By Michael Heilman

The Philadelphia Phillies announced yesterday they have relieved Manager Gabe Kapler of his duties, ending his two-year reign with a record of 161-163 as Phillies Manager. The Phillies had high expectations going into the 2019 season after acquiring Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Jean Segura, and Andrew McCutchen only for them to not make the playoffs for the eighth consecutive year. But, did the Phillies solve their issues by firing Kapler.

Phillies General Manager Matt Klentak led the search for a new manager and hired Gabe Kapler as the Phillies Manager on October 30, 2017. While Kapler was not a popular choice by Phillies fans, he worked hard to try to win the fans over. Kapler did not do himself any favors by making some questionable calls during his two-year reign as manager, but from a roster standpoint, he worked with what he had. Kapler’s goal for the Phillies was to bring back a world championship to Philadelphia. That obviously won’t happen, and the Phillies fans might have to wait longer to see the Phillies win a World Series championship no matter who takes over the job next year.

The Phillies front office is led by President of Baseball Operations Andy McPhail and General Manager Matt Klentak, who both had made plenty of questionable decisions since 2016, like not getting starting pitching or bullpen help when the team needs it. Instead, they picked up an odd bunch of players that had been cut by other teams for reasons such as they were in their mid-30’s, their productivity had lowered, and in some cases they were past their prime. While the Phillies were doing that, other teams were looking toward the future by finding younger talented players to build their team. The one area the Phillies did address somewhat was hitting. During the 2018 offseason, the Phillies signed Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, and traded for Jean Segura and J.T. Realmuto. They joined a young core led by Rhys Hoskins, Scott Kingery, and others. Unfortunately, some of players took a step back in 2019. Sure, injuries are part of the game, and the Phillies had plenty of players go down in 2019 most notably Andrew McCutchen, David Robertson, Pat Neshek, and Jake Arrieta.

The other problem both McPhail and Klentak have is drafting and developing players in the farm system. Of the top prospects in the system, Alec Bohm and Spencer Howard are a couple of years away from appearing for the Phillies. The Phillies have not done a great job drafting players. When you look at other teams like the Braves, Rays, and Dodgers, they do a good job drafting players and developing them into stars. The Phillies at one time were able to do this in the late ’90s early 2000’s when guys like Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels were ready to step into the spotlight, and all of these men helped the Phillies win the title in 2008.

Whoever becomes the next manager of the Phillies will have to deal with McPhail and Klentak. Because of their inconsistent decisions, the next manager may meet the same fate as Gabe Kapler unless owner John Middletown makes changes to the front office.