The Phillies have hired Matt Klentak to be their general manager and vice president.
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Klentak, who at 35 is the youngest of the 11 GMs in Phillies history, will work directly under new club president Andy MacPhail in building the team.
Klentak replaces Ruben Amaro Jr., who was sacked in September by new team president Andy MacPhail. As for the obvious follow-up question: “No”, Klentak said, “he did not ask me for a job”.
“I am truly honored to join the Red Sox, a first-class organization with a tremendous history”, Amaro said, according to a press release. “You want that eagerness, and you want that type of personality to be part of your staff. He’s going to help us create an atmosphere for our players that is very positive and upbeat”. The game isn’t about the guys who wear ties and sit at the table. Klentak worked under MacPhail when MacPhail ran Baltimore’s baseball operations from 2006 to 2011. He served as the Phillies’ assistant GM first under Ed Wade and then under Pat Gillick. MacPhail and Klentak seem to understand that and don’t view the situation as only numbers or only getting information from scouts and baseball lifers within the organization. He also claimed the Orioles did in fact get where they were trying to take them, just, you know, a year after he and MacPhail were both gone.
Klentak began his career in the majors as a front-office intern with Colorado. Though Phillies ownership partner John Middleton made it clear that the organization has been and will continue to bolster its concentration on baseball analytics, Klentak was not hired only for his ability to process numbers at an Ivy League pace.
A 2011 Orange County Register profile says Klentak’s office was furnished with “yearly editions of The Bill James Handbook and other volumes of data-dense baseball guides [in] cherry finished bookshelves that match his large desk covered by his handwritten notes”. “But we also need to make sure that we are gathering all the information at our disposal”.
In a 2011 interview with Orioles blog Camden Chat, he said an Orioles analysis showed investment on global scouting and facilities does not pay off. The Phillies have not traditionally been a major player internationally, though they’ve improved recently.
And, what about Torey Lovullo, the man who took over for Farrell for much of the second half of the season?
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Before he was sacked, Amaro sped up the rebuilding process by trading ace Cole Hamels, All-Star closer Jonathan Papelbon, and six-time All-Star Chase Utley. He had been the Phillies GM since they won the World Series in 2008 and was let go after this season. Middleton turned to Klentak during the news conference and told him what it was like to be at the ballpark during those winning times. “Because if you can pitch, you have a chance to win every night”.
