Phillies make baseball operations changes, including new role for farm director

The Philadelphia Phillies announced a series of personnel changes on Thursday, including promoting farm director Luke Murton to serve as assistant general manager for hitting.

The change at the top of the player development department will take effect either when the minor-league year ends in November or when the team hires a replacement, according to a team source who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the moves candidly.

The Phillies said Murton’s job, in a “newly created role,” is to “oversee the club’s minor league hitting program” while continuing to work “closely with the Phillies’ player development and scouting departments.” Those were his responsibilities from 2023-24 when he served as director of hitting development. This promotion appears to be in title only.

The Phillies will be hiring a new farm director.

Murton’s move is particularly noteworthy given the farm system’s recent struggles. Many outlets have dropped the Phillies’ system in their rankings due to Aidan Miller’s injury-marred absence and the graduation of top prospects Andrew Painter and Justin Crawford. Although the Phillies have real talent in the minor leagues (Gage Wood, Francisco Renteria), they lack the depth other teams have in their farm system. That has hurt them in the rankings, too.

The personnel changes will affect the organization’s major- and minor-league sides, including a promotion for minor-league operations director Edwin Soto, who moves to manager of baseball administration, and director of international operations Ray Robles, who becomes director of minor league and international operations.

The only change immediately in effect was Dan Aucoin’s promotion to assistant GM for research and information — a role left vacant when Anirudh Kilambi departed for the Washington Nationals’ GM job in December 2025.

Others will take on some responsibilities in their new jobs but will remain in their current roles for now. Robles will take over as director of minor-league operations when longtime director Lee McDaniel retires in January, while Soto will remain in his job until the minor-league year ends or a replacement is hired.

Soto’s promotion also frees up Ned Rice, vice president of baseball operations and assistant GM, to take a greater role on the business operations side. Soto and director of baseball operations Corinne Landrey will take over some of Rice’s responsibilities, though Rice will still oversee contract negotiations.