Amaro: Phils will consider dealing off big league roster
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Amaro: Phils will consider dealing off big league roster
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Ruben Amaro Jr. had a few interesting things to say earlier this evening as he addressed the Phillies' search for pitching and infield depth.
First, he said that he would consider dealing a player off of his big league roster if he felt it would upgrade the overall competitiveness of the club.
"Obviously I don't want to weaken my club," Amaro said, "but if I have to weaken one area to strengthen another, I might do that."
Second, he said that Domonic Brown has played his way into consideration for a promotion at some point this season, although he stressed that the top prospect's 12 games at Triple-A are still too few to render a judgment on his readiness for the big leagues.
"The players dictate their progress, and he's dictating it," Amaro said.
Those two statements are related, of course. The Phillies two most tradeable quantities, at least when it comes to the starting line-up, are outfielders. Right fielder Jayson Werth will be a free agent after the season, and thus far the two sides have not come close to reaching an agreement on a contract extension. Center fielder Shane Victorino, meanwhile, is signed to a three-year, $22 million contract that runs through the 2012 season. Veteran left fielder Raul Ibanez likely would not attract much attention, given his contract (the Phillies owe him $11.5 million next season) and the decline in power numbers he has experienced this season.
Brown plays right field, but Werth can play center field as well, which is why moving Victorino would still leave the Phillies with some flexibility.
Amaro declined to address any specific names, either on his own roster or that of another major league team.
But the Phillies are looking for a pitcher to bolster their rotation and an infielder to fill the void left by Chase Utley at second base. If he had to choose one, Amaro said he would choose a pitcher. The Phillies are also open to adding a bullpen arm, but their top priority is a starter.
Of course, they had a starter back in December. His name was Cliff Lee, and they traded him to Seattle citing the need to replenish the farm system. Amaro said he does not regret the move.
"If we had Cliff Lee, we wouldn't have Roy Halladay," Amaro said.
But if they can trade for a pitcher now, why couldn't they have kept both Lee and Halladay?
"Time and circumstance dictates some of the things you can and cannot do," Amaro said. "We just felt like we were in a position to be able to hold one guy and not to hold the other guy. We had to put ourselves in a position not to leave our club and our organization with the cupboard bare. By moving all of this talent from our organization, it just made it very difficult to continue to be able to do business long term. "
Comments (81)
daystrum...what? Huh? What? I read your post twice and it still makes no sense whatsoever. Jman...the Phillies trading LEE had NOTHING to do with his $9M salary this year...if so they could have cut Blanton and it would have been nearly a wash. They did not want to keep Lee and get the two draft picks they would have for him. They would rather take the Mariners trash prospects for him (who are already signed), rather than pay top dollar for essentially two first round choices next year, plus their own. That's what the trade was about...duh!!— Eilex826- CHUCK EARLY SR: Of course it was about money! But a legitimate GM (in the Pat Gillick/Paul Owens mold) would have convinced Montgomery that after spending $143 mil, another $9 to keep the services of a top-notch starter would more than pay for itself in the long run. Now, they're all wringing their hands about not enough starting pitching, and will no doubt throw the same $9 million at a collection of stop-gap stiffs as the other teams hold the Phillies up while their ship is sinking. Amaro is a minor-league GM at best, not someone who should be making the decisions for a supposedly-elite team. Once again, Montgomery went the cheap route by hiring the in-house batboy-turned-organizational-gopher. The further this team gets from the Gillick era, the worse it will be.— jman
- "Obviously I don't want to weaken my club," Amaro said, "but if I have to weaken one area to strengthen another, I might do that." .... Hey Rube, you did that in the off-season - weakened your collection of top-notch stating pitchers to strengthen your collection of low-level minor-league suspects! Get this clown outta here and bring back Gillick!— jman
- Actually, let me play the conspiracy theory for your entertainment. There s NO rational explanation for trading Lee to Seattle for three worthless prospects that Amaro had to know, based on scouting reports. and the fact every savvy media writer and baseball pundit knew as well. So, it begs the question that everyone is in denial about - why DID Amaro literally give away Lee, not even shopping him (to assess his immense value) at the time when any team from the Majors to little League would have eaten their uncle's liver to have a Halliday, Lee and Hamels rotation? The answer follows Occam's Razor theory being that the simplest explanation is often true and when one considers that Philadelphia has a huge syndicate and they often DO infiltrate sports organizations and often DO participate in schemes where a team sells tickets but they make more money by losing, could be in play. Amaro is the perfect operation, liaison man for the job. He could fit in the movie Casino with no problem. I say its corruption and the media is scared to death to discuss or expose it plus this post will probably not be allowed. Now, that explains it because otherwise, there is no "rational" explanation for the Lee debacle and not even Amaro or the owners could possibly have been that ignorant. In the absence of a better explanation, circumstantially, this is the best fit. I think the Eagles are also compromised. Until Philly sports teams can eradicate the infiltration of dubious business entities, the fans are going to be frustrated for an indeterminable amount of time.— daystrum
- I'VE READ SEVERAL RESPONSES ABOUT WHY DIDN'T HE TRADE BLANTON, DID YOU GUYS EVER THINK THAT IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO, AND MAYBE OTHERS WOULDN'T WANT HIS SALARY?— phigglesfan75
- You mean to tell me the ex-cigar billionaire owner wouldn't have sprung the cash to keep both Halladay and Lee? I don't believe it.— PhillieJoe
Atkins is available for a reason-he stinks....
Comment removed.- It was actually Moyer's contract that hamstrung Amaro. His contract is nearly equal to what Lee's is this year. If anything, signing Moyer with his heart and not with his head is why Amaro couldn't keep Lee for this year.— stefek23
- Romus--- hate to burst your bubble but Garrett Atkins is hitting .214 with 1 home run. He is putrid. I would take Tejada or Wiggington if we do a deal with Baltimore.— Nigel#1
- Murph, is there any truth to the Utley/Werth thing going around? It was weird at the end of the game if you noticed that Werth was sitting on the bench by himself when everyone else went back to the locker room.— Beef69
- Just wait till everyone is healthy...— PHTNPHLS
- This required creative thinking by our GM. The trade to make this past offseason was moving Happ for bullpen help/prospects. We had an elite starter (Lee) for cheap for this season. So what if we couldn't resign him? Either we get top notch prospects at the deadline, or draft picks in the offseason.— yohuss
- Saying the Lee Trade is the worst is a little bit premature. Most trades take a while to be judge correctly. Lee could wake up tomorrow and not find the plate alas Steve Blass or become another Barry Zito after signing the big contract and the kids we got for him could become stars. Both Gillies and Aumont are 21 years old and JC Ramirez is around that age. I will give them more than a half a season to declare them busts. When John Smoltz was acquired by the Braves for Doyle Alexander, he went a combine 4-11 with an 5.68 ERA between AA-AAA. Now he’s on his way to the HOF. So relax and give the kids a chance.— EL Zorro
- onthebucks...Has the Lee trade cost the Phillies anything yet? No. they aren't playing well right now but are no worse off record-wise than they were a year ago, and still have the talent on the field to go to the WS. They substituted Halladay for Lee, arguably an upgrade. They did not trade any of their major league roster in the deals and it is still the team that has gone to two straight world series. they can still win it all despite trading Lee. And Lee was gone after 2010 anyway. Trading him away---even if the prospects don't pan out---isn't as bad as tossing away HOF Ryne Sandberg as a throw-in in a trade for Ivan Dejesus. Do you think the Phillies hot streak in the late 70's early 80's could have been extended with an infield of Schmidt, Franco, and Sandberg? Two HOF's and a guy with pretty darn good numbers. Von Hayes and Dejesus really carried them to a lot of championships didn't they? And I'm not saying I agree with the trade...it was made to save money (and NOT Lee's salary this year; if anyone doesn't understand what money they are looking to save they don't understand baseball, its rules and its time in history at this moment). Trading Lee was a huge mistake...HUGE. But not the worst in franchise history.— Eilex826
- Eilex, I've been following the Phils for a half-century. In my not so humble opinion, the Lee trade was the absolute worst in Phils history because it may have cost the Phils multiple world series appearances and/or championships. I also feel only the Ruth trade will be remembered as more short-sighted and poorly timed.
- Phillie Freak, You're right that Ruth and Lee aren't close. No one ever said they were. You're also right that the Ruth and Lee trades are not comparable. No one ever compared them. You're wrong when you say that everyone wants Werth to be traded. I don't. But the handwritimng is on the wall - the same wall that had the handwriting about the Phils being unable to sign Lee to a long term contract. They could have and didn't. You're also wrong about everyone who will be calling Amaro the best GM ever when the Phils will the world series. What you need to understand is that the Phils would have had a better chance to reach the world series again if Amaro acted like the best GM ever and kept Lee for at least another year.
- Real Phils Fan...what you don't understand is that the Phillies would rather have the Mariners garbage than have to pay the first round money next year, that's why they traded him. Onthebucks...the Lee trade was bad---we all knew it at the time. However saying it is the worst ever is going a little far. It's not even the worst in Phillies history. Jenkins, Sandberg, Franco outweigh the Lee trade, based on what we got for them and what the other teams got.— Eilex826
- Charlie has to change his thinking about having the hitters taking so many pitches to get the pitch count up. I would trade Rollins and anybody from the bull pen for a good starting pitcher.— Fast Eddie
- I wouldn't trade Victorino either, but he'll get you the most because he's under contract and the other guys you mentioned stink and make a lot of money. Seattle won't do a Werth for Lee traded straight up. Why... to lose him too, to the Yanks or Red Sox? They rather get prospects or a combination of a good young major leaguer and prospects. Vic will play for them at least two more years.— EL Zorro
- I would not trade victorino...you may need him at the top of the lineup if Rollins falters, and Rollins is not getting any younger either. There are so many players who have become expendable on this team...Raul is first, Blanton, Lidge and pretty much the whole Pen. I would also add Werth to the list just to get Cliff Lee back.— jphil
- Hmmmmmm?????????? Shane trade bait and Werth to Center????????? Nope. after thinking about it, I'd rather have Shane in Center and Move Werth to Left.— Philly4fanDoc
- Trade Werth and Moyer for Lee. Then get rid of most of the bullpen and see if you can get a bag of used balls for them. There is no passion in that relief staff and it shows.— Jhunchar
- WOW onthebucks you are truely an idoit....Babe Ruth and cliff lee are not even close and we would not be able to keep Lee after the year anyway so the 2 trades are not even comparable....if werth gets traded like all of u want u will call raj the worst GM ever-i want to see all of u on this when the phils r in the world series sayying how good they r and how u never doubted them...Hypocrites— Phillies Freak
- Rube "restocked the cupboard" with government Peanut Butter, Ramen Noodles, and Spaghetti-O's.— JofreyRice
- Only the Red Sox selling Babe Ruth to the Yanks for a fistful of wampum was a bigger blunder than the Phils giving away Cliff Lee to the Mariners for prospects of unproven value. Especially puzzling is the trade being made by a GM whose mantra has always been "you can never have enough pitching." Also puzzling is why the Phils didn't pair Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee until the wee hours of the dynasty by simply non-tendering, instead of extending, Joe Blanton. The question is what the Phils do now to supplement a core rotation of Halladay, Hamels and Moyer. Blanton is questionable as a viable second half option; Kendrick's youth makes him vulnerable; and Happ's recovery is uncertain. The Phils need pitching help, and the kind of help that can team with Halladay and Hamels to get the Phils through another world series. The Phils could reacquire Lee, possibly straight up for Jason Werth - one free agent for another, especially if they are willing to add a few prospects for Jose Lopez whose salary the Mariners want to shed. This would make sense only if the Phils are willing and able to resign Lee long-term. If Werth were dealt, Brown could be called up. If Lopez was not a part of the deal, the Phils could acquire Wigginton or Tejada from the Orioles for prospects. Alternatively, the Phils could take advantage of Manuel's friendship with the guy and acquire Carlos Zambrano from the Cubs. In fact, the Phils would probably be able to acquire Zambrano and Soriano from the Cubs for Werth and prospects and have the Cubs pay most of Zambrano and Soriano's large remaining salaries. According to the press, the Cubs might be trying to get rid of the two, and with a change of scenery, both players could significantly help the Phils for years to come. Soriano can also play 2B. I'm not sure how much or how long Oswalt or Haren would be able to help the Phils. Even Jamie Moyer has an expiration date, so any acquisitions the Phils make should be done with an eye on the future.
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- @mattesq: 1st round picks are valued less than actual prospects in baseball. Personally, I'd rather get 3 prospects than 2 first round picks too. Unfortunately for Reuben, the 3 prospects stink. I personally was not against trading Lee, especially because our system was so depleted, but the 3 prospects we recieved from Seattle aren't even amongst the top 10 prospects we have in our system at this present time.— Chewey
- We'll never know the true story behind the Lee deal, because the "prospects" justification just doesn't make any sense given that we would've received 2 first-round picks as compensation for losing him as a FA. Has anyone actually asked Amaro about why not just risk losing Lee as a FA and take the 2 picks?— mattesq
- Victorino and Hamels for Cliff Lee and Chone Finnins?— patrickstar
- Of course Lee was about money and ONLY money. Amaro lied and said it was about the future. BS. We all knew it. 2nd rate prospects don't equate to building or the future. He gambled that the team would win and no one would care about Lee. Oops. The team is dead and he will be going from genius to ESPN. Don't look for sellouts in "11.— abnrgr
- Get over it. Cliff was not going to sign here. Also, for whoever said the 2 first round picks from a college may be closer to the big leagues than the three they got from Seattle for Lee, when was the last time the Phillies drafted an impact college player in the first round? I believe that was Utley under Wade's regime.— EL Zorro
- Pat Gillick is still involved with this team and you can bet that he still has a big influence on all major personnel moves. I am sure that RAJ leans on him a lot, so be careful with assigning blame. This 2010 Phillies team was constructed to be a strong contender to return to the WS and for the first two months of the season their performance reflected this (even with the injuries). Credit the GM and his staff for this. Since then, unusually high numbers of injured players and the prolonged offense slump are killing this team. Is a GM expected to plan for extremes like these? If it was one or the other this team would most likely still be in first place.— Beck
- Pat Gillick is still involved with this team and you can bet that he still has a big influence on all major personnel moves. I am sure that RAJ leans on him a lot, so be careful with assigning blame. This 2010 Phillies team was constructed to be a strong contender to return to the WS and for the first two months of the season their performance reflected this (even with the injuries). Credit the GM and his staff for this. Since then, unusually high numbers of injured players and the prolonged offense slump are killing this team. Is a GM expected to plan for extremes like these? If it was one or the other this team would most likely still be in first place.— Beck
- PS, Drabek threw a no-hitter in the minors in his last start. Lee + Drabek is better than Doc. It just is. It's a dynasty killing trade.— Steve Jeltz
- Agents must love Ruben.— Steve Jeltz
- Why do so many fans not recognize it is time to move on. They preseverate on Lee. They made a mistake, however, stop proposing ridiculous trades. One person actually proposed trading anyone in the farm system other than Dominic Brown. Why does Amaro have to admit he made a mistake. Will that solve our roster dilemma? They'll have to unload Werth or Victorino, Kendrick and or Blanton in combination to get a good pitcher. Perhaps Werth and Kendrick might get a solid reliever. When Madson returns, Zaguerski and Baez should be outrighted or released if possible. Last but not least, I'd like to see the Phillies spend more time developing relief pitchers. Rarely do we develop decent relief pitchers within our system.— GOLDY2007
- @dean1; Yes!!! Thank you!! There have been lots of kool aid drinkers like booman55 that can't get this simple point. RAJ screwed up. Period. If he makes a significant trade this year, he'll have to weaken the major league club to do it; that won't help them win the division. The two trades are linked, but they shouldn't have been. 4 million people came to watch the club last year counting the playoffs, there was no excuse for the front office to tell RAJ they couldn't cover Lee's salary for 2010. And no excuse for Ruben to get 3 stiffs for Lee, and then try to sell the fans and media that they are legit prospects.— drbob1
- Ruben misses the fundamental point here. "If we had Cliff Lee, we wouldn't have Roy Halladay." Maybe so. But, if we had kept Cliff Lee and not gotten Halladay, the production from the 1-spot would be arguably the same, and the team would still have Michael Taylor, Kyle Drabek, and Travis D'Arnaud...this would give us much flexibility re: plugging in players due to injury and movement at the trade deadline. Ruben got caught with his pants down because he was so ridiculously enamored with Halladay...only problem is, it's like moving Ryan Howard and 3 very good prospects for Albert Puljols. It might make you marginally better at 1B, but destroys your ten-fold at other positions and in your farm system depth. Zero foresight Ruben.— Dean1
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- Fun fact from tonight's game... Howard and Ibanez were a combined 2-8 (.250) with 3RBI. Everyone else was 1-27(.037); the one hit being a Victorino 11th inning infield single.— drbob1
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- Guys you have to let go of Cliff Lee. The Phils' starting pitching has been pretty good of late except for fat Joe. As the Phils' two hits tonite suggests, the Phils are in desperate need of guys that can hit. Last time I checked (this afternoon) D. Brown is hitting in AAA. Victorino is batting .250 or so. Rollins just has not found his swing yet and continues to struggles. Werth still isn't doing that much since he went cold. Bring up Brown, sit Ibanez, get Wiggington for the infield and Haren for the starters.— Philalawyer
- Hey 200xl I think the only games we did win in the WS over the Yanks was with Lee pitching!— Born_Green
F you Ruben Amaro for being a moron— shawnmac- This team is just plain hard to watch right now! no hitting , the pitching is suffering! Just hard to watch! The good outings we do get with the pitching the Offense doesnt show up. Amazing!— Born_Green
- First off, the Halladay trade had to be made. You got a teriffic starting pitcher who is under contract for three more years. It is possible Drabek is great. But again it is only possible. I defended the Lee trade at first. You figured that Amaro and his associates had done their homework on the prospects that they traded for. It appears that they didn't. Also, in the grand scheme of things if the Phils had let Blanton go and never made the Lee trade things may have worked out perfectly. Werth leaves and his money goes to Lee's new contract and Domonic Brown is the 2011 starting right fielder. Also, you get an extra first round draft pick as Werth is probably a type A free agent. You reload the farm system in 2011 with two first round picks.— syddan26
- If the Phils trade Victorino, they can take that 7+ million and give it to Werth. That should about do it to sign him. And Brown will make minimum for a few years, and when he is ready to cash in, Ibanez money will be long gone. I would listen to trades for Victorino for a pitcher and quality infielder.— Pat c
- you guys are the most schizo fans I've ever seen. Every year, you rip Manuel, rip the GM, rip the players, the offseason signings, the trades we make, the players we gave up, and the players we get in return, rip the trades we don't make, and how cheap our owners are. Do you remember that we've been to two straight WS? And you are angry? Ruben was a GOD when he executed some great trades last year. Manuel was a GOD when he managed us to a world series title. Hamels was a GOD when he carried us there, and so was Lidge. But now they are all bums. Heck, I remember all of you ripping Hamels in the offseason now you all love him to death. And I guarantee that every. single. one. of you negative nancy, debbie downer, oh woa is me, get your panties in a bunch dbags will be here signing the praises of this team, the players, the manager and the GM the second they turn things around. Baseball is a long season. Teams struggle. They go through slumps. Offseason moves don't pan out all the team. Injuries happen. But guess what? Its not even the all-star break, and we are only 4 games out of first place. Everyone FREAK OUT. WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME. TRADE DOMINIC BROWN. TRADE WERTH. TRADE EVERYBODY. JUST GET US CLIFF LEE BACK. B/c Lee is going to solve our problems. He is going to fix our problem of hitting with runners in scoring position. And solve our problems at 2nd and 3rd base. And cause Ibanez, Werth and Howard to hit better.— IgglesPhitinPhils3
- or, pitching is not the problem.— Chewey
- And now they get a runner to Third, no outs. Will they drive in the run. Just a stinkin fly ball?— palm_goodness
- pocobull, I totally agree with you. The problem with the Phillies is that they are a power hitting team, and the power hitters - Howard, Werth, Utley, Ibanez, and to a degree, Rollins - are not hitting for power. Pitching - although having Lee would strengthen our rotation - is the problem, and if Cliff Lee were on the Phillies, he'd be something like 8-6 or so.— Chewey
- Are you guys that keep posting about Cliff Lee really this dense? Starting pitching has not, I repeat HAS NOT been the Phillies problem this year. With or without Cliff Lee the Phils would be in exactly the same position. This team cannot or will not hit. The pitching has, for the most part been fine. There were definite problems at the start of the year, but since the road trip to Arizona and Colorado it has been fine. The BP has been inconsistent but relatively good, all things considered. Roy Halladay has 7 freaking losses this year. Is that because he's had 7 terrible starts? No, it's cuz this team cannot produce offensively. So would you please shut up about Cliff Lee and get with reality?— pocobull
- Lee was not about money... Let Blanton walk and it's a wash... it was Amaro over thinking by "marginally" upgrading a position...— Real_Phils_Fan
- 1 hit in 6 innings. 1 lousy hit. Hamels is doing his job up to now, but as with most every night, they make someone with a better than 5 ERA look like the second coming. Everyone is expendable.— palm_goodness
- Every year that Philadelphia has won a championship in the last 30 years (there are only 3),they added a player in that season or the previous season that was either the team's MVP or one of its top 3 players: (1) 1980 Phillies - Pete Rose (2) 1983 Sixers - Moses Malone (3) 2008 Phillies - he was 48 for 48 and arguably the team's regular season MVP and the Eagles almost did it when they added Terrell Owens. This year the Phillies only upgrade was Polanco for Feliz as Lee and Halladay are a wash and they are no better off anywhere on the roster. There are so many average or slightly above average pitchers (Moyer, Happ, Blanton, Hamels) in the major leagues that it is not worth making a trade for a starting pitcher unless they get a top 20 pitcher in the majors to complement Halladay. I believe that the Phillies only option is keep the current team and hope that they start hitting better and that another pitcher can step up (J.A. Happ?). They are hopeless in the bullpen so once they make the playoffs Halladay and Hamels need to go the distance. They should look forward to the end of the year when they lose Moyer ($8 million) and Werth's ($7.5 million - let's face he is as good as gone and Brown will be the starter next year) salaries and the end of 2011 when they lose Lidge ($12 million) and Ibanez ($12 million).— joeyc444
- Trading Victorino who is under contract and then losing Werth to free agency would be even more stupid and unexplainable for Amaro than dealing Lee was.— Apache9
- hey all you bashers saying the season is lost...the phillies have the same record at this point as they have had the past 2 years...i think those years they turned out ok. stupid, stupid, stupid phillies fans— tremo12
- To have a guy at $8m for one season who is good enough to be commanding 2.5x that following the season is reason enough to keep him. It was an "opportunity" to have something worth more than you are paying for it. Someone, the ownership, the GM, whomever, deemed that opportunity as not doable b/c the farm system need a few "prospects" or the $8m would put them over their ceiling. To have two #1's for a single season is too much of a good thing to pass up. Phils had it in their hands and let it slip through. Save me the "pitching ain't the problem" stuff. If the Phils right that part of their ship and make it to the playoffs who are your top 3 throwers? Halladay-sure thing. Hamels-which one will show up? He's mentally fragile. Moyer?-- Moyer is having a great first half but he's throwing lots of innings which could take a toll later in the season. Plus he's got to come back down to earth soon. You'll also need a 4th starter most likely. Blanton or Kendrick?--do I need to talk about their inconsistency? They're your starting pitching questions going into the post season. Now, think about your choices and chances if you had Halladay and Lee throwing games 1 and 2. Hated the Lee trade when it happened. Hate it now and will hate it even more when he gets traded before the deadline to a team that doesn't start with P and end in 'hillies'. One last rant, if we get to the playoffs this year and head towards the World Series those prospects we got in return will be doing us no good. Lee would have BIG TIME.— jbob123451
- The Lee deal was obviously about money, but as long as Amaro keeps saying "we did it to replenish the farm system" then it's fair game to criticize him. Contending teams don't trade former Cy Youngs at the trade deadline, and they certainly don't do it in the winter UNLESS it's about money. So quit trying to insult Phillies fans' intelligence Ruben.— tbone pickins
- No the Phils shouldn't trade for a pitcher. They need the overpaid, underachieving 'superstars' to step up and earn their money. The pitching staff isn't getting the offensive support they deserve. Bringing in another pitcher isn't going to change that.— rolenfan
- Stop complaining about the money. The Phillies have one of the highest payrolls in baseball. The team has a ton of injuries right now and the healthy players are underperforming. I`m still very confident this team makes the playoffs, and we all know they are dangerous once we get there. However, if this team trades Werth or Victorino I`m not going to be happy. Those guys are 2 of the main reasons we went to the WS the past 2 years. Don`t forget that.— FaithInMcNabb
- Sometimes the fans DO know better Ruben. You messed up buddy. You messed up.
- If Brown can play right field he can play left. Assuming all masjor leaguer can catch a fly into their glove---the only thing separating RFielders from LFielders is arm quality and speed---Brown has them both.— Romus
- Chase's buddy from UCLA is available and is only 30 and has power and can play 3rd base better then Greg Dobbs---Garrett Atkins.— Romus
- Yes, Cliff Lee was about money. Pay him for a year and he walks away. This team is better on paper than the '08 team (Polanco over Feliz; Ibanez over Burrell; Halladay over Hamels; Hamels over etc). They're just not producing, but I am confident they will. I'd love to trade free agent Werth, but where does that leave us? With yet another LH bat (Brown) in the line up. This line up has to get more balanced between LH & RH... and Brown won't do it.— workhorse
- Anyone comparing Joe Blanton with Adam Eaton either does not have a very good memory or they are just plain stupid. Are you kidding me?! Blanton was rock solid when they brought him over from the A's in '08 (4-0) and geez....let's see....he hit a homer and won game 4 of the WORLD SERIES! The guy goes out and tries his hardest - can you honestly say that about Adam (I'll steal your $24m) Eaton? By your logic, if the Phils had not replaced Eaton with Blanton in '08, they still would have won the World Series.....and if you truly believe that, you are an idiot and should never post on Philly.com again. Philly fans have always been known as tough on athletes that don't give 100% - that doesn't apply to Blanton so next time you want to be cute and nickname him Joe Adam Eaton Blanton...GET A CLUE!!— jimyd0315
- Amaro please dont trade D.Brown he is a superstar in the making. His stats are better than J.Hayward's and at a higher level. D.Brown should already be playing for this team and could be the spark they need. I think he would be playing for any other team in the league. But like the Phillies they have to wait untill a guy turns 25 to get him up here. He should be starting on our team right now. If Amaro trades him it would be a monumental mistake even bigger than trading away LEE.— Joey0210
- The Lee thing was about MONEY, blame the owners, not Amaro. What part do some of you not understand?— Chuck Earley Sr
- So let me get this straight you traded C.Lee for 3 average prospects. Now that we need a SP you are going to trade our better prospects and or one of our big league starters. HMMM that dosent make any sense to me at all actually it sounds plain stupid. So lets trade Lee for average prospects then trade better prospects for a lesser SP. DUMB. Amaro also says if we had LEE we wouldent have Halladay. Well he did trade for Halladay first so we did have the both of them its not like we traded Lee for Halladay. He could of traded Blanton but he didnt. And now we need to trade our better prospects for a SP most likly not as good as LEE. It just sounds really stupid to me. I wish Amaro would have the guts to come out and admit he made a mistake i would respect him more.— Joey0210
You all make this team out to be the second coming of early 90's teams. We don't have lee get over it. We won A WS without Lee,it can be done again.Did we win a WS with Lee? I guess I missed that Ws. This team can and will win. Getting to the playoffs is all that matters. The season is long it's full of ups and downs. Go Phils.If they start a win streak and when they start one which will happen you'll all be on the bandwagon again. You all oppress me.— a2000xl- Comment removed.
- Amaro, Jr. is not Pat Gillick even though he thinks of himself as a reincarnation of the former GM.— phillytransplant
- Murphy needs to badger Amaro about Lee. So does Barkain and Hoffman and all the other Philly media. This trading of Cliff Lee and the signing of Ryan Howard to a bloated contract was the phillies undoing this year. Be a man Amaro admit you were wrong and get us back Cliff Lee.— Bob65S
Kudos to Murphy for pressing Amaro on the Cliff Lee point, and eliciting the double-talk that Amaro yielded in response to Murphy's question. Amaro's non-reasoning makes it obvious that the CBP Emperor has no clothes. But of course most of us fans became pretty clear on that point the day Lee was traded.- It's obvious that Amaro is looking to trade Werth. Hope he moves Victorino and has the room to sign Werth. 1 1/2 seasons of Werth in center until 2012 when Ibanez is gone and hope Gose or another prospect is ready for center by then, with Brown and Werth at the corners.— Chuck Earley Sr
- oh rube what happened???? a week ago there were zero moves going to be made so you could protect your otherwise rotten roster you fieled..now we are trading starters? oh rube, can you be any more unqualified to run a team?...you ruined this team with the lee deal, then you further killed it with your terrible off season additions, giving joe adam eaton blanton as much money as lee would of made...you will go down as the worst baseball exec in baseball history at this rate..you are a child in a mans league— tooltime
- Over_Exposed stated it well... how does the three prospects for Lee make the organization better. 2 first round picks from a college may be closer to the big leagues than the three they got from Seattle. That trade is Amaro's legacy as GM...— Real_Phils_Fan
- The contradictions are so obvious I am not sure how to even address them. WE had the top starter in the American League, but we traded them for three iffy prospects. So now we should trade our top Prospect Dom Brown or worse Victorino, how gives plays a gold glove CF and give the Phils much needed speed on the base paths. IF they would have just kept Lee, signed Halladay, we would have been able to keep all our prospects and our power hitters for the WHOLE season. Even a 5th grader knew trading LEE was stupid, but the Phils front office gave us some B.S about needing to restocking our farm system. Somebody needs to take the keys to the Franchise away from Amaro before he ruins everything. The Phils were sitting pretty coming into this season before Lee trade and horrible Howard extension. They would have gotten 2 picks first round picks for Lee and 2 first round picks for Werth and plus we would have had the Best one, two, three punch in baseball with Lee, Halladay, and Hamels. HOw are all of our needs not taken care of in that scenario? Fans happy and farm system would have replenished itself. We already traded 4 pretty good guys for Lee, why not just hold onto him? Now to get another top pitcher we are going to trade another top player or prospect. It just makes no sense. Pitching wins championships and they had one of the best in the AL!!
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High Cheese is your place for the best Phillies coverage from the Daily News.
David Murphy
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