It has been a whirlwind few days for Matt Klentak, from a final round of job interviews to being hired as the Phillies' 11th general manager to hustling off to Clearwater to take part in organization meetings that will be part get-to-know-everyone session, part offseason strategy summit.
There were people to meet and planes to catch. So Klentak’s Philadelphia unveiling did not last long Monday morning. But in less than an hour’s time, the 35-year-old Dartmouth grad, who had previous stops in the Commissioner’s office and in the front offices in Baltimore and Anaheim, came across as sharp and articulate.
And confident that he could help make the Phillies winners again.
“I would not have left Mike Trout in his prime if I did not believe that,” he said (see story).
Some takeaways from Klentak’s first day on the job:
Why Klentak?
There are a lot of reasons.
First and foremost, he fit the profile of what part owner John Middleton said he wanted in a GM. He’s young, on the rise and has a strong grasp of analytics, a movement that Middleton said the Phillies, long a scouting-based organization, were late embracing.
Chemistry and shared vision are some other reasons.
New club president Andy MacPhail led this search and ultimately made the hire — with ownership’s unanimous approval. Klentak worked under MacPhail when MacPhail ran Baltimore’s baseball operations from 2006 to 2011. MacPhail has admitted to not being at the forefront of the analytics movement. Klentak was one of the people who filled in his gaps.
MacPhail said he interviewed more than seven candidates and presented three finalists — Klentak, Chaim Bloom of the Tampa Bay Rays and Dan Kantrovitz of the Oakland A’s — to ownership. All had the desired skill set. All were aligned with the Phillies’ new philosophical plan. It would be naïve to say MacPhail’s familiarity with Klentak was not a difference maker in the decision-making process, though MacPhail would not say that directly.
Who runs the baseball show?
Back in June, Middleton made it clear that while MacPhail was hired to oversee the entire organization, baseball was his focus. He has the power of the final call in baseball ops, just like David Montgomery and Pat Gillick had with former GM Ruben Amaro Jr.
But MacPhail stressed that Klentak will have autonomy to run things the way he sees fit.
“I know the natural assumption is, 'Well, he hired his assistant from Baltimore,' but it’s really not that way,” MacPhail said.
One of MacPhail’s criteria in making the hire was finding someone “who’s willing to disagree,” he said. “We’ve got to have people that come at things from a different angle, and the one thing I can tell you based on my prior experience with Matt is that he’s not afraid to disagree. There were times when we were together in Baltimore when he persuaded me that there was a different approach that should be taken. And there were times, frankly, when I had to point to the media guide and tell him, ‘Look, my name is up here and your name is down here.’ I know it’s natural to think that we just have a rubber stamp here. I can tell you from experience, far from it.”
Analytics are important ...
“It’s a critical piece of the puzzle,” Klentak said.
But not the only piece ...
“We'll try to strike balance in everything that we do,” he said. “The Phillies have a long and proud history, particularly recent history, that was the result of some excellent evaluations and scouting. To give credit where credit is due, the foundation of the club that was in the playoffs every year (from 2007 to 2011) was a product of some awesome scouting. I don't want to lose that. That is something we're going to continue to reinforce and utilize at every turn.
“But we also need to make sure we are gathering and utilizing all of the information at our disposal. Some of that may come in analytical form. Some of that may come via medical information. The real challenge is taking all of that information, and it is a ton, and combining it and synthesizing it and figuring out how that works into our process and making decisions accordingly. But let there be no doubt, we will be at the forefront of every single one of those areas and we will strive to be the best in every one of those areas and have the best information.”
Still, the perception is the Phils hired an analytics guy
“It’s not entirely accurate,” Klentak said.
He used the word “balance” again.
“Teams that lean too far in one direction, whether it’s analytics or scouting or free agency or whatever it may be — those are teams that tend to get in trouble,” he said. “I want to make sure that we’re looking at all avenues, all pieces of information to create a nice, balanced approach to player acquisition.”
On that subject, will the Phillies be active in free agency this winter?
MacPhail and Middleton have both talked about this in recent months. The Phillies are a year into their rebuilding effort and are sticking with it. There will be no attempts at a quick fix with a big free-agent splash. Maybe someday, but not now.
Even when the Phils are ready to flex their muscles on the free-agent market — as they have in the past — they will remain committed to building from within.
“I don’t think you can buy a winner,” Middleton said.
“I think as a rule of thumb the free-agent market is not the best place to invest your money,” Klentak said. “That's the last place we should focus. But I do think there's a lot of good players in free agency every single year. The different stages of development will dictate that you take a different route in free agency every single year. The route we take this offseason may differ from the one we take next offseason and the one after that.”
Move the rebuild forward
That is this winter’s goal. The Phillies will look to add pitching to support youngsters like Aaron Nola. The Phils will probably look to add innings to their rotation by adding some veteran arms, but not a top-of-the-market talent. The team is not close enough to winning to do that.
The timetable
Gillick says the Phillies are still two or three years away from contending. Klentak would not put a timetable on it. Heck, he’s just getting to know the team. Ask him again in April, he joked.
For now ...
The players will dictate when the Phils are ready to win again, but Klentak promised to support the existing core and improve the club this winter.
“The players will dictate [when the Phillies are ready to win],” Klentak said.
Right now, the Phillies need to add more good players, but as with any rebuild it will happen incrementally.
A pitching guy
Klentak, who was the No. 2 guy in Anaheim’s front office, showed his affinity for hitters with his comment about Trout. But it sounds as if he’s a pitching-first guy.
“If you can pitch, you have a chance,” he said. “That will absolutely become an organizational focus for us — to add pitching at every turn, in trades, through waiver claims, in the draft, internationally, free agency. However we need to do it, we will add pitching, pitching, pitching. Because if you can pitch, you have a chance to win every night.”
Speaking of pitching ...
The Phillies will have their pick of the litter in the June draft. It is rich at the top in pitching. The Phils secured the top pick by posting the worst record in the majors in 2015.
“There's a really strong foundation of players in this organization, some of whom are in the big leagues and some of whom are coming,” Klentak said. “I think that, coupled with the first pick in the draft, the largest international bonus pool this year, the first priority in the waiver period, the first pick in the Rule 5 draft, etc., creates some inherent advantages at least in the short term that are incredible. And I think if we do our jobs right, we will turn this into a winner and it's going to be fun for a long time.”
University of Florida lefty A.J. Puk could end up being the No. 1 pick. Gillick scouted him last weekend.
“We have to bring, and prepare, as Andy and Matt both said, everything possible to make the smartest, best pick possible,” Middleton said.