The vibe around the 2021 Philadelphia Phillies is night-and-day from where anyone thought it would be when the off-season began last November.
Remember those old vibes? The team had come off another September swoon and somehow missed the postseason in a year in which more than half the teams got to the postseason tournament. The general manager, Matt Klentak, was fired, but team president Andy MacPhail was retained and appeared to be in full control. Owner John Middleton indicated the team would pull back on payroll and that the franchise might move forward in 2021 without a GM to replace Klentak.