Philadelphia Phillies: How Bryce Harper led to Gabe Kapler’s firing

Gabe Kapler was relieved of his duties as Philadelphia Phillies manager, but Bryce Harper’s arrival is a big reason why he is gone.

Gabe Kapler was hired in 2017 to be the leader of the Philadelphia Phillies and he is out just two years later and a big reason for that is Bryce Harper.

Outfielder Bryce Harper was the most coveted free agent going into last offseason. and he demanded a lot of money which the Phillies were happy to give to him.

But with the signing of Bryce Harper came huge expectations, and those expectations were too big for the 2019 squad.

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I know they had a lot of injuries which included Andrew McCutchen and David Robertson, but they still had plenty of weapons offensively to get the job done and it just never happened.

But if you notice there is a theme to big superstars signing huge contracts with their respective teams.

Mike Trout signed a $426 million extension and his manager, Brad Ausmus, was fired at the end of the season. Manny Machado signed a 10-year, $300 million deal with the San Diego Padres and his manager Andy Green was canned. And of course, Bryce Harper signed a 13-year deal and his manager was relieved of his duties.

When a very talented player enters a new clubhouse, that team automatically becomes scrutinized when they don’t do well, and you can’t fire a player so the manager is usually the one who loses his job.

John Middleton delivered this statement to why he let Kapler go.

“During the second half of this season and continuing into this week, I have evaluated our organization extensively, a process that included talking to many people internally and around the league…Nevertheless, with the knowledge that I have gained from my evaluation, combined with my personal reflection on the 2019 season, I have decided that some changes are necessary to achieve our ultimate objective.”

That ultimate objective will have to be with a new manager and part of that is because of Bryce Harper’s arrival.