PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- The Phillies have made some noteworthy front office moves, starting with the promotion of Sam Fuld to general manager. President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski made the announcement on Tuesday.
The Phillies also promoted Jorge Velandia to assistant general manager and Terry Ryan to special assistant to the GM.
"Sam is -- uh, I hate to say this -- but he’s much younger than I am," Dombrowski, 64, said. "I think he’s a good complement to myself and the organization."
A first-time GM, 39-year-old Fuld has been with the Phils in several roles since November 2017, and he said he is determined take an analytical approach to help the Phils.
Dombrowski said he is not averse to that -- or anything that might make the Phillies better -- but he said he thinks Fuld is much more intelligent in that area than he is.
"It’s a pretty monumental task. It’s a ton of information and it’s a task I feel like we’re up to because we know how important it is," Fuld said.
"Using information, really using my brain, and getting this organization better -- I like that kind of challenge."
Dombrowski made it clear, however, that the buck stops with him.
"The reality as president of baseball operations, I’ll be the one that would make the decisions when it comes to trades, but I’ll seek the input of everybody else. But, ultimately, that would be my decision, final decision," he said.
Where Fuld may contribute best, Dombrowski said, is in helping the Phillies with progressive aspects of the sport.
"He’ll assist me with everything that takes place. He’ll be involved with everything at the big-league level," he said.
Dombrowski also revealed that he spoke with J.T. Realmuto’s agent, Jeff Berry, the other day. It was not a negotiation about Realmuto's free agency.
"It was a welcome to the Phillies organization -- and I’ve known Jeff Berry for a long time and talked to him -- and welcomed me aboard and talked about my family, talked about his family, and said that we would stay in contact," Dombrowski said. "And expressed to him again how much we’d love to have J.T. on board. And that’s really where it ended at that point."