Thomas Promises Changes Ahead for Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies have decided they won’t be fooled again.

Entranced for the last two seasons by second-half performances that gave promise of future success, the Phillies resisted any major shakeup of their non-contending ballclub.

No more.

“We still have a good nucleus but we can’t have the status quo,” said Lee Thomas, who took over July 1 as Philadelphia’s new vice president for player personnel. “There are some things that have to be done. The last thing we can do is stand pat with what we’ve got.”

In 1986 and 1987, the Phillies started slowly, eliminated themselves from the pennant race early, then staged a late-season rally to bolster personal and team statistics. The 1988 team matched the first two “accomplishments” and has shown signs it will do the third, as well.

But if Thomas and Manager Lee Elia have their way, that will be for nought because changes--and significant changes--will be made.

“I think it’s fairly obvious that changes are going to have to be made,” Elia said. “What those changes might be remains to be seen. But we can’t continue like this.”

It took Thomas only a few weeks on the job to realize the same fact. Talk, however, has been easier than action. His only trade in his first four months of work was one that sent utility infielder Luis Aguayo to the New York Yankees for a Double A pitcher.

“There’s still time to do things,” Thomas said. “I really don’t think any of the players are complacent. They know that something could, and probably will, happen somewhere down the line.”

For the time being, Thomas is content to be patient and wait for the right move to come along.

“I hate to keep saying that because I’m not a very patient person sometimes but some things need to be done in time,” he said. “If you do something out of impatience, you can make the wrong move and instead of helping yourself, you set yourself back.”

That’s the last thing the Phillies, who have not contended since they won the National League crown in 1983, want to do.

“There are a lot of things I could have done if I wanted to take the short end,” said Thomas, who served as director of player development for the St. Louis Cardinals for seven years before coming to Philadelphia.

Thomas is Phillies President Bill Giles’ second choice as the club’s de facto “general manager.”

After deciding that the franchise needed someone to head its baseball operations, Giles hired former New York Yankees GM Woody Woodward last October. Woodward made a few deals and was pushing for changes in the team’s minor-league organization when an apparent personality clash led Giles to dismiss Woodward in early June.

After saying he did not want to make a hurried decision on a replacement, Giles interviewed only one person, Thomas, and hired him for the job. Also demoted in the purge was minor-league chief Jack Pastore.

Thomas said his first priority was to find a permanent replacement for Pastore, whose duties have been assumed by long-time Phillies official Paul Owens. Thomas’ first choice for the job was unavailable, however, and the position has remained vacant.

“It’s disappointing but I’m not going to hire someone just to fill the job,” Thomas said. “I’m talking to some people and I’d like to get it done soon. It’s important to get the right guy because he will be deeply involved with the minor-league players, decide on the shifting of players, hire the managers and coaches and have his finger on everything in the minor-league system.”

It’s a system that has taken more than its share of lumps lately. Rated as the worst in the majors by “Baseball America” last year, the organization has also failed to provide much help at the major-league level.

Thomas has already observed Philadelphia’s Double and Triple A franchises in action, and will visit the lower levels soon.

“Let’s just say it’s not as bad as I had been told,” Thomas said. “It’s not in the top half, that’s for sure. But sometimes it depends on who you’re talking to if a guy is a prospect.”

Thomas was heartened by the early performance of Ricky Jordan, recalled from Maine because of an injury to Von Hayes. Jordan homered in his first official at-bat and was playing creditably.

“Not many organizations could bring up a guy like Ricky Jordan,” Thomas said.

Unfortunately, Ricky Jordan alone is not the answer to the Phillies’ problems, which are as much a matter of attitude as ability.

In addition to mistakes on the field, the Phillies have been criticized for their aloof, seemingly indifferent attitude toward the game.

“Sometimes players get too complacent and they just go with the flow when they get that way,” Thomas said. “We need a hungry club. One that will get out and kick butt every day. Down deep, I think our players feel that but they don’t show it outwardly.

“But that kind of attitude is contagious if a guy goes out and tries to bust up a double play, gets down in the dirt and wants to play to win.”

That, of course, brings Thomas back to the need for some changes on the club.

“Sometimes change is just needed to shake things up,” he said. “We need to make some changes to make us a better ballclub.”