Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. discussed his team’s trade deadline situation in an appearance on the WIP Morning Show (relayed by CSNPhilly.com’s Corey Seidman). Broadly, Amaro said that he has had “great dialogue with a lot of clubs on several fronts” and expressed confidence in “get[ting] some things done.”
The first and most obvious topic of conversation was closer Jonathan Papelbon, who yesterday aired his view that Philadelphia needs to make a decision on dealing him. Amaro praised the veteran reliever as a competitor and excellent pitcher, but said that “he doesn’t know anything about the front office.”
Regarding Papelbon’s market, Amaro indicated that he sees plenty of opportunity to strike a trade. “There’s live discussions going on right now regarding Pap,” said Amaro. “I do believe that there’s enough of a market that we can probably get something done. But again, I don’t necessarily believe in ’probably.’ … There’s a lot of clubs that are interested in a lot of our players and we have to sort through it and make the right deals.”
In the course of addressing Papelbon’s comments, which touched upon the decisionmaking process of the front office’s highest levels, Amaro said that there was internal clarity about how deadline decisions would be handled. Namely, current president Pat Gillick holds final authority, with incoming replacement Andy MacPhail serving more of an advisory function at present.
“I’m the GM and Pat is my boss,” Amaro explained. “As in all these deals, particularly ones that are as complicated and have so much money involved, these are all discussions that we’ve had. … It’s something that’s discussed, not just with me, but also with my boss. And that’s the same structure that we have right now. Right now, Andy is part of the decision-making process, but only in so much that he’s an observer and someone who’s going to give us his opinion. Really, Pat is the one who ultimately will make the ultimate decisions.”
Even as he gave indications that Papelbon could indeed be on the move, as is widely expected, Amaro downplayed the possibility of receiving value for starter Aaron Harang. “As far as Aaron Harang is concerned,” said Amaro, “he had a foot problem and he’s dealing with an injury so you can’t really trade a guy that’s got an injury. Frankly, there was no real market for him prior to him getting injured.”
Of course, Philly’s biggest trade chip remains lefty Cole Hamels. Amaro said he was not concerned with the fact that the staff ace had suffered a rough outing in his most recent start, saying that “people know what he is.”
The embattled Phillies GM also touched upon his recent comments indicating that long-time second baseman Chase Utley has lost his starting role. Amaro said he did not regret “being straight and honest” on the topic, and added that he expects the veteran to “get opportunities to play” once he returns to health. As to whether there was any possibility of Utley calling it quits, Amaro made his own view clear: “No, he’s absolutely, unequivocally not going to [retire]. He’s got plenty in the tank left.”
Why are they letting Amaro run the trade deadline if he is just going to be fired the day after the season ends?
I think Amaro is more of secretary than a GM right now. He makes the phone calls and passes information from other GM’s to MacPhail and Gillick. I doubt he has any decision making power left.
there is no doubt, that he is not making any type of decisions , concerning the Phillies roster now, or in the future.
No Ruben is going to extend himself a brand new 3yr deal….
With 3 vesting options.
Probably because they can’t wait till the off-season to trade what they want to trade – the value only goes down. Bringing on MacPhail and other people to make the decisions is not as easy as one might think – Amaro is correct in stating that the money is huge, and the (contracts) are complicated.
Papelbon’s public comments are lowering his trade value.
Not exactly. Per report, they were very close to trading him for a decent return last month, but a person “higher than Amaro” pulled the plug on it. This is far from the first time Papelbon has spoke out against the Phillies. Hes done in since the 2012 trade deadline when they Phillies sold off 3 notable parts of their team.
Exactly. Teams know by now what they’re getting with Papelbon. A few more comments saying he thinks he should be traded and wants to be on a contender isn’t going to change things.
Doubt it. Considering the rep he has, these latest comments are mild. I won’t go into detail here because it might exceed comment protocol… But let’s just say he’s apparently displayed some socially epic moments in the past.
Not really, everybody already knows the Guy a Schmuck !
Ruben doesn’t know anything about the front office either…so that makes him and Papelbon even….
Amaro actually hasn’t been a terrible GM the last 3 years. His inaction has been his biggest fault over that time, but in the trades he has made, hes done a fair job. He got a decent return for Marlon Byrd, John McDonald, Erik Kratz, Roberto Hernandez and a great return on Jimmy Rollins.
Doing nothing is something. He’s failed at the large deals, but has done pretty well in the small deals as you listed. In addition to those, he also got Gabriel Lino for Jim Thome who’s turned into a decent catcher who’s already in AAA at age 22. Not saying Lino will ever be a major leaguer, but even getting a prospect like him for Thome at his age was good work.
With all of that said, bye bye Rube.
Amaro should have been unemployed long ago but I do wish he was in my fantasy league.
Trust me, when someone calls the Phillies offering a trade, Amaro is not the guy they are talking to.
He is a GM in title only now, and in a few months, put the words EX in front of the GM part.
He will NEVER EVER, be the GM of another major league team , in his lifetime.
He may not have a Job in Baseball, Which means Fix will hire him to do baseball games with Buck Jr.
As to whether there was any possibility of Utley calling it quits, Amaro made his own view clear: “No, he’s absolutely, unequivocally not going to [retire]. He’s got plenty in the tank left.”—I doubt Ruben Amaro is going to say he’s done, that kills any value he has, which is very little at this stage in Utley’s career.
Some gm’s are worse then women shopping for shoes. If I’m GM I simply tell a calling team, player X,Y and Z will be moved shortly. Give me your best offer possible and it’s a yes or no for our discussions. NOT THAT HARD
But you’d, want your own staff to determine who the other teams best players are. I wholeheartedly agree in asking though…. Another team might make someone available that you’d have considered off limits.
But in general I don’t believe it’s the chess match that it’s often made out to be…its more about finding matches that work all the way around.
Yes it is….
Amaro seems almost relieved now that he’s an ornament in the front office.
There’s no trade value in Harang? Look, I’m not saying that Harang would fetch much in return, but come on. You can’t tell me Roberto Fausto Hernandez had teams chomping at the bit last year, and then this year publicly say that Harang has no value.
Harang is 37 years-old and has been with 6 teams in 4 years (one released him in spring training). He has little value. Most teams would prefer to use their 4th and 5th starter innings to young pitchers they have, giving them experience. If Harang goes to a contender that gets to the post-season, there is a very slim chance he would start a post-season game. He is simply the sort of veteran arm that at this point in the season is put on waivers.
Bouncing from teams doesn’t have any real factor in current value. There have been plenty of journeymen who get traded.
I totally agree that he’s worth next to nothing. However, I don’t see why RAJ would say that publicly since there’s nothing to gain from that. If he had done the same thing last year with Hernandez, who else had little value, then I’m sure the Dodgers would have been able to leverage a better trade.