PHILADELPHIA -- Andy MacPhail said Thursday afternoon that he expected the decision to be easier.
But in the end, MacPhail still made the decision he believed he would make in June, when the Phillies announced MacPhail would replace Pat Gillick as team president after the 2015 season. MacPhail told Ruben Amaro Jr. on Thursday morning that he would not return as general manager, initiating a GM search for an organization in the early stages of a lengthy rebuilding process.