Philadelphia Phillies: Hiring Thad Levine could save the franchise

Thad Levine could help turn the Philadelphia Phillies franchise around.

With the Philadelphia Phillies expected to address their front office in some capacity this offseason, two major names have emerged as likely candidates: Josh Byrnes and Michael Hill. While I actually like both executives quite a bit, a surprise option has seemingly popped out of nowhere, and he is without question the most exciting name out there.

The Minnesota Twins general manager for the last four years, Thad Levine has established himself as one of the best, most innovative executives in all of sports. He’s built playoff team after playoff team despite operating within the constraints of a small market, and his commitment to analytic-savvy baseball has helped rejuvenate the entire Minnesota franchise.

Levine was hired as the Twins GM in November of 2016, following six straight seasons of playoff-less baseball for Minnesota. After just one offseason of work, Levine completely turned things around. Since his hiring, the Twins are 300-246 in the regular season, have cracked the postseason three times, have won the AL Central twice, have seen two different managers win “Manager of the Year”, and surpassed the 100 win mark in 2019.

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While their postseason record hasn’t been too hot the last couple of years, the simple fact is that Levine has consistently pumped out productive rosters, regardless of the circumstance. His commitment to player development is a major reason for this success, as the Twins have routinely been able to pump out solid young talent, while simultaneously milking out good performances from aging veterans.

Outside of Levine’s on-field production, he has the resume of someone who should continue to excel at the upper levels of baseball management. He graduated with an MBA from UCLA in 1999, has experience working in the LA Dodgers business development department, and has multiple years worth of experience in the Rockies and Rangers front offices. Levine is well versed in baseball operations around the league, and undoubtedly has a ton of connections with both players and executives alike.

Hiring someone like Levine is the type of direction that the Philadelphia Phillies need to head, there’s really no way of arguing against that. Gone are the days of a slow rebuild, and gone are the days of pushing the chips “all in” on a World Series. The Phillies roster isn’t in a particularly good place at the moment, and they need to make some drastic changes if they want to salvage Bryce Harper‘s best years. Not only has Levine proven that he can quickly turn around a franchise, but he’s proven that he can sustain said turnaround for multiple years, as opposed to just one or two.

Anointing Levine as the team’s President of Baseball Operations would also open the door for him to hire his own front office personnel beneath him, including the GM position. A Levine-built front office would do wonders for the Phillies organization from top to bottom, and could even aid in their attempts to re-sign JT Realmuto.

Obviously, nothing is official, but hearing Levine’s name pop up is a fantastic sign. He’s exactly the type of executive that the Phillies need right now. Here’s to hoping that John Middleton doesn’t mess it up!