The Stark Report: ‘John Middleton Has Wanted to Fire Amaro for a Long Time’

The Philadelphia Phillies finally parted ways with longtime general manager Ruben Amaro this week.

For the fans, it was a long time coming.

The timeline of it all was fairly bizarre with it happening around lunchtime on Wednesday, but as Jayson Stark said on this week's Stark Report, it was indeed to get a head start on the offseason.

Not only that, but it was also Amaro who wanted to accelerate this time because he wants to pursue other opportunities.

"To say he'll never back, wont go that far. It just wasn't the time or place for him to stay, I'm glad they made that conclusion," Stark said.

Phillies fans and media also got another glimpse of incoming president Andy MacPhail and managing partner John S. Middleton, the latter has been very forceful and visible in that last six months as he's ever been.

So who are the candidates?

Stark details some below with a few having ties to MacPhail's time in baseball, as well as someone with ties to Cherry Hill, NJ.

The Stark Report for 9.11.15: