The Next Phillies GM Could Be a Woman

Phillies president Andy MacPhail said "he or she" when referring to the next general manager. Why this is a good sign.

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The Phillies now have a manager for next season, but they still don’t have a general manager. Team president Andy MacPhail spoke with CSN Phillies “field” broadcast reporter during Tuesday night’s game, and MacPhail had an interesting comment:

If he or she should want to come in and make a managerial change, that’s a three or four week process.

That’s right: He or she! A woman has never held a general managerial position in major league baseball, but there’s definitely not any reason why a woman wouldn’t be good in the job. She didn’t play in the majors? Neither did most good GMs.

Several women have held assistant GM jobs: the Red Sox’s Elaine Weddington-Steward, the Yankees’ Jean Afterman and MLB Senior Vice-President for Baseball Operations Kim Ng.

Ng was a finalist for the San Diego Padres GM job in 2014, and her name is often mentioned as a possible first woman GM. Afterman was a player agent; Weddington-Steward has been with the Sox for over a decade in a variety of roles. She was a Jackie Robinson Scholar in college.

In all likelihood, the new Phillies GM will be a man. But the “he or she” comment is, actually, promising about the direction of the Phillies. It’s not that the Phillies will definitely be good if they hire Ng or another woman — they might! — but that MacPhail is open to the possibility. Under Ruben Amaro, the Phillies were criticized for being backward. Other clubs had passed them.

A Phillies front office that thinks outside the box is one that is promising. MacPhail’s latest comment can give Phillies fans more hope.

[via Matt Winkelman]