Phillies Make Big Series of Front-Office Changes
By Tyler Maher
The Philadelphia Phillies were seemingly built to win the World Series this year, but it didn't happen. Instead, they fell short in October for the second year in a row, losing to an inferior Arizona Diamondbacks team in the NLCS.
When teams don't realize their goals, changes usually follow -- either to the roster, leadership, or both.
While the Phillies will certainly make some adjustments to their roster this offseason, they also decided to shake up their front office on Wednesday.
The Phillies announced these promotions:
— Alex Coffey (@byalexcoffey) November 8, 2023
- Brian Barber to assistant GM, amateur scouting
- Preston Mattingly to assistant GM, player dev.
- Derrick Chung to dir. of int’l scouting
- Edwin Soto to assistant dir. of player dev.
- Connor Betbeze to assistant dir., amateur scouting
Phillies Front Office News
Philadelphia made a number of changes to its leadership structure in an effort to boost the team's chances for next year.
The two most notable shifts involve Brian Barber and Preston Mattingly (Don Mattingly's son). Both will remain in charge of amateur scouting and player development, respectively, but they're also taking on more responsibility as assistant general managers.
That will give general manager Sam Fuld more support in the front office. It could also allow president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski to take a bit of step back now (if he's so inclined) given his advancing age (67).
These moves could also be a response to the interest that Fuld received this offseason. The Boston Red Sox -- Dombrowski's old team -- tabbed Fuld as one of their top options to replace Chaim Bloom after firing him in September. Fuld declined to interview for the opening (as did many of Boston's candidates), but the Red Sox's interest in him shows how highly regarded he is in the industry.
By promoting Barber and Mattingly, Philadelphia can groom them to potentially take over for Fuld if he ends up leaving in the near future. It's always good to have a contingency plan, and hopefully at least one of them will be able to step in if necessary.
Time will tell what effect this shakeup will have (if any) on the offseason and next year's team, but at the very least it's good to see people getting promoted instead of fired for a change.
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