Amaro's fate in MacPhail's hands
Andy MacPhail, who at season's end will take the reins as the new Phillies' president, said he never liked the word evaluate.
Andy MacPhail, who at season's end will take the reins as the new Phillies' president, said he never liked the word evaluate.
He prefers learn.
"I've got three months to learn what I need to learn," he said Monday afternoon in his introductory news conference at Citizens Bank Park. "I think it's way premature to talk about personnel decisions.
"I'm not one of those guys who has to have people I know around me. I don't think the record would indicate that four people get let go the minute I'm in there. But again, they're case-by-case decisions."
The most prominent case MacPhail will need to address come October is the Phillies' general manager position. It is far from a secret that the contract of the beleaguered Ruben Amaro Jr. expires when the team's season does on Oct. 4.
New presidents typically prefer their own people in place, especially in the front office's most prominent position. Although he would never say it publicly on the day he was hired, it's likely MacPhail would target a GM with whom he is more familiar and who closely subscribes to his methods of running a major-league organization.
Speculation over the identity of those in the next Phillies front office will run rampant throughout the season's final three months. Meanwhile, Gillick and Amaro, with help from MacPhail, will preside over the team's most crucial July 31 trade deadline in years. The successes or failures of the prospects the Phillies get in return for Cole Hamels - presuming they trade him - could have implications for years to come.
MacPhail will be the one who has to live with the ultimate decision the current front office makes on a Hamels trade.
"I've bled Phillies red for a long, long time," Amaro said. "My goal is to work with Andy and Pat and to get our organization back to the level that it's been. I've been part of a rebuild in the past as assistant GM. I've been part of building a championship-caliber club, and I'm looking forward to trying to do what I can do . . . and continue to do that.
"I can't worry about what decisions Andy or Pat are going to be making as far as my personal status is concerned. My goal is to try to get us back to where we need to be. And as far as my status is concerned, I just need to go out and do my job."
Gillick, who has final say on any trade the Phillies make this season, said Amaro will serve as general manager through the season. But once MacPhail takes over, it's up to him to decide who mans the position directly under him.
Come the offseason, any number of candidates could be in play. If MacPhail opts to hire a young, up-and-comer as his GM, he could target 34-year-old Los Angeles Angels assistant GM Matt Klentak, who was his director of baseball operations in Baltimore. Kansas City Royals assistant GM J.J. Picollo, a 44-year-old Cherry Hill native, is another name to watch.
Others who fit that mold include Michael Girsch, a 38-year-old assistant GM with the St. Louis Cardinals, and Miami Marlins' director of pro scouting Jeff McAvoy, 38, who previously worked for the Tampa Bay Rays and Houston Astros.
One baseball source suggested that longtime executive John Barr, the San Francisco Giants' assistant GM, could be a candidate. Barr, who has worked in front offices for more than three decades, hails from Audubon, N.J., graduated from Rider and still resides in Haddonfield. Among his early jobs was East Coast supervisor for the MacPhail-led Minnesota Twins in 1988.
But for at least the next three months, it appears it will remain mostly status quo in the Phillies' oft-maligned front office. MacPhail insisted Monday "there is no hidden list of candidates for any job in this organization." Asked what he looks for in a GM, he said, "Someone that's going to be effective in executing the strategy that the organization has developed to go forward."
MacPhail will spend the next three months listening - and offering input - as he readies to begin shaping the Phillies' future.
"Once you get a clear understanding of how you think your club needs to proceed," he said, "then you have a better idea of who you think can help execute the plan that you think you have to execute."
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