Sources: Phils to add Rice as assistant GM
New hire spent past 11 seasons with O's, most recently as director of Major League administration
PHILADELPHIA -- Matt Klentak is beginning to reshape the Phillies' front office.
The team has made no announcement, but Orioles director of Major League administration Ned Rice will join the Phillies as an assistant general manager, according to Major League sources.
• Phillies' front office
Rice, 32, spent the past 11 seasons with Baltimore, so his time with the O's overlapped with Phillies president Andy MacPhail and Klentak, who became the Phils' general manager in October. Rice also worked with Phillies assistant general manager Scott Proefrock and player development director Joe Jordan.
According to the Orioles' media guide, Rice most recently was involved with "roster management, player contracts and negotiations, transactions, salary arbitration and rules compliance," which is similar to Proefrock's role. It is unclear how the responsibilities of Rice and Proefrock will differ.
It also is unclear if Klentak plans to make further additions to the front office. He indicated during his introductory news conference that he planned to boost the analytics department.
Klentak was unavailable to comment Friday. An official announcement could come next week.
"We're not going to make radical changes," Klentak said in October. "I don't believe in that. That's not my style. And frankly I already know there are a lot of really good people here. As I identify areas of potential need or areas where we can improve, absolutely. John [Middleton, owner] has assured me we will have the resources to add in areas, one of which may be in the analytics area. But I am not coming in here to make sweeping changes. Not at all."
MacPhail specifically mentioned Rice in June when discussing the importance of sabermetrics. Rice previously worked as a player information analyst with the O's.
"I used to make poor Ned Rice in Baltimore come up and explain everything to me," MacPhail said about the more recent advances in analytics. "I would say, 'What about this nonsense?' And he would explain to me that I was old and dumb and needed to understand these things."