Surprise! Phillies in on High-Profile Executive After All

When Phillies current president Andy MacPhail took to Zoom to discuss his end-of-year matters, the result was somewhat disastrous.  The Phillies emerged as a team that seemed content to take little action this offseason, and a team who might ride out the year with MacPhail and interim general manager Ned Rice making all the baseball decisions.  This week saw the New York Mets get a new owner in Steve Cohen, who cleaned out front office.   And both the Los Angeles Angels and Miami Marlins hired general managers in Perry Minasian and Kim Ng, respectively, frustrating Phillies fans.

But there might be some good news for Phillies fans after all.

Friday evening, Jayson Stark of the Athletic indicated that the Phillies might actually be a lot closer to hiring an executive than previously thought.   In fact, Stark reports that the Phillies are set to begin interviews in coming days.  And it appears that the Phillies will be looking for a president of baseball operations:

According to industry sources, the Phillies are focusing on hiring a new president of baseball operations, while leaving their GM opening on the back burner. They have been trying to gauge the interest of a small group of experienced, highly regarded baseball people with proven, winning track records. Sources say they have asked for an answer from their remaining uncommitted candidates within the next week, if possible.

Stark referred to the hire as being a "front-office equivalent of Joe Girardi-equivalent", suggesting that the club is looking for someone experienced and with a track record.

So maybe this offseason will be a bit more interesting than Phillies fans expected.  For some, after the suggestion that an executive would not want to "uproot during a pandemic" was infuriating.   But soon it may not be MacPhail who gets to address the state of the Phillies.  Stay tuned.