MIAMI — The Phillies are playing meaningful September games ahead of schedule. It’s for a few reasons, and one often cited by both management and players is how the core group of this young roster grew together in the minor leagues. They were on winning teams in Clearwater, Reading and Lehigh Valley. The organization has drafted and developed better after a drought created an elongated period between relevant baseball in Philadelphia.



They will enter the next stage without an influential presence behind the rebuild.



Joe Jordan, the Phillies’ director of player development, will not return in 2019, the team confirmed Tuesday morning. Three baseball sources described a rift over how the farm system was run within a front office evolving under general manager Matt Klentak, who inherited Jordan from the previous regime.



The minor-league season ended Monday. Three of the Phillies’ four full-season affiliates qualified for the...