Web Search powered by YAHOO! SEARCH
TEXT SIZE: A A A A
Email this post | Back to Blog home
Friday, November 7, 2008

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has his men in place for the future.

From the Phillies:

Benny Looper is a new assistant general manager in charge of player personnel. Looper will oversee the scouting and player development areas. Looper, 60, had spent the previous 23 years with the Seattle Mariners in various capacities at the major and minor league levels, including most recently vice president of player personnel (2006-08), VP of player development & scouting (2003-06) and VP of player development (2002-03). Looper spent five seasons as a player in the St. Louis Cardinals’ minor league system. He is the uncle of major league pitcher Braden Looper.

Chuck LaMar was promoted to assistant general manager, player development & scouting. While his main duty will be to manage the player development department, he will also cross-check at the amateur and professional levels. LaMar, 52, joined the Phillies in October of 2007 and spent the past year as the director of professional scouting. Prior to joining the Phillies, LaMar spent a year with the Washington Nationals as special assistant to the general manager and national cross-checker (2007) and 10 years as the general manager of the Tampa Bay Rays (1995-2006).

Mike Ondo has been promoted to pro scouting coordinator. Since joining the Phillies in 1998, Ondo, 33, has worked in the Baseball Operations department, primarily in scouting & player development. He spent the last two years as assistant director, minor leagues, while also assisting the major league coaching staff on scouting reports and statistical analysis.

Dallas Green (senior advisor to the GM), Charley Kerfeld (special assistant to the GM), Gordon Lakey (director, major league scouting), Steve Noworyta (director, minor league operations) and Marti Wolever (director, scouting) are all remaining with the organization.

As previously announced, former GM Pat Gillick will also remain with the club as an advisor to Amaro and club president David Montgomery.

Posted by Todd Zolecki @ 12:30 PM  Permalink | 24 comments
SAVE AND SHARE
Comments
Posted by Mark1npt 12:51 PM, 11/07/2008
This looks good....but does anybody feel displaced byt the Loopper hiring? He came out of the blue, no? Must have been a Gillick suggestion....Anyone know if we're losing any of our top scouts out in the field?....Can Arbuckle, assuming he gets another job in baseball, have the right to stage a raid and steal them away?
Posted by Sully 01:06 PM, 11/07/2008
My brain just exploded. Do the Phillies have a flowchart of the hierarchy? After Rube, who reports to whom?
Posted by Mark1npt 01:24 PM, 11/07/2008
Is this a prelude to the Phils signing Braden Looper off the FA pile?
Posted by B in DC 01:24 PM, 11/07/2008
That's got to be the first recorded request for a flowchart in the history of philly.com sports blogs.
Posted by Mark1npt 01:53 PM, 11/07/2008
There certainly never was an asst. to the asst. or special asst.in the old days....Paul Owens must be rolling in his grave with anothe scotch on the rocks.....but then again, if Gillick's way of going things nets us more WS wins, I ain't complainin'....we can have all the little Indian Chiefs Rube wants.
Posted by freyday17 02:47 PM, 11/07/2008
Where do I go to apply ?
Posted by Taxman 02:58 PM, 11/07/2008
Looks good to me go Phils. I think Chuck LaMar and crew can keep us in talant for many years.
Posted by The Red Robot 03:41 PM, 11/07/2008
It's a relief that they're retaining Lakey, Kerfeld, Woelver, et. al, but does anyone know what Dallas Green has done since '80 besides look leathery and act salty? As far as the other guys: It's good we now have a guy who oversaw the crash of the Mariners, as well as promoted a guy who worked for a Tampa team that only became good once he left. See you all on the Walt Whitman!
Posted by B in DC 03:45 PM, 11/07/2008
I wonder if Gillick knows something we don't know about Looper. Are the M's farm teams about to blow up? I don't follow farm systems enough to have a clue about that one.
Posted by B in DC 03:45 PM, 11/07/2008
I wonder if Gillick knows something we don't know about Looper. Are the M's farm teams about to blow up? I don't follow farm systems enough to have a clue about that one.
Posted by RichNC 04:03 PM, 11/07/2008
Looper's hire must have been the price for Gillick to remain an "advisor". Don't hate on LaMar. He drafted all those young, talented Rays -- his track record for player development is at least as good as Arbuckle.
Posted by incredulous 04:11 PM, 11/07/2008
Glad to see Wolever is staying around. That's big.
Posted by Truth 04:53 PM, 11/07/2008
The TRUTH show can now be found over at "SIXERVILLE" where long time KNOWLEDGEABLE writers/reporters (not cheerleaders) Smallwood and Jasner are located. It has been alot of fun blogging here and adding my version of the TRUTH. It's going to be a long off-season and everyone needs a break from baseball, it was indeed a glorious season. If there are any Sixer fans lets continue the conversation over there, if not I'll be speaking the TRUTH when pitchers and batters report in 3.5 months. GODSPEED to YOU
Posted by Blackacre 05:58 PM, 11/07/2008
I can't believe people are not absolutely thrilled to have Chuck LaMar here. The guy drafted almost the entire Rays team! No kidding they just got good this year, it takes time for all of that young talent to develop! And the reason so many people have "Assistant to..." next to their job title is for financial purposes, it allows them to be paid more. An Assistant to the GM will get paid more than someone that is just a director of something.
Posted by EL Zorro 06:17 PM, 11/07/2008
I don't want to rain in anybody's parade, but just because Amaro named them to new positions it means they are going to stay. Maybe they will, but remember two years ago when we hired Art Howe to be our 3B coach? After accepting he went to Texas. I don't think he ever got out of the airplane. Anyway, good decision by Ruben to make the first move.
About Andy Martino
Andy Martino is in his first season on the Phillies beat. A former New York City public school teacher and graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he previously wrote for the New York Daily News, where he covered baseball and worked with the award-winning investigative sports "I-team."