Phillies team President Andy MacPhail came out of his bunker this morning and spoke to the media. Funny, he wasn't at the news conference last Friday when GM Matt Klentak "replaced" manager Pete Mackanin form his job.
The new sports channel, formerly Comcast Sportsnet, now NBC Philly, so far sucks. Instead of carrying this important sports conference of a major Philadelphia sports team, the channel covered horse racing. Stupid. What's more important and of more interest to the everyday Philly sports fan- horse racing or the Pihllies?
So, since I couldn't get to NBC Philly.com, I listened to MacPhail on WIP sportsradio. Unfortunately, they dropped the ball as well. They only carried about 20 minutes before they went back to the studio hosts. Maybe they weren't allowed to carry the whole thing, but that wasn't stated. Instead the hosts mad eit seem as though the news conference was over, which wasn't true. If that was WIP's fault, then they covered it half-ass
.Anyway, here are some highlights from what little they allowed to air:
* Citizens Bank Park is the oldest stadium in the National league east and needs sprucing up a bit. So, according to MacPhail, the field will be redone, the PA system replaced ( much needed)and more changes ar eon the horizon, which may occur in 2018 or wait til 2019.
* More emphasis on analytics, which is no surprise. Since next year will probably be a low payroll year for players, money will be spent on improved player development and scouting.
* Regarding Pete Mackanin, MacPhail said praised Pete, but said he always viewed Pete as an interim manager. He didn't come right out and say it but Matt Klentak wants his own guy.
With that, the target is squarely on Klentak. MacPhial warned of Mackanin's firing. Klentak extended Pete when the team sucked, yet Pete was fired when the team started playing better/ Makes no sense. So, Klentak is now on the hot seat. MacPhail expects improvement next season.
* As always, MacPhail doesn't believe in giving free agent pitchers who have logged many innings in the past long-term contracts. So, start ruling out Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvich. In time, MacPhail admits the organization will have to dive into that free agency pool with veteran pitchers, but not yet.
That's about all I got out of it before WIP pulled the plug.Nothing really surprising. Klentak was given a vote of confidence yet also a warning that his job is on the line if improvement isn't evident, starting next season.
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