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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
24
Comments   
Posted 12:51 PM, 11/07/2008
Mark1npt
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 01:06 PM, 11/07/2008
Sully
My brain just exploded. Do the Phillies have a flowchart of the hierarchy? After Rube, who reports to whom?
Posted 01:24 PM, 11/07/2008
Mark1npt
Is this a prelude to the Phils signing Braden Looper off the FA pile?
Posted 01:24 PM, 11/07/2008
B in DC
That's got to be the first recorded request for a flowchart in the history of philly.com sports blogs.
Posted 01:53 PM, 11/07/2008
Mark1npt
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 02:47 PM, 11/07/2008
freyday17
Where do I go to apply ?
Posted 02:58 PM, 11/07/2008
Taxman
Looks good to me go Phils. I think Chuck LaMar and crew can keep us in talant for many years.
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Posted 03:45 PM, 11/07/2008
B in DC
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 03:45 PM, 11/07/2008
B in DC
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 04:03 PM, 11/07/2008
RichNC
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 04:11 PM, 11/07/2008
incredulous
Glad to see Wolever is staying around. That's big.
Posted 04:53 PM, 11/07/2008
Truth
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 05:58 PM, 11/07/2008
Blackacre
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 06:17 PM, 11/07/2008
EL Zorro
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.
Posted 07:52 PM, 11/07/2008
scars73
In reference to Chuck Lamar drafting the Rays top players, it's not all that hard when you have the 1st or 2nd pick every year.
Posted 08:01 PM, 11/07/2008
Stanley Levin
TEN years as general manager of the Tampa Bay Rays! Wow! That sounds like a ringing endorsement!...lol
Posted 08:31 PM, 11/07/2008
rlinsk
They need to add some people who can improve their presence in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere in Latin America (Juan Samuel??). The Phils seem not to discover/draft/develop players from there, compared to other teams.
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Posted 04:19 AM, 11/08/2008
joboggi
This has Gillick's stamp all over it. Kerfield and Lakey are KEY Gillick confidants. Looper is from Seattle. Ruben is being given adults with a proven record. Of course, one of them (Green) is old enough to remember the day the Phils were founded. For next year's team to work, Ruben ( One e ) has one decision to make. Who will play left field? If future years teams are to work, then the player development/scouting folks need to come through. With Arb gone, seeing Lakey and Kerfield is comforting. While Ruben has baseball in his blood, he has never driven the car on his own before. Arb is responsible for the core, and now he is gone. Gillick's constant tinkering got the team over the top, isn't that great!!! Will the Phils go back to the days when a sandwich pick meant onions or relish? Will they go back to the days when rule 5 was something everyone had to look up? Will the Phils find themselves starting draft day a lot later then the the rest of the league? With all of these adults in place, I am thinking that the Phils will be OK. Sandwich picks, rule 5 picks, and keeping your high draft picks can keep a team healthy and competing for a long time.
Posted 05:42 AM, 11/08/2008
SCB
Hey, on the flowchart - should that be in black and white or should the Phillies splurge their budget and go for colour?
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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."