Phillies hire Matt Klentak as new GM

The Phillies search for a new general manager has come to end as the team named former Angels assistant general manager, Matt Klentak as their new GM. The organization this past season finally parted ways GM Ruben Amaro Jr. as the team was set to take on a completely different image. A lot of people thought the Phillies would find a general manger first before hiring a manager because general managers usually want to pick their manager, or at least have some influence on the decision. The Phillies didn’t go that way, but they are in capable hands with Matt Klentak.

Phillies President Andy MacPhail and Matt Klentak do have a history together, when MacPhail was still the team president of the Baltimore Orioles. Klentak worked in Major League Baseball’s Labor Relations Department for four years after being in the Colorado Rockies Baseball Operations Department during the 2003 season. Then, Andy MacPhail hired him in 2008 as Director of Baseball Operations for the Baltimore Orioles after the two worked closely together on the 2006 Collective Bargaining Agreement. After the 2011 season, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hired Klentak as their assistant general manager and after Jerry Dipoto resigned as Angels general manager, Klentak interviewed for the job, but didn’t get it.

Now he and Andy MacPhail are reunited, and look to make the Philadelphia Phillies whole again. The Phillies haven’t confirmed yet and probably won’t until Monday, but according to multiple people it is a done deal.