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It's time for John Middleton to step up

News traveled through the Twittersphere yesterday: press conference at 3:30. It was nearly a unanimous assumption that the Phillies were going to introduce Andy MacPhail as the new Phillies president. That never happened. Instead, Ryne Sandberg announced he was quitting as the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.

It not only surprised fans and the media, but also the general manager and also the president, who said a grand total of six words at the press conference.

Communication.

It was Sandberg's lack of it which would have been his eventual undoing if he did not quit. The lack of it also serves as an appropriate introduction to the complete disarray in the Phillies front office.