Matt Klentak is not good at his job, but you already knew that.
Klentak’s tenure, which hopefully comes to an end in the next coming weeks, will be one remembered mostly for big money signings, Gabe Kapler, poor drafting, and ultimately, mediocrity. He mostly messed up a rebuild that should have had the Phillies in prime position to compete for World Series’ in the 2020’s.
With all that being said, one move that people should not crush Klentak over is the possible failure to re-sign J.T Realmuto.
No, because that decision lands solely at the feet of the owner who writes the checks -- John Middleton.
Why? Two reasons.
The first is that Middleton put this pressure on himself.
Let me take you back to the press conference at the end of last season where Middleton, Klentak and Andy MacPhail all sat up at a press conference and made us feel worse about the future of the Phillies.
Listen to this quote:
“The biggest decisions is exactly where CEO’s have to be, those are the decisions that make a difference.”
Needless to say, re-signing J.T Realmuto constitutes as a big decision.
Klentak’s job is to go out and try to make the Phillies better. He did that by trading Sixto Sanchez, who might be the next Pedro Martinez, and Jorge Alfaro for Realmuto with two years remaining on his contract. He got the best catcher in baseball in hopes that Middleton would turn around and give him the extension that was looming.
From that point on, it’s on Middleton to get the job done and insure that Realmuto doesn’t reach free agency. If you want to come out and say you make the big decisions in this organization then it is on you to get the job done and re-sign Realmuto-- not the GM.
The second reason why this is on Middeton and not Klentak is that if the owner wasn’t so worried about the luxury tax this offseason the Realmuto extension would have likely already been done.
If the Phillies lose Realmuto this offseason it will be because they tried to get cute and have their cake and eat it too. What the Phillies tried to do this offseason was beat Realmuto in arbitration, keep his salary down for this season, pay him his $10 million, extend him before Opening Day and have the money start in 2021 so they could stay under the luxury tax this season and thus not have to pay the $3 million fine for going over the tax the first time.
Well, that has completely blown up in their faces as a pandemic hit, Realmuto’s camp is asking for the same price-tag as before the pandemic hit and Middleton is highlighting his franchise is going to lose over $100 million this season.
If Middleton wasn’t so concerned about the tax, Realmuto would be signed long-term and we wouldn’t feel pain everytime a Sixto Sanchez highlight pops up.
Nevertheless, here we are. This could be the last week we see J.T Realmuto in a Phillies uniform. A two year rental, that blossomed into the best catcher in baseball, who you traded a potential Hall of Famer for, might walk out that door because the owner won't spend the money needed to get the deal done.
What an absolute shame.