PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Phillies Tuesday fired vice presidents Woody Woodward and Jim Baumer as part of a shakeup of the slumping team's front office.
Phillies President Bill Giles, who announced the dismissals, said he was displeased with the team's development of players under Baumer but refused to give any reason for the firing of Woodward, who was hired last October after he resigned as general manager of the New York Yankees.
Woodward, the vice president for player personnel whose duties included making trades and evaluating minor- and major-league players, will be replaced on an interim basis by veteran scout Ray Shore.
Paul Owens, a former Phillies manager and general manager and now an assistant to Giles, will temporarily assume Baumer's role as vice president for player development and scouting.
Giles said he has begun to look for permanent replacements and has several candidates in mind, but he did not name them.
'It is my intention to fill these positions as soon as possible and we will begin working on it right away,' he said. 'We did not feel that Jim and Woody were the two men that would take us back into pennant contention.'
Giles said the dismissals were not a result of the team's poor showing this season. The Phillies were 22-31 and in last place in the National League East, 15 games behind the division-leading New York Mets, before Tuesday night's game against the Montreal Expos.
Philadelphia, which won its only World Series in 1980 and also won the National League championship in 1983, has not been a contender for the last five years.
'I will not go into any detail at all about Woody Woodward,' Giles said. 'It just didn't work out. Sometimes when you live with someone for six months you learn some things. I would rather not say other than I think it's best for the organization to get someone different in that role.'
Reached by telephone at his New Jersey home, Woodward also refused to detail his differences with Giles.
'It was a philosophical difference and that was the bottom line,' said Woodward, who said he was 'shocked and disappointed' by his dismissal.
Giles said Shore will meet with Phillies Manager Lee Elia and resume trade talks Woodward had initiated with several teams.
Owens has worked for the Phillies for 32 years and Giles said he will be responsible for evaluating the organization's entire minor-league system.
'I'm not satisfied with the farm system,' Giles said. 'I think the farm system has been getting some undue criticism in recent years, but I would like to have it better.
'I was not happy with the development part,' Giles said. 'Jim is a very good scout and I think our problem was not in the draft but in development once we signed the players. That's what I'm more concerned about.'
