It is depressing. After all the losing seasons, finally rebuilding, the slow rebuild with the unexciting performance of our numerous primo #1 draft picks, not named Nola, and we close the season as the worst team in the NL over the final 2 months of the season. Middleton would have to be comatose not to be expressing serious concern, raising painful tough questions, and probably raising his voice. I think Kapler is and should be safe, but I'm not at all surprised that he didn't want to talk about what was almost certainly a very painful meeting for him and Klentak. They sort of got to bask when the team was sailing through the first half of the season. Suddenly falling off the cliff is going to bring the opposite reaction from everyone. I don't know if he's lost the clubhouse or the added vets have somehow poisoned it. Nine losses in a row, many total blowouts, show things just aren't right now. The Phillies as a team and organization have very serious problems. Sometimes winter is like a giant reset button and things are better next season as everyone enters the year with renewed confidence and positivism. Or, this could be the sign that the rebuild of the team, minor leagues, and management has jumped the rails. I think the truth is closer to the former, but derailment is a ;possibility.
Sometimes a massive change I organizational approach initial goes gangbusters, with the team performing well above expectations, then the new approach and the accumulation of people feeling dissed or sensing that their friends were dissed accumulates and the whole venture turns south. I can't help but think how Chip Kelly's success quickly turned to dross. Baseball is a lot longer season, so the post-change positivism didn't even last a full season. The good side of this analogy is that the Eagles quickly turned around after Chip was canned. So... if there has been any merit at all to the Phillies approach to rebuilding, then either Klentak/Kapler and the young players plus key FAs will get their sea legs next season and turn things around, or we will see a new regime.
I think the upstairs meeting may well mean that Klentak/Kapler produce results next season... or else. It is a sign of leash tightening.
The irony is that the season as a whole won't be drastically below expectations -- we'll finish a half dozen wins less than I expected. Many had lower expectations than I did. The team did not in any way promise or strongly suggest a post-season appearance as they broke training camp.. If the first two months and last two months of the year were flipped, everyone would be feeling reasonably confident about next season.
