The presser we mentioned this morning in which Andy MacPhail was to be announced as the Phillies new president is going on. The Phillies issued this statement, and it has a slight wrinkle to it. He’s really just the president-in-waiting, and will officially take over at the end of the year:
Information on the #Phillies hiring of Andy MacPhail: pic.twitter.com/UOAnWmAJpa
— Phillies (@Phillies) June 29, 2015
I’d read that as “we want MacPhail to have one job and one job only for the rest of the year: figure out who to get to replace Ruben Amaro.”
Of greater note: the Phillies’ organizational philosophy is going to change:
Andy MacPhail says Sabermetrics is of intense interest to Phillies ownership now. #CultureChange pic.twitter.com/oYuYFtLdG0
— John Clark CSN (@JClarkCSN) June 29, 2015
If you’re a general manager who revealed a year ago that you don’t know the difference between an at bat and a plate appearance, well, that may not be a good thing for you.