October 24, 2015

Report: Phillies pick Matt Klentak as new general manager

New GM has ties to Phillies president MacPhail

By Daniel Craig
PhillyVoice Staff

The Phillies have chosen a replacement for Ruben Amaro Jr. at general manager, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

Cafardo tweeted Saturday that Matt Klentak, who has ties to Phillies president Andy MacPhail, has been picked to fill the void:

Sources: Phillies to name Matt Klentak GM
— Nick Cafardo (@nickcafardo) October 24, 2015

Matt Klentak was among three finalists for the job as of Friday, according to MLB.com Phillies writer Todd Zolecki. He beats out Oakland Athletics assistant general manager Dan Kantrovitz and Philly native Chaim Bloom, vice president of baseball operations for the Tampa Bay Rays, for the gig.

Klentak is familiar with MacPhail from both of their time with the Baltimore Orioles organization where he served as president of baseball operations. Currently an assistant GM for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, he's reportedly good with drawing up contracts.

PhillyVoice looked at Klentak in detail earlier this month when his name started surfacing as a potential candidate for the job. He moved on from Baltimore after MacPhail left and was passed up for the GM position in Anaheim just this year after not getting the same gig with the Orioles. More on Klentak:

Once Klentak didn’t get the Orioles’ GM job after MacPhail left in 2011, he went to the West Coast to work with the Angels and Jerry Dipoto. An economics major at Dartmouth, it seems like his forte comes on the contract side of baseball operations. For example, he was responsible for the tricky details (not the offer) of Albert Pujols’ massive 10-year deal. In college, Klentak was a three-year starter at shortstop and team captain his senior year.

To be safe, Zolecki also tweeted that his sources are confirming Klentak is the new general manager.