The Philadelphia Phillies need to find their own version of Daryl Morey

The Philadelphia Phillies need their own high-level executive.

Following the Philadelphia 76ers embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics, change was inevitable. The coaching staff looked outmatched, the roster was flawed, and the front office appeared to be completely directionless. Funny enough, all of these traits can be applied to the Philadelphia Phillies as well.

Unlike the Sixers, the Phillies weren’t even able to crack the postseason this year, even with the MLB expanding the format to a whopping eight teams. In fact, the Phils haven’t seen October baseball for over nine years now. They’ve shuffled GMs and managers, overhauled the roster multiple times, hired and fired people, and spent copious amounts of money on exciting free agents.

Nevertheless, the Philadelphia Phillies remain on the outside looking in, while their respective NL East rivals continue to find postseason success (Nationals, Braves). The team desperately needs a new voice leading the charge, and they should heed the precedent that their fellow basketball team across the street has just set.

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Sixers owner Josh Harris had not been a popular name in Philadelphia as of late. He’s cut spending when possible, raised season ticket prices, attempted to move the team to New Jersey, and orchestrated a handful of poor front office hires and roster decisions. “Colangelo guys” like Alex Rucker and Ned Cohen were the main drivers behind allowing Jimmy Butler to walk, and their role in the organization can be attested to Harris’ unwillingness to put his foot down and make change.

John Middleton has been thought of in a similar light. While he did splash $300+ million to ensure Bryce Harper would be a Phillie for life (good job!), he’s failed to make the adequate moves over the last two seasons to help Harper see the success that he was initially promised. Middleton “fired” Matt Klentak a year too late, he refuses to kick Andy MacPhail out of the building, and he’s likely going to let both JT Realmuto and Didi Gregorius walk out the door this offseason.

While both Harris and Middleton have been bad in recent years, the difference between the two came on Wednesday. After years of talking about how much he wants to win, Josh Harris finally put his money where his mouth was and hired one of the best executives in all of basketball. He went right over the top of guys like Elton Brand, and handed over the keys to the kingdom to Daryl Morey, allowing him to right the ship for the next five seasons.

John Middleton and the Philadelphia Phillies need to invoke a similar thought process. Forget the small hires and the free agency moves for a second, and simply go out and land a real President of Baseball Operations. Whether it’s an up-and-comer like Erik Neander from the Tampa Bay Rays, or an established name down the line like Theo Epstein, allowing someone with actual winning experience to come in and fix a decade’s worth of mistakes is the only way the Phillies are going to get back to their 2008 status.

Re-signing both Realmuto and Gregorius would be awesome, but if we’re being completely honest, none of the team’s free agency moves this offseason matter if they can’t land a legitimate executive.