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Will Phillies' Leadership Become More Transparent?

By Joseph Santoliquito

PHILADELPHIA, PA (CBS) — There were a few little nuggets to glean for Phillies' fans when the team announced the hiring of Andy MacPhail as the new president of the team on Monday. It was quite interesting who delivered the message: John Middleton, who is part of the Phils' ownership group with Jim and Pete Buck.

Middleton has seemed to step up and take more of a visual role, as opposed to the past, when the Phillies owners have been in the shadows since Dave Montgomery and his group bought the Phillies from Bill Giles in 1997.

Middleton has never been one who sought the spotlight since he became part of the Phil's ownership group. Did his appearance on Monday mean a change to that previous philosophy, since the Delaware Valley is fully aware of the city's other pro owners, the Eagles' Jeff Lurie, Flyers' Ed Snider and 76ers' Josh Harris?

"I think the single most important thing an ownership group does is hire the person in charge of the business," Middleton responded, if his being present on Monday meant a more hand's-on approach by Phils' ownership. "Whether that was Pat (Gillick) in December and January, or it's Andy now, I think when you make a decision of that magnitude the ownership group has to come forward and make sure people understand that they are the ones who made the decision. Jim, Pete and I made the decision. It's not a decision we delegated, much less abdicated. We own this decsion. It's an important part of the accountability, because we intend to win."

Middleton dispelled the idea that he was looking to become the majority owner of the Phillies.

"I would say that those reports (of becoming majority owner) are erroneous," Middleton said. "I think it's safe to say that there has been an evolution within the franchise over the recent years. The ownership group has shrunk. One of the things that I would say is Andy will have complete decision making authority. But I would say Jim, Pete and I have been more involved at an earlier stage than we were five years ago. We're going to be there asking questions at an earlier stage. We're not going to make baseball decisions, trust me."

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