MacPhail Makes Phillies: No More Robbing Tomorrow, Jr?

[singaporesoxfan]

Surprised that there hasn't been a thread on this, but Andy MacPhail was announced as the incoming Phillies President on Monday. MacPhail will replace Pat Gillick at the end of the 2015 season. Also notable was that John Middleton, one of the Phillies' minority owners, made the announcement, suggesting perhaps that ownership might become more hands-on.
 
Presumably this is the beginning of the end for Ruben Amaro Junior. RAJ has the accomplishment of managing to have the Phillies finish worse off than the preceding year for every year of his tenure:
 
2009 (takes over year after Phillies win World Series): Lose World Series
2010: Lose in NLCS
2011: Lose in NLDS
2012: 3rd place, NL East, .500 record
2013: 4th place, NL East
2014: 5th place, NL East
 
So what now for the Phillies in 2015 and beyond? Does RAJ finally agree to make reasonable trades? Do the Phillies phinally phind an analytics department? 
 
 

 

[Average Reds]

I will be stunned if MacPhail does not shitcan RAJ immediately upon taking the reigns. I also expect him to make a major effort to get Sandberg to reconsider his resignation.

That last one is extremely unlikely, but his resignation had to sting considering how long the Phillies have been grooming him. I'm certain it was the catalyst for accelerating the announcement of the hiring of MacPhail.

 

[Buzzkill Pauley]

I see no reason why McPhail shouldn't shitcan RAJ immediately, if it would help mend fences with Sandberg.
 
The draft's over, and the last thing any team should want is a lame-duck GM making deadline deals.

 

[Spacemans Bong]

RAJ is not long for the job. I heard Buster Olney's interview with Jayson Stark, and they strongly believed that the presence of one of the ownership group at the presser (newsworthy in its own, as Stark said Phillies ownership speaking at pressers is practically unheard of) talking about analyzing all the information portended MacPhail cleaning house.
 
Stark dropped a minor bombshell later in the discussion, saying he spoke to a Phillies executive who, honest to god, still believed the best metric for evaluating talent was... RBIs. I mean, holy fuck, that kind of thinking was out of date ten years ago in MLB. There's literally 12 year olds out there who could evaluate talent better than that. 

 

[Snoop Soxy Dogg]

I will be stunned if MacPhail does not shitcan RAJ immediately upon taking the reigns. I also expect him to make a major effort to get Sandberg to reconsider his resignation.

That last one is extremely unlikely, but his resignation had to sting considering how long the Phillies have been grooming him. I'm certain it was the catalyst for accelerating the announcement of the hiring of MacPhail.

 
This is highly unlikely (as you said). From what I understand (reading a bunch of Philly-related stuff), the relationship between Sandberg and McPhail just isn't that good (they overlapped at some point in the Cubs organization). If anything, one reason Sandberg decided to jump ship was because he knew it'd be extremely unlikely that McPhail would retain him. I think he cleans up and starts from scratch.  

 

[Average Reds]

This is highly unlikely (as you said). From what I understand (reading a bunch of Philly-related stuff), the relationship between Sandberg and McPhail just isn't that good (they overlapped at some point in the Cubs organization). If anything, one reason Sandberg decided to jump ship was because he knew it'd be extremely unlikely that McPhail would retain him. I think he cleans up and starts from scratch.

I had heard the opposite about the relationship, which is why I speculated. But I have nothing concrete to back it up and if you are right then Sandberg is (obviously) gone for good.