Harper Watch 2019.

NBC Sports Philadelphia spoke exclusively with Phillies General Manager Matt Klentak, according to them. That’s a bit of a head-scratcher for me, the exclusive part, considering the fact that Klentak also spoke to 97.5 the Fanatic. 

But anyway, he talked to Jim Salisbury about a variety of topics, from free agency to the offseason in general and the patience required to secure a big name player.

Salisbury asked Klentak about this week’s social media “hysteria” –

“I’m definitely amused by it. I see a lot of it second-hand. I try to stay out of the fray. I woke up yesterday morning to a bunch of congratulations texts. I was like, what are you congratulating me for? Then I figured it out. I’m plenty aware of it, whether it’s my friends or family or colleagues, everybody’s talking about it. It’s an exciting time for the Phillies.”

It’s exciting but boring at the same time.

Klentak said a lot of the same things he said on Farzetta and Tra’s show yesterday morning. Some of the words and phrases were exactly the same, but Salisbury asked if he was “confident” that one of Manny Machado or Bryce Harper would become a Phillie:

“I’ve had optimism and I have confidence we’ve put our best foot forward with these guys and in the subsequent dialogue we’ve had. It’s impossible to predict where someone’s going to land or how much money they’re going to make. I don’t know the answer to that. But I’m very confident in our approach and in our communication style with these guys.”

It’s a good interview. There’s nothing new or groundbreaking, but Klentak does expand on some of the things he said on 97.5.