Amaro acknowledges concerns about team's age
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Amaro acknowledges concerns about team's age
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. spoke for a half hour Monday at Citizens Bank Park to issue his state of the team address as the Phillies head into the off-season without a pennant for the first time in three years.
He had plenty of interesting things to say.
"I think there are three elements we have to be ready to handle this off-season. One is our six free agents," Amaro said. "We have to deal with those. I think we have to deal with our age because we're starting to move past and into the prime ages of production. And I think we have to address the bullpen because that's something that could have been an Achilles' heel. They ended up performing very well because our starters went deep into games."
The age comments were intriguing because, really, it hasn't been discussed much publicly by the front office.
"Do I think about the age? I do," Amaro said. "Do we have to start thinking about filtering some youth into our club? Yes, I believe that too. But at the same time, we want to be a contender again. So we have to balance those two things."
Obviously, most of the talking points began and ended with Jayson Werth, who is a free agent.
"I haven't had any discussions with Scott [Boras] yet," Amaro said. "I obviously will over the next 48 hours, we will make contact. I guess the following question is, do we have enough money to do it? And would we like to bring him back? I think the answer to both questions is yes. However, that will all kind of depend on what the ask is and ultimately how that will affect us with other possible moves to do it."
Boras said during the season Werth was having a "franchise-type season." Amaro didn't necessarily agree.
"Jayson had a good year," he said. "It wasn't an extraordinary year. He had a tough time with men on in scoring position. It wasn't as productive a year as he's had in the past. But I think if he's not with us, there are players we can either acquire or are in our own organization that can help us."
If the Phillies try to sign Werth, how difficult is it to do other things?
"Well, it becomes difficult if you don't move other pieces. ... We might have to make other adjustments."
That's the only way you could re-sign Werth?
"Not necessarily."
If Werth leaves, Amaro said the job would not be handed to rookie Domonic Brown.
"We have not given the job to Domonic Brown," he said. "He's been told that, flat out. He's going to have to earn a spot on our club next year. He's going to winter ball. A lot of it will depend on what the status is with Jayson."
Other things to note...
-- Amaro said the team will likely not negotiate with Jimmy Rollins this off-season. Rollins is entering the final season of his contract.
"I think we'll probably let things, at this time, play out," Amaro said.
-- Charlie Manuel is also going into a contract year and the GM said that will be taken care of at some time this off-season.
"At some point, we will probably address it with Charlie," Amaro said. "We have not. I've asked all the coaches back."
-- Assistant general manager Chuck LaMar said first base prospect Jonathan Singleton's experiment in the outfield during Fall Instructional League went so well that he will begin next season as the left fielder at single-A Clearwater.
-- And as for the mood around the club, Amaro had this to say:
"I think this one stung pretty good. I think the players really believed they were going to be World Series champions. I think they'll be chomping at the bit come spring."
Read Tuesday's Inquirer for much, much more...
Comments (47)
Amaro & Werth were just posturing (nicely) in their respective press conferences. You can bet that Werth's agent Scott Boros gave Jason some talking points and that Dave Montgomery & Ruben discussed how to spin this. One key point is Amaro's comment ..."if we don't move some pieces..." in other words some salaries. The only way to move Ibanez is to package another player(s) w/ him and/or pay a significant portion of Raul's salary to the receiving team. The big piece contract is beginning to look problematic. Maybe they trade the RH before his $25 mil extension kicks in and before he gets too old to be attractive to buyers.— misterhman
Resigning that tired, old hillbilly boob for another year or two will seal this teams fate. Better to send him and Chris "Wheels' Wheeler to La Boca Vista where they can tell their lies to Uncle Leo and Morty Seinfeld.- I agree with others, it might be time to look to trade Howard, and possibly Rollins and Victorino. Ibanez needs to go too - I like the guy, and he plays hard, but we can't pay to get half-seasons out of him. We need more RH power, so we should try to keep Werth, or pull in a couple of other RH bats with punch through a trade. I'd also like to get more than one bat that can hit for average. Chooch was awesome this year, but we need a few more people than him to be a bit more consistent in the hitting department.— Watching and Waiting
- I love JRoll, but they should trade him. No question, he will be better next year, but they have to get younger, and he has the most trade value of the core players [Howard, Utley, Ruiz, Victorino, JRoll]. Love Valdez at short. They need young, hungry, talent.— fillyfan
- Urge Werth be re-signed. I studied Brown's right-field appearances. He can make routine catches, but not the difficult ones that Jayson excels at. Domonic throws well, but is awkward in that position with the right-handed glove, especially near the corner. Trade Rollins and make Valdez the every-day SS. Trading Howard for a more-reliable hitter may not be practical due to his contract, but explore it. At least, move him down in the lineup. Victorino plays a great CF. I'm glad we have him.— Klaire
- Some of you are idiots...you do realize how old Valdez is right? HE'S OLDER THEN ROLLINS!!!!!!— boskeyface
- Yeah, Ibanez runs hard after balls. Because he's so slow he can't get to them easily. Don't let the hustle fool you. It's a mirage. He's been horrible 90% of the last 1 1/2 years. He needed to go last off-season.— Bob1
- Don't tinker too much just send Chase to fielding school during the off season. An seasoned team that had a below par offensive season was still the winningest team in MLB. Raul will be leaving soon. It would be nice to keep Werth but I think he will be gone. Get healthy and some middle relief and they will be back.— charladan
- I agree with Amaro team is getting older and the injuries mount up to older players like Rollins and Ibanez. I would try to trade Victorino
who is a good center fielder but does not get on base enough to be a lead off hitter same as Rollins. Sign Werth for 3 years and get a lead off hitter with speed and a good on base percentage. Also we depertly need a lefthanded relief pitcher or two. After next year we can platoon Brown in Left when Ibanez is gone.— btsucceed - If Ryan Howard just repeats what he has done for four or five more years he is a no doubt Hall of Famer. He should die in Philadelphia. Even with a stint on the DL you can pencil in 100 plus RBIs and 30 plus homers. He will own all production numbers in franchise history shortly. Left field and Right field and middle relief are the question marks for the off season. Don't panic!— charladan
- They will get a lot younger and richer without Moyer and his 8 mil. a year!!— sawgrass
- I don't see any way Howard, Rollins, Utley, Ibanez are even tradeable. Maybe Joe B. or Vic.— jtj06
Comment removed.
Sign Rollins at the bad season+hometown discount. He doesn't want to ever play for another team. He will keep playing great D for 3-5 more years and he will be a productive hitter out of the 6-7 hole. But don't pay him more that 5-6 million a year.— KINGOFZED- Hold on, let me see if I got all this right... 1)Cheap greedy owners. 2)Idiot G/Mgr. 3)Nincompoop hick manager 4)Incompetent coaches 5)Aging lineup who can't hit, run or field and should all be traded 6)Incompetent bullpen 7)Weak bench 8)No Cliff Lee... So who gets the credit for leading the Majors in wins??? I shudder to think what these posters would sound like in Pittsburgh...— stan the man too
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The Phillies Zone is the place for up-to-the-minute Phillies coverage from the Inquirer.
Matt Gelb
Inquirer Staff Writer
Bob Brookover
Inquirer Baseball Columnist
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