June 02, 2015
The Phillies don’t have a Chase Utley problem.
Nope.
Likewise, the Phillies do not have a Ryan Howard problem, a Jonathan Papelbon problem or a Carlos Ruiz problem.
Nope.
They also don’t have a Cole Hamels problem, a bullpen problem or a problem calling up players at the right time.
And, believe it or not, the Phillies don’t even have a Ruben Amaro problem. (All right, so Amaro might be A problem, but he is not THE problem.
Nope, THE problem with the Philadelphia Phillies goes all the way up the flow chart to the ownership situation. It should be noted here that there is not one particular person that can even take that blame – and therein lays THE problem.
The Philadelphia Phillies can’t set a direction for a brighter future because the team lacks any one person to set that direction. The Phillies remain a strange ownership model in which neither John Middleton nor anybody else has been able to gain enough equity in the team to take over 51 percent and set a new course.
"Amaro set the expectation so low in spring training that you wonder why he and president Pat Gillick even let the team come north. They both took a look around and decided this season was lost before it started. And they were correct."
Mind you, that is not to say that Middleton would magically turn the team in the right direction, but at least there would be somebody to clearly set a direction.
Under the present situation, the Phillies are a limited partnership, with no singular equity (or family) able to gain majority control. We have all become familiar with the names such as Buck, Betz, Montgomery and Giles, and at various times the team has prospered.
There is no argument that the era since the building of Citizens Bank Park has been one of the brightest in the club’s history. However, these are now dark times around the Phillies, and the organization needs a strong hand to set a new direction.
Over the past two years there have been gross miscalculations on two levels:
First, ownership and management have decided to hold on to their stars too long. That is hardly a secret as we now see players such as Utley and Howard holding up any progress.
Secondly, ownership made a huge miscalculation in terms of the fan base needing to have these marquee names around to create fan interest.
Like most long-standing markets, Philadelphia has smart, savvy fans in all sports and Phillies fans knew it was time to move on from the golden era of Charlie Manuel. They didn’t need to see a “name” at every position to buy tickets.
The saddest part of all this is that the Phillies have made all of their decision with the fans in mind – and it has cost them in terms of both performance on the field and in attendance.
The Phillies were set up for long-term success, but the team’s past success got in the way. Instead of moving players such as Utley, Ruiz, Rollins and Howard at the proper time, they held on too long.
This is also coupled with an inability to restock a farm system that at one time produced such players.
Amaro was certainly given a big enough check to go out and buy players, but the other side of that check was supposed to be a balance of young players in the system.
The end result is this disaster of 2015. It is a disaster of such dimension that Amaro set the expectation so low in spring training that you wonder why he and president Pat Gillick even let the team come north. They both took a look around and decided this season was lost before it started.
And they were correct.
But really, what has changed?
The Phillies still seem hesitant to make sure Utley does not get the 500 plate appearances he needs to vest a contract for another year at $15 million. Howard is still on the team. Hamels remains a human trade rumor.
The only difference now is that the Phils might be willing to actually eat some of Hamels’ contract to get an elite prospect. In other words, the situation has gone from bad to even worse.
More than just a baseball problem, the Phillies have a living project for the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania or Drexel’s LeBow College of Business.
If you reach back into history you will discover that one of the team’s lowest periods occurred when the Phils could not cope with the new free-agent world of pro sports, and Giles called the franchise a “small market” team.
That was the mindset and the mindset had to be changed.
What these Phillies need right now is stronger direction from ownership to shape up or ship out.
