Amaro on trade deadline, Brown and more
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Amaro on trade deadline, Brown and more
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
Twenty-six days before the trading deadline, if Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. had his choice, he would acquire another pitcher over an infielder.
"At the end of the day, our team should be able to handle the loss offensively of a couple of these guys," Amaro said. "... But you can never have enough pitching especially when you're trying to contend."
Amaro said he has been "pretty proactive" in the trade market with several clubs. He said he has discussed trading for an infielder with some clubs, but has also had talks on other fronts, presumably for pitching. The GM said he could add both starting and relief help.
"I'm always more concerned about the pitching," Amaro said.
That begs the question, why trade Cliff Lee in the off-season?
"If we had Cliff Lee," Amaro said, "we wouldn't have Roy Halladay."
Amaro emphasized the same philosophy he has time and time again: The organization had traded too many prospects away and needed to restock the farm system. The fact that the Phillies had a chance to negotiate and sign Halladay to a long-term deal while Lee had higher demands was behind the decision to trade Lee, Amaro said.
If the cupboard was scarce in the off-season, is there enough talent to trade for help at the big-league level in the next three weeks? Amaro says he believes there is.
When asked if top prospect Domonic Brown could be involved in any trade, Amaro declined to answer. He did at least leave the door open for Brown to perhaps reach the majors in 2010.
In 12 games for triple-A Lehigh Valley since his promotion, Brown is hitting .405 (17 for 42) with three doubles, four home runs and 11 RBIs.
"Could he help us? Possibly," Amaro said. "But it's only been 12 games. He's making a good impression."
But, Amaro said, he would not bring Brown up to the Phillies unless it is to play every day. The only thing Brown still needs is experience at a higher level, Amaro said.
At what point does Brown give the Phillies no choice but to call him up? It's not as if Ibanez is setting the world on fire. The bold move would be to bench Ibanez and give Brown a shot as starting LF. It will never happen, though (remember how long it took the Phillies to start Utley over Polanco?).— Statman- Amaro makes no sense in his justification for trading Lee away: "If we had Cliff Lee," Amaro said, "we wouldn't have Roy Halladay." Yet they're looking to add Lee (or Oswalt or any other arm that will cost them a leg)? Amaro, just admit you screwed up and that you're trying to rectify the situation - you'll win some respect back with the fans who know better.— bdm155
I hope they don't trade Brown, they are going to need him with Werth being a free agent and Ibanez getting old. People who keep crying about Lee should ask themselves why it seems nobody wants to keep him on their team. The Indians, Phillies and Mariners all seemed to think they were better off moving him. What do they all know that nobody is saying?- ..good bring up brown by the end of this month and get rid of ibanez again I mentioned that trade that did not develope last year even before they got r. halladay get some more youth and talent on this team.— only 9
- I still don't see how the Lee and Halladay deals had anything to do with one another. Lee was only making $9 million (about what Blanton and Moyer make---thanks Rube), and Gillies, Aumont and Ramirez are garbage. A top 3 of Halladay, Lee and Hamels would have been nearly unbeatable (especially in the NL) come playoff time, and even if we lost Lee in free agency, we'd end up with 2 top 40 draft picks (1 1st, 1 sandwich round) in what's being considered one of the strongest and deepest drafts in years. Those two picks would undoubtedly be more valuable than the pile of trash we got back from Seattle, and a top 3 of Halladay, Lee and Hamels looks a lot better in October than Halladay, Hamels and Blanton/Moyer/Happ.— Stringer Bell
- Polanco situation was different. They needed to play him in order to garner some trade value. Ibanez has zero trade value and nothing he does between now and forever will change that.— booman55
- How is it the GM can give Ryan Howard $25 million a year through the 2017 season but could not afford Cliff Lee for the 2010 season at $9 million? Went to Reading Sunday night and all I saw was Tyson Gillies sitting at the far end of the dugout physically unable to play with a hamstring pull. Earlier in the season went to Harrisburg to see Phillippe Aumont pitch but as the season progressed he could not get AA hitters out or throw the ball over the plate so he was sent packing to the bullpen in A ball. Some way to restock the farm system. All the while Cliff Lee is pitching like a Cy Young candidate again in Seattle. Just doesn't make sense to me.— Dull
- Stringer...you're not alone in not seeing how the Lee and Halladay deals are linked. It's probably because you and the rest of nitwits pining for Cliff Lee aren't baseball executives. Ruben traded Lee because he's more informed than you.— booman55
- Money First winning Second, sadly that is the Phillies way. They know that the Cliff Lee trade was all about the bottom line and not the Wins. A stupid trade that day and still a stupid trade today; too bad I almost bought into their BS, but now I know all they want is my money. Oh well I guess we will go back to being a small market team.— CrashTestCorzine
- Ah King Ruben speaks. What do you think we are stupid Rube. You screwed p and you know it. You should never have traded Lee and when the Mets get him God forbid you will really catch fire from us fans who pay your fat bloated salary. Come on be a man and admit you were wrong and go get Cliff Lee back.— Bob65S
- What could have been, we had a chance for Greatness, but again we sold out for the cheap buck. It is eerily similar to when Big Fat Red felt that you could win with Levon Kirkland instead of Trotter. Just like Reid, Rube is just another long line of complete Frauds that have rolled through this city.— CrashTestCorzine
- Amaro just keeps talking in circles. 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 sounds really stupid to me. Amaro said the cupboard was bare thats why he traded LEE but now suddenly theres enough talent to trade for a SP and infeild help? Then there was no need to trade LEE in the first place if there was enough talent in the minors. I wish Amaro would have the guts to come out and admit he made a mistake i would respect him more.— Joey0210
- 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
- Amaro looks bad right now not because he traded Lee, but rather because he got 3 prospects that are far from what Amaro anticipated them to be. If 1 of the 3 turned into a top 20 prospect, and 1 of the other 2 turned into a top 30-40 prospect, the Lee trade wouldn't look so bad. As of now, all 3 are not even in the top 10 prospect list for this organization.— Chewey
Ruben Amaro is a loser— shawnmac
