Over the last handful of years, the Los Angeles Dodgers have become arguably the premier franchise in all of baseball. With their level of success, they have become a template for other teams trying to catapult into that same stratosphere of winning.
The easiest way for a team to try to brew a similar recipe is to assess who in the Dodgers’ organization contributed to its success and offer them a chance to try to replicate it in a higher position.
Jeff Kingston has been the assistant general manager of the Dodgers for the previous two seasons, and he is in contention for a promotion elsewhere.
Jon Morosi of MLB Network is reporting that the Philadelphia Phillies are considering Kingston for their general manager role within their front office.
The Dodgers should be relatively prepared for Kingston to go elsewhere by now, as he was a finalist for the Los Angeles Angels’ general manager gig earlier this offseason before they chose to hire Terry Minasian.
What is interesting about all this from the Phillies’ perspective is that they have yet to hire a new President of Baseball Operations, to whom the general manager would ultimately answer.
The Phillies appear to be working to fill both positions simultaneously, which could prevent the eventual new President of Baseball Operations from having any influence in who works under them in that front-office position.
This shakeup in the Phillies’ front office is a result of previous general manager Matt Klentak stepping down in early October and the belief that the current President of Baseball Operations Andy MacPhail wants to retire by the end of next season.
There is much that remains unclear, though. For example, MacPhail could hire a general manager but stay in his position through next season.
The intention seems to be to hire both a new President of Baseball Operations as well as a new general manager this winter in no particular order, with the flexibility remaining with MacPhail, officially giving the GM job to current interim general manager Ned Rice if unable to find the right fit with any potential hires.
While their approach to their front office search may be a bit unorthodox, Kingston would be a fantastic addition for the Phillies.
Before working as the Dodgers assistant general manager these last two seasons, Kingston served in the same position with the Seattle Mariners from 2016-2018. He was also briefly their interim general manager before the Mariners’ hiring of Jerry Dipoto.
Kingston left for the Dodgers after the Mariners won 89 games during the 2018 regular season and helped the Dodgers win a World Championship in just his second season with his new club.
Kingston has been successful at his last two stops, and it would certainly bode well for a relatively underachieving Phillies team to have his input within their front office.
The Phillies haven’t finished the regular season with a winning record since 2012, and it looks like they’re considering making a hire from the most recent World Series champion to help end that unfortunate streak.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Kingston seems to have gotten less publicity in L.A. than some of Andrew’s other hires but he is very highly regarded in baseball circles. I agree with you Ian that it’s just a matter of when and where he’ll be going.
We all know that baseball is a copycat sport. What is seen to have worked successfully leads to most everyone else trying to do it the same way. Baseball has gotten much younger and numbers oriented in the past decade. Eventually some clever baseball owner will start turning things in another direction because everyone else has migrated to this type of front office.
That’s why I give Reinsdorf of the White Sox tremendous credit. With everybody going young, he went out and hired a very old guy who has a drinking problem. I’m anxious to see how that works out.
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Not sure if I would want to take a job, when I’m not sure who my boss is going to be. I’d like to know if we would get along, and see if we have the same philosophies. Kingston gets the wrong president over him, and it could make for a short tenure.
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Assuming that he enjoys working with Andrew your point is well taken, although I’m sure it would be a decent jump in salary. As they say, “money ain’t everything”. Of course they also say “but it’s way ahead of whatever is in second place.”
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I think it’s only a matter of time before Kingston gets a GM job, so he can wait for the right situation. It seems like the Dodgers are the GM/president training facility for the rest of the league.
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