PHILADELPHIA -- Everybody wants to know if the Phillies will re-sign J.T. Realmuto, but first they must decide who will do the negotiating.

The organization has not said anything yet about the future of general manager Matt Klentak. He is on the hot seat after the Phillies missed the postseason for a ninth consecutive year, which includes the past five under him. It will be Phillies managing partner John Middleton’s decision, but there were no indications Monday that a decision had been made. A source told Inquirer.com that he thinks Klentak will be back in 2021.

It really could go either way.

Middleton signed Klentak to a three-year contract extension before the 2019 season, which carries him through 2022. If he decides to make a change at GM, he would need to pay Klentak the rest of his contract, then pay someone else to take over the job. It might be difficult to stomach, considering the Phillies' revenues project to be down about $150 million this year because of the pandemic, and they recently offered buyouts to their front office.

But the Phillies also had the highest payroll in franchise history, and one of the five highest in baseball. Still, they could not make the expanded eight-team National League postseason. They could not even finish with a .500 record.

Yes, they had injuries. But they also had the second-worst bullpen in history and a farm system that ranked only 23rd overall, despite five years of high Draft picks.

MLB Pipeline’s No. 23 ranking from earlier this month included Alec Bohm and Spencer Howard as prospects. Bohm has lost his prospect status since then. Howard will lose his early next season. Once Howard leaves the list, the Phillies’ farm system could fall into the bottom five.

It explains why the Phillies had trouble finding pitching help this season, both in the bullpen and rotation, and why they had to promote catcher Rafael Marchan, who never played above Class A Advanced Clearwater, and outfielder Mickey Moniak, who never played above Double-A Reading, to start games in the season’s final weeks.

Typically, Klentak has held an end-of-the-season news conference to address the team’s past, present and future. Phillies president Andy MacPhail has his bi-annual meeting with reporters around this time, too. Neither happened Monday. It is unclear when they will happen, or if they will happen at all.

A decision must be made first.

“I mean, I’m not an owner,” Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper said Sunday, asked if he thought Klentak should return in 2021. “So I’m glad I don’t have to make those decisions.”