit all the qualifications chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom was seeking in a replacement for Ron Roenicke.
Fuld learned the game as a player and refined that knowledge working in the Phillies’ analytics department. He also had the disposition and credibility to succeed in Boston.
Another factor, an important one, was that Bloom had an established rapport with Fuld from their time together with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Fuld was an outfielder with the Rays from 2011-13 while Bloom was the team’s director of baseball operations. Bloom was still a relative newcomer to the Red Sox organization in 2020 and Fuld would have been an ally.
“It was an attractive job,” Fuld said. “They’re the Red Sox.”
The decision came down to hiring Fuld or bringing back Alex Cora, who had been fired earlier that year after being suspended by Major League Baseball for his role in the Astros’ 2017 cheating scandal.
It was Bloom’s call. He flew to Puerto Rico to meet with Cora and whatever questions he had were answered during that session. Cora was rehired.
The disappointment Fuld felt at the time has since vanished.
“I’m really happy with the way things turned out,” said Fuld, now general manager of the Phillies. “I love this organization and I love the role I’m in. Obviously, the results of this year have been fantastic.
“There will always be that ‘What if ?’ in the back of my mind. But from a professional and personal standpoint, what I’m doing right now is a dream job and I love the people I get to work with.”
Fuld, who turns 41 later this month, knew he wanted to stay in baseball after his playing career ended in 2015. The question was whether to stay in uniform or join a front office.
With his playing experience and educational background — Fuld has an economics degree from Stanford — many doors were open. The Blue Jays, Cubs, Mets, and Pirates were among the teams that considered him as a manager.
Fuld joined the Phillies in 2017 as their player information coordinator, serving as a liaison between the analytics staff and the clubhouse.
The Phillies promoted him to director of integrative baseball performance in January 2020. When Dave Dombrowski came in as president of baseball operations in December at the end of that year, one of his first big decisions was to name Fuld as the GM.
He saw Fuld as having a good mix of traditional and modern approaches.
“Dave has been tremendous,” Fuld said. “He’s opened his world up to me, to my family. The poise with which he makes each and every decision on a daily basis is something I continue to admire and try to replicate.
“He’s seen everything this game has to offer. This past month in particular has been eye-opening for me to see how he handles high-leverage decisions and all the noise that accompanies being in the postseason.
“He’s thorough and he has his finger on the pulse of the whole organization. He’s allowed me to be a part of that.”
In an age when many executives seek the least risky path to success, Dombrowski is quick to identify weaknesses in the roster and how best to fill them.
That was how he built a championship team for the Red Sox in 2018, and the same methods worked for the Phillies in winning the National League pennant this season.
“He’s decisive,” Fuld said. “Part of why he’s had success in this game is he has the unique ability to make quick decisions. That’s a really valuable skill to have in that seat.”
Fuld hasn’t looked at what comes next in his career beyond what’s directly in front of him.
“Hopefully making [the Phillies] a continual consistent contender and giving this fan base and ownership and everybody involved something to be proud of both in on-field performance and how we treat people and the community,” he said.
“That and giving people around me the power to be the best they can be. Whether that’s players, coaches, front office members, scouts, or player development. That’s all really important.”
Had the Red Sox hired him, Fuld would have been back in uniform. But he’s embraced the path he’s on.
“When I stepped off the field as a player, I took time thinking about it with my family,” he said. “We pretty quickly recognized that my love for the game was strong enough that I wanted to continue to pursue it in different ways.
“I’m really excited I didn’t decide to go run a fast-food chain or go in a different direction outside of baseball.”
Fuld and his wife, Sarah, have four children. His parents, Ken and Amanda, live in the house he grew up in and he tries to get home to New Hampshire as often as he can, although his job makes that tough.
Would Fuld have made a good manager? The Red Sox and several other teams were interested in finding out. But his next step is more likely running his own team someday.