Amaro: Phillies probably done making moves
The reality increases daily of a Phillies outfield hodgepodge formed by Ben Revere, Domonic Brown, John Mayberry Jr., Darin Ruf and Laynce Nix. The man tasked with forming the 2013 roster was willing to admit as much Monday.
Amaro: Phillies probably done making moves
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
The reality increases daily of a Phillies outfield hodgepodge formed by Ben Revere, Domonic Brown, John Mayberry Jr., Darin Ruf and Laynce Nix. The man tasked with forming the 2013 roster was willing to admit as much Monday.
"We're likely going with what we've got," Ruben Amaro Jr. said.
Spring training begins Feb. 12 in Clearwater, Fla., and the Phillies will arrive with hopes pinned to an aging, expensive core. Youth is the choice in the outfield, for better or worse.
"There's some risk in going with a possible double platoon or letting the guys we have battle it out for playing time," Amaro said. "There are some advantages to that, as well. The best-man-wins type of scenario can be created and likely will be created in spring training. At the same time, a lot of these guys are not proven everyday major-league players. But that doesn't mean they cannot become them."
The GM did not eliminate the possibility of a veteran addition for the outfield, but admitted within his current constraints (both monetary and player-wise), there is not much more than a marginal upgrade available. He categorized his current pursuit as "looking around for some low-risk, high-reward type of players."
There is money to spend, if the Phillies maintain a similar payroll to 2012. The Phillies are an estimated $7 million shy of the $178 million luxury tax threshold. Amaro said he has "a little bit" to spend. He would not say if he has extended any formal offers to current free agents.
The Phillies have 39 players on their 40-man roster.
What Amaro and his lieutenants may have decided is those resources are best utilized later. The reported options in free agency and trades -- Scott Hairston, Vernon Wells, Alfonso Soriano -- are flawed. There could be a better fit come July. Should the Phillies enter 2013 with wiggle room, they could be well-positioned for the splash everyone expected this winter.
"If there is a player that is better who we feel could help us now, we'll utilize our resources to get him," Amaro said. "If there isn't, then we may be better served to hold on a see what we could do during the year."
Chances are the Phillies start 2013 with an unproven outfield. If anything, it should make for a fascinating spring training.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
Oh man, 3rd or 4th place, here we come! It looks to me like our Philly sports teams are heading for a down period. Eagles, check. Phillies, check. Flyers, check. Sixers, check.— 5NOT4- @copper34: you've got it..good to see someone else who can speak basic logic to morons, and I see you have more patience than me...— warbiscuit
- If this is the case, we might as well get used to being a third-place team. Starting the season, at least three positions are well below average (corner outfield positions and catcher) and the back two of our starting rotation are no better than average. This essentially gives Charlie Manual a 23-man-roster defenseless against teams with deep bullpens that can turn the platoons around. Washington and Atlanta are clearly superior. If the Phillies are no longer going to try to contend, you have to wonder why they didn't trade Cliff Lee when they could get value.— Joe Swope
- Wow, and here we thought what Rubens A. Moron, Jr. did in the offseason after the 2011 season could not be outdone.
Which is worse?
Bringing in a slate of Papelbon, Wigginton, Nix, Thome, Pierre, Qualls and Willis to attempt to complement a 102-win team,
OR
the hard-to-figure inaction of this offseason, coming off an 81-win season during which the Phils once trailed by as many as 20, with acquisitions of slap-hitter Revere, dubious-at-3rd-Michael Young, John Lannan, coming-off-surgery Mike Adams, with the subtraction of Vanimal through a trade?
Seriously, which is worse?— advantasux - Phillies will remain mediocre trash so long as they have a complete imbecile g.m. still defended by ownership and writers and too many moron fans— warbiscuit
- Yikes, Although they will make a deal at some point for a RF or LF. Cannot platoon all season with two positions— phillyceltic
- Let the haters hate but RAJ is right this time. Be thankful that he wouldn't pay $75M for Upton. And $13M/per year for Victorino? Both are crazy deals and similar money to Bourn would be ridiculous too. So the haters don't like giving away young players (though how many of the "great" prospects given away for Halladay or Lee have done ANYTHING in the majors so far?) but they also complain when the Phils get a young centerfielder who won't cost millions and is under team control for years. It's basically like getting Bourn for millions less and he's still criticized. You can't have it both ways. And are you telling me that Kendrick and Worley would have been that much better than Kendrick and Lanham? Why, because Worley showed potential two seasons ago? He might be good but he might also be the next J.A. Happ. Oh, and had RAJ given away a top draft pick to sign someone like Swisher, the same haters who criticize him now for not signing a top free agent power hitter would have criticized him for signing one. Personally I can't wait to see how Ruf works out. And the best part: if he doesn't cut it then all the haters who now support playing him will rip RAJ for even trying. Some people just need to lighten up. You can't be negative ALL the time. (Well, given the comments on this site, perhaps that's not true.)— inky93
- doing almost nothing when your team won the division and the pennant is one thing, but doing so little when your team trailed by 20 with 20 to play borders on criminal, ESPECIALLY when you figure that the Phils will be the second-highest-spending team in the NL this season.
I'm trying to understand the stand-pat approach to a season where it seems almost guaranteed they will finish far up the track once again, and then have posters say that RAJ was right.— advantasux - It's not about being "negative" or "positive" ... just realistic. The truth is tough for some Phillies fans. Not for me. The GM has failed in almost every personnel move he has ever made. IMO - he is a poor evaluator of talent who has stripped the farm system of its top prospects in the wrong deals for the wrong guys (Pence and Hamilton), over-paid and bid against himself for "star" free agents (Rollins, Pap), signed all the wrong guys (Wigginton, Thome, Nix, Quals, Willis, Martinez, Schneider - to name a few) and saddled the team with one of the worst contracts in pro sports (Howard's). I can't wait to see how Ruf works out (at least he is young and exciting) and will give Rube-the-Boob credit for going with him if Ruf actually hits well enough to justify playing him in the field (where he will certainly cost us some runs). But, when the GM is forced to surrender prospects for a guy he could have had as a free agent to fill a hole that is obvious to everyone, then I will continue to rip the GM. I don't "hate" on him - I just love the Phillies. And, I see (a little more clearly than some) just how big an epic fail he has been -- and how badly it has crippled this team. — Copper34
- Fire Clueless Rube NOW— warbiscuit
- What does it say about Monty (and the rest of the Blue Blood owners) that they keep little Rube around? When I think about it, I get angry at the fans that haven't put 2 2 together yet. This organization is back-assward. The best things they've done are: 1) trade for The Dude, 2) bring Gillick in as GM, and 3) create the Phillie Phanatic. — Copper34
- Philly sports has entered the twilight zone, circa mid-90s...Eagles may not make playoffs for another 5 years, Phillies still need a few years before they will even concede that Rube is an incompetent imbecile, then will need a few years after he's gone to try to rebuild the mess he will have left, Sixers will remain irrelevant seemingly forever and Flyers are still waiting for a comptent goaltender after a few decades-- so instead fans of the Old Soviet Union can watch Barack try to resurrect the socialist state that worked so well there.....oh well...— warbiscuit
- @ War, man, you almost had me totally agreeing with you. Until you brought up the OSU and Barack. Jeez.
Placing all of this on the 'incompetent imbecile' 'Rube' is giving him way too much credit. I think the HOF Club Offices, otherwise known as MontcoVille, has alot to do with what Mr. Amaro has to work with, how he ends up deploying it, etc. I am not saying RAJ didn't sign up the big contracts or propose them to MontCo; I AM saying that he doesn't do it w/o agreement to that approach, and the ability to spend that kind of money, or not spend it.
Not an apologist. Simply stating that it is a team 'fail' - not to rebuild this outift and outfield totally. The staying under the cap is BS in my opinion. You want to win? You want to blow away the competition? They'll spend, trust me. But somehow, they are pulling their punches letting (some) great talent wither while waiting for what? Gudot?
If I were Hamels I would be pissed. Big time.— 24sDad - This is pathetic. Does everybody understand that, say 17% of 16 million is 2.7 million. If this boob signed Bourn for that 16 mil, he could then trade something like Brown, Revere, a top starter prospect, a top reliever prospect, and a top class A guy to Florida for Stanton. We would be 9 mil over the cap. Sign Lohse for 12 mil and we're 21 mil over the cap. That's a 3.5 mil cap hit. You don't think that team would make up that difference in hot dogs alone next year. The following year, we would be just about square with the cap. I'VE CALLED RUBEN STUPID BEFORE, BUT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I WILL CALL HIM CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP!!!— cuyatm
- I don't see it as standing pat. The Phils took care of three big holes: centerfield (now locked up for years), third base (a short-term fix prior to seeing what Asche can do in a year or so) and set-up man (possibly a bigger need that even more power). Yes, RAJ removed Worley from the ML roster but he replaced his with Lanham. Is that really a big difference when you're talking about a #4 or #5 starter? So what we're really down to is the lack of his signing a free agent power hitter. The problem is that the team would not be strengthened long-term by overpaying tremendously for the level of free agent talent that was available this year. Especially if that signing cost them a first round draft pick. I think you have to give a guy like Ruf a chance. That leaves right field as the issue. Can Brown become the star they've been waiting for? I don't know but he's only 25 years old so let's find out. If he or Ruf can't cut it then the Phils can probably have a better shot at a power hitter, at a lower cost, through a trade during 2013 vs. through free agency during this off-season. And for all those who have written Brown off already, keep in mind that Mike Schmidt, at the age of 24, hit .196 with 18HR and 52 RBI. Thankfully there was no internet then as people would have called for his release after that sad debut. And , no, I'm not comparing their talents. (Not everyone is a star right away. No one was excited at the time at the acquisitions of Jason Werth and Shane Victorino. And how many major acquisitions did the SF Giants make in their TWO WS championships? It amazed me when people write players off immediately or don't get the value of lesser acquisitions who fit a role on a winning team.)— inky93
