Gabe Kapler Will Learn His Phillies Fate in a Matter of Days

As far as the most disappointing teams of the 2019 MLB season, the Philadelphia Phillies have to be up there, right?

They added the likes of Bryce Harper, JT Realmuto, and Jean Segura in free agency to compliment an already promising compilation of players. But somehow, the club didn't even have a sniff at the postseason when all was said and done, finishing .500 at 81-81, 16 games out of the NL East and eight back in the Wild Card race.

Those unexpected hardships practically forced the organization's braintrust to at least consider canning skipper Gabe Kapler entering the offseason, and that decision is expected to be disclosed in the coming days, reports insider Jon Heyman.

Gabe Kapler still hasn’t heard from bosses regarding his job. Expectation remains that a resolution will come this week though. Owner John Middleton has been surveying the players. GM and his staff support Kapler, fans seemingly not as much. Close call, it seems.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) October 8, 2019

An interesting feature of Heyman's report is club owner John Middleton potentially seeking input from Phillies players to aid his settlement of whether or not Kapler is the right guy to lead the team in 2020.

We understand that Middleton wants to ensure that he has all of the information possible at his disposal, but he had better get a move on.

The likes of the Mets, Cubs, Angels, Royals, Giants, Pirates, and Padres already have a head-start in terms of their managerial searches for 2020.

Hearing that the Phillies and owner John Middleton are still pondering manager Gabe Kapler’s future and resolution likely won’t come until next week.
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyNBCS) October 3, 2019

Should the Phillies choose to part ways with Kapler, they will be trailing the pack -- a truly unfortunate reality as they would boast one of, if not the, most captivating vacancies to takeover.

As Heyman notes, we'll know of Kapler's future by the end of the week, so stay tuned for updates.