Josh Byrnes bows out of Phillies’ president of baseball operations search

Los Angeles Dodgers’ senior vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes will not be the next president of baseball operations for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Jayson Stark of The Athletic reported Tuesday that Byrnes has elected to stay in Los Angeles, rather than continue to pursue the lead front office position in Philadelphia.

Brynes joins Minnesota Twins’ general manager Thad Levine as candidates who have withdrawn their names from consideration for the position.

Stark says that the Phillies and former Miami Marlins’ president of baseball operations Michael Hill “continue to talk,” but it’s unclear if he’s a favorite or if there even is a favorite. Last week, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reported that the Phillies planned to interview Hill for a second time, though that was also the case for Byrnes, per the report.

The New York Mets have already punted on their search for a president of baseball operations, electing just to look for a general manager for the time being. Of course, Sandy Alderson is essentially leading the front office right now for the Mets. The Phillies’ front office is being led by president Andy MacPhail and interim general manager Ned Rice currently, though it’s pretty likely neither are in their current roles in a year’s time. Seemingly then, the Phillies are more motivated to find new lead executives for their front office than the Mets, though it’s hard to tell if they’ll be able to this winter.

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