John Middleton gives Matt Klentak credit for the Phillies’ development turnaround. Turns out, he’s right.

By all accounts, the Phillies farm system is in excellent hands under Preston Mattingly and Bryan Barber. But let’s also credit the boss and his original front office hire.

Managing partner John Middleton celebrating after the Phillies clinched a wild-card playoff spot. He gave credit to former GM Matt Klentak for selecting and developing several productive players.Read moreSteven M. Falk / Staff Photographer

by David Murphy | Columnist

Published Sept. 29, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

John Middleton gave an impromptu shout-out to Matt Klentak the other night. Full disclosure, Middleton was holding a beer in his hand and was drenched from head to toe after having been firehosed with a bottle of champagne. Not long after he finished speaking, Middleton had a full 16-ounce bottle of Budweiser poured over his head.

So, take it for what it’s worth.

That said, the point Middleton made was worth a moment of sober reflection. I’d asked the Phillies majority owner for his thoughts on the organization’s farm system. An hour earlier, the team had clinched its second straight playoff berth on a walk-off single by Johan Rojas, a 22-year-old center fielder whom they’d signed as an amateur free agent in 2018. Joining him in the celebration were players like Alec Bohm (drafted at No. 3 overall in 2018), Bryson Stott (drafted No. 14 overall in 2019), Cristopher Sánchez (acquired as a 23-year-old minor leaguer in 2019), and Ranger Suárez (six years in the minor league system after signing as an amateur free agent in 2012). The group also included J.T. Realmuto, acquired for a package of prospects developed by the Phillies system.

Thing is, each of those players predates Dave Dombrowski. In fact, all of them were either acquired or developed by Klentak, who spent five inglorious years as general manager before Middleton relieved him of his duties after the 2020 season.

“Dave gets credit,” Middleton said, “but really so does Matt.”

Middleton wasn’t trying to diminish the job that Dombrowski, Sam Fuld, Preston Mattingly, and Bryan Barber have done since joining the organization before the 2021 season. That group has had plenty of wins, most recently the electric righty Orion Kerkering, who has gone from fifth-round pick to potential postseason weapon in barely over a year. But Middleton is very much aware that amateur talent acquisition and development are not the sorts of things you can judge based on a two-year sample. By giving a nod to Klentak, he was acknowledging one of the underlying — and frustrating — truths of the business.

Progress takes time.

There have been plenty of moments over the last decade when the Phillies organization looked like a disoriented high-diver who would never end up reaching the surface of the pool. Starting in 2004, they rattled off a remarkable stretch of 11 straight first-round picks who would combine to log a total of 57⅔ innings and six plate appearances in Phillies uniforms. Of that group, only Travis D’Arnaud went on to become a functional major leaguer, albeit in a different uniform. All told, that lost decade produced as many Delta Airlines pilots (Anthony Hewitt) as All-Stars (D’Arnaud, in 2022 for the Braves).

When Middleton ascended to majority owner in 2016, he recognized that the farm system needed an overhaul. Ruben Amaro Jr. and longtime scouting director Marti Wolever had hit a home run with Aaron Nola in 2014, but sandwiched around him were J.P. Crawford and Cornelius Randolph, neither of whom would develop into regular major leaguers on the Phillies’ watch. The early results under Klentak and new team president Andy MacPhail were hardly promising. Mickey Moniak remains one of the least productive No. 1 overall picks in recent memory. The Phillies also whiffed on Adam Haseley, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2017 draft. Compounding matters was the failed development of players like Crawford, Scott Kingery, and Spencer Howard, each of whom ended up following in the footsteps of Domonic Brown and Maikel Franco rather than Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard.

In hindsight, things began to turn in 2018, when the Phillies signed Rojas in January and then selected Bohm and Logan O’Hoppe (at No. 677) in the June draft. The next two years, they added Stott at and Mick Abel (No. 15 overall) in the draft. They also acquired Sánchez via trade.

Take away that group of talent, and the Phillies would not have been playing spray-the-billionaire in the clubhouse after Tuesday night’s clinch. Bohm and Stott are the two most obvious success stories, their ascendance providing the Phillies with a couple of premium position bats that have far outproduced their salaries. O’Hoppe might have given them a third such player if not for the presence of Realmuto. Instead, they traded him to the Angels for Brandon Marsh, who this year took a big step toward fulfilling his Top 100 prophesies by posting a .372 on base percentage and .451 OPS while playing excellent center-field defense. But the most telling player of them all might be Sánchez.

Nobody blinked twice in 2019 when the Phillies acquired Sánchez from Tampa Bay in exchange for a then-unknown prospect named Curtis Mead. The lack of attention didn’t last long, as Mead blossomed into one of the best prospects in the Rays system while Sánchez bounced back and forth between triple A and the majors. For a while, the deal looked destined to become another black eye for the Phillies. Now, suddenly, Sánchez is a central figure in the Phillies’ stretch run, his 3.48 ERA in 18 starts one of the primary reasons they were able to win the top wild card without much of a sweat.

“Where would we be without Sánchez this year?” Middleton said on Tuesday.

The Phillies still have a long way to go to catch up with a team like the Braves, who continue churning out young talent like they’ve found some sort of crystal ball. But they are also well ahead of a lot of other teams in the dividends that they have reaped from their farm system this year. Bohm, Stott, Marsh, Sánchez, Rojas — these are the sorts of players that make it possible to spend big money in free agency in a sustainable way.

“It’s really how you can play the game of pursuing high-end free agents,” Middleton said. “Because you have to blend the team. You can’t have 26 guys making $20 million-plus a year on your payroll, so you need to have younger guys coming up and contributing in meaningful ways.”

By all accounts, the Phillies system is in excellent hands under Mattingly and Barber. Credit Dombrowski and Fuld, too, for maximizing the impact they’ve gotten out of their young talent. But let’s also credit the boss, and his original front office hire. The Phillies have spent years trying to rebuild their talent pipeline. With any luck, it is only now just beginning to flow.