Steve Phillips

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For the English footballer, see Steve Phillips (footballer)

Steve Phillips (born on May 18, 1963) was the general manager of the New York Mets from 1997-2003, leading them to the World Series against the New York Yankees in 2000. Phillips is credited with drafting David Wright and acquiring Jose Reyes. For a brief stint in 1998, he resigned as general manager because of a sexual harassment suit; Phillips admitted to adultery but denied harassment, and the civil suit was settled out of court.^[1] Phillips was fired as the general manager on June 12, 2003, after consecutive disappointing seasons following the World Series appearance.

Although Phillips is sometimes blamed for trading away Scott Kazmir, in fact, he had been fired over thirteen months before that trade, which was the responsibility of Jim Duquette. He did, however, trade away future all-stars Jason Bay and Melvin Mora. Also, he was responsible for some dubious and expensive free agent signings that ended up being disasters for the Mets, such as Mo Vaughn and Roberto Alomar.

Phillips was hired as a baseball analyst for ESPN in 2005, and serves a regular anchor on the nightly program Baseball Tonight. Phillips serves a role similar to that of Buster Olney in that he provides insight towards potential baseball transactions and trades. Phillips is able to provide these thanks to his connections as a former general manager. He is credited for starting the Alex Rodriguez trade rumors.

Phillips has also been criticized on ESPN for saying far-fetched things like the Red Sox getting Barry Bonds and Alfonso Soriano.

Phillips attended De La Salle Collegiate High School in Warren, Michigan, followed by the University of Michigan.

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Preceded by: Joe McIlvain

New York Mets General Manager 1997-2003

Succeeded by: Jim Duquette