Stephen Francis Phillips (born May 18, 1963) is an American baseball analyst and former baseball executive. He served as the general manager of the New York Mets from 1997 through 2003. He worked as a baseball analyst for ESPN from 2005 until his dismissal in October 2009. He currently serves as an MLB analyst on TSN and TSN 1050 radio as well as the host of The Leadoff Spot on SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio. Early life Phillips was offered a football scholarship to Northwestern University after high school. He signed a letter of intent, but opted instead to sign a professional baseball contract after being drafted by the New York Mets. Phillips attended De La Salle Collegiate High School in Detroit, Michigan, and later earned a psychology degree from the University of Michigan during baseball's off-seasons. Playing career Phillips was drafted by the New York Mets in the 1981 amateur draft. From 1981 to 1987, he played for six different minor league teams in the Mets and Detroit Tigers organizations. Playing mainly as a second baseman and shortstop, Phillips batted .250 with 22 home runs and 215 RBI in 618 games. New York Mets executive Phillips joined the Mets' front office in 1990. He was named director of minor league operations on October 2, 1991, and was promoted first to assistant general manager on December 4, 1995, then general manager on July 16, 1997. He was fired by chief executive officer Fred Wilpon on June 12, 2003 after a 29–35 start to the season. The Mets replaced him with Assistant GM Jim Duquette on an interim basis. In the late 1990s, Phillips assembled a Mets team made up of stars, such as Al Leiter, Mike Piazza, and Robin Ventura, as well as excellent role players, that played in the 2000 World Series against the New York Yankees. He is also credited with drafting David Wright, Scott Kazmir, and Lastings Milledge, and signing José Reyes. Additionally, Phillips is criticized for acquiring aging and ineffective players with large contracts such as Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar, Pedro Astacio, Mike Bordick, Bobby Bonilla, Rickey Henderson, Kenny Rogers, and Jeromy Burnitz. He had an uneasy, if not volatile, relationship with manager Bobby Valentine, and when Phillips decided to fire Valentine before the 2003 season, many expected the GM to be next. He traded future star, Jason Bay, and also attempted to trade star shortstop José