Analytics fine for Phillies; they still need to spend more

Phillies president Andy MacPhail (left), general manager Matt Klentak (center) and part-owner John Middleton.When John Middleton tries to get his head around the monumental fall of the Phillies from 2008 World Series champions to 2015 worst team in baseball, he always starts the conversation in the same place. It's clear that the speaker for the ownership group sees an ignorance of analytics as the primary reason for the great decline.

Just a few minutes after Matt Klentak's introductory news conference as the 11th general manager in franchise history Monday morning, Middleton returned to the subject. After explaining that the Phillies had also gone from the best in baseball at drafting…