Matthew Klentak (born August 14, 1980) is an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

front office executive who served as the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

from October 2015 to October 2020. He also previously served as the assistant general manager of MLB's

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. He currently serves as a Special Assistant in the Brewers front office.

Baseball career

Klentak was raised in

Medfield, Massachusetts Medfield is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,799 according to the 2020 United States Census. It is a community about southwest of Boston, Massachusetts, which is a 40- ...

, and attended

Xaverian Brothers High School , motto_translation = To bear witness to the truth in brotherhood , accreditation = New England Association of Schools and Colleges , rival = St. John's Prep , mascot = Hawk , mascot image = , sports ...

Westwood, Massachusetts Westwood is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 16,266 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. History Westwood was first settled in 1641 and was part of the town of Dedham, originally called 'West De ...

where he earned two varsity letters in baseball. He then attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Dartmouth Big Green The Dartmouth College Big Green are the varsity and club athletic teams representing Dartmouth College, an American university located in Hanover, New Hampshire. Dartmouth's teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ...

all four years, starting at

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

for three years, and serving as the team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in his senior year. Bob Whalen, Dartmouth's

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

, moved

Ed Lucas Edward Joseph Lucas Jr. (January 3, 1939 – November 10, 2021) was an American blind sportswriter who primarily covered the New York Yankees. Biography Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Lucas grew up in Weehawken, New Jersey and attended St. Jos ...

from shortstop to

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

so that Klentak could play shortstop. Klentak graduated from Dartmouth in 2002 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

. Klentak worked for the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

in their Baseball Operations department during the 2003 season. He then worked in

's Labor Relations Department for four years. He worked with

Andy MacPhail Andrew Bowen MacPhail (born April 5, 1953) is an American baseball executive. He has previously served as general manager for the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs, and as president for the Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies. MacPhail i ...

, then the team president of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

, while working on the 2006

Collective Bargaining Agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...

. In 2008, MacPhail hired Klentak as Director of Baseball Operations. After the 2011 season, the

hired Klentak as their assistant

. When

Jerry Dipoto Gerard Peter Dipoto (born May 24, 1968) is an American baseball executive and former professional player. He is currently the President of Baseball Operations for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball and previously worked in front office ...

, the Angels' general manager, resigned during the 2015 season, Klentak was interviewed for the position. The Angels hired

Billy Eppler Billy Eppler (born September 16, 1975) is an American baseball executive who is the general manager of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as the general manager of the Los Angeles Angels from 2015 to 2020. Befo ...

. The

, led by MacPhail as their president, interviewed Klentak for their general manager position after the 2015 season. The Phillies hired Klentak as their general manager, introducing him at a press conference on October 26, 2015. On October 3, 2020, Klentak announced that he would be stepping down as Phillies General Manager. He was followed by

Sam Fuld Samuel Babson Fuld (born November 20, 1981) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and the current general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. He played eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Tampa B ...

. On January 24th, 2022 the Milwaukee Brewers announced that they hired Klentak as a special assistant in the organization.

Personal life

Klentak is from

. Klentak's father, George, is an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

and his mother, Josee, works as a

teacher's aide A teaching assistant or teacher's aide (TA) or education assistant (EA) or team teacher (TT) is an individual who assists a teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate stude ...

. He and his wife, Lauren, met at Dartmouth and have two daughters.

References

External links

Matt Klentak
at Baseball America Executive Database
Matt Klentak Interview
interview from 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Klentak, Matthew Living people 1980 births Dartmouth Big Green baseball players Baseball shortstops Colorado Rockies executives Baltimore Orioles executives Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim executives Philadelphia Phillies executives Major League Baseball general managers People from Medfield, Massachusetts Xaverian Brothers High School alumni