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»Read story: Phillies hoping to keep their window open
»Read story: Phillies hoping to keep their window open
Comments (22)
RAJ said it depends on how the young people perform. How funny! One, which young people
get a real shot because of all the old guys brought in each year. Secondly, the young people are closer to 30 than 20. He just doesn't get it. The window began closing when Gillick shut the door to GM office and he opened it. Why isn't the Phillie GM held accountable?— wmontanez27- I love spring training. Let's go phillies!— Fritz and Alice
- wm, it's a misquote. RAJ actually said "Young."— cambo
-  Panefully speaking -pun intended, Amaro broke the window years ago when he signed Howard to a big contract, left proven players leave without replacing them with talented players, coughed up money for sore armed relievers,filled the empty holes in the line up with empty heads and overpaid generally when using player who showed promise in trades. This team at this moment, and there's no reason to believe it will improve, could finish in 4th place . Earlier I said 3rd., however that would take 110% effort on the recuperating major league players they have on the roster, and a miracle for the other 4 or 5 stumblebums in place of major league players.
It's time the Phillies change GM's. No manager could win with this roster.— phineas - One more year and then I'm retiring and taking a vacation in Clearwater every Spring! I can hardly wait for baseball to begin, even if the Phils come up short again. Hey it's baseball time!— kd45music
- Just you wait and see, this is going to be a huge years for the Phillies.— The Moose is Loose
- I just don't understand the Pence and Victorino trades more in terms of, first the timing and second, what we got for them. I agree that Vic as a FA was way over priced but Pence with a decent hitting coach and manager would be pretty good power in RF as awkward as he is.— majpooper
- oh gimme a break ... more of the same b.s. excuses from the most incompetent g.m. in sports... yeah yeah we already know the end: it will be because of "injuries" and "nonperformance" by a roster full of old and injury-prone overrated overpaid medicocre has-beens or never-will-be's..this season will be "pivotal" if it results in firing the Clueless Rube and hiring someone with minimal competence— warbiscuit
- Maj:i think its fair to say that sometimes you just need to jetison ppl. Vic was a good player but at times lacked focus and would get lazy. Pence was abysmal when relied upon last year and most would agree he is not the reason SF won the WS.
And for the Howard haters, did anyone see this team without him in the lineup? Did anyone see how much money Prince Fielder got with omp. numbers and defense? Will all of you say 4 years down the road that Hamels was a bad signing? Lets get off this hate for howard and focus on what RAJ is doing now: giving prospects a chance. Young/Young: 1 year deal. The emergence of Galvis could make Utley expendable after this year. So right there are 2 infield spots that have a year of transition. Sometimes you need to take a step back to go forward. RAJ didnt agree with that last year clearly based on the awful offseaon the Phils had and it showed. Now, this team is on the right track.— frstrm - "minimal competence" - and a capacity for at least some truth and accountability for himself - would be a massive improvement in the GM position for this team. Instead, we get nothing from this guy but spoon-fed posturing designed to deflect attention from his failures while always maintaining a firewall for himself -
1) he retains the popular, bumbling manager because he knows he can, even if he shouldn't,
2) he acknowledges the continued bad health issues of his core group knowing they are among the most popular players in club history ,
3) he plays up the will-he-or-won't-he development of Domonic Brown, where Amaro sees him, self as the victim in this charade
4) he boasts of his risk mitigation strategies, bringing in the likes of D. Young, Revere, and Durbin and others on a shoestring, and has made the phrase "low-risk/high-reward" the central theme for a team still outspending 95% of his competition...seems Amaro likes it both ways.
Amazingly, he keeps his bosses fooled and happy, probably because they've lost their zeal to win, having won massively already in the capital appreciation world.
— advantasux - "According to Ruben Amaro Jr., there was a miscommunication issue with Cruz' agent about the report date" ...
NO, per other article, it's now clear that this is a bold-faced lie, as Cruz was never under contract and is now free to sign with any team becuase Rube misrepresented the truth once again to players and agents (like he did to Lee in 2009, Madson, Lidge, Shwimer, and I'm sure many others that we dont know about)... Rube is not only imcredibly incompetent, but his propensity for arrogance, dishonesty and inability to get along with underlings or coaches make him uniquely unqualified in every way..one of the more despicable public figures in sports— warbiscuit - Only one thing to say about this mess. Train wreck.— truthfirst
- I blame the players and manager/cheerleader Cholly Manuel for the failures of 2009-2011. Everything after 2011 is on Amaro.Trading Pence,Vic,Worley.Retaining Manuel. Adding non caliber MLB players like Mini Martiez,Herndon,Qualls,Schneider,Wiggington,Nix,Lannan,Quintero,Delmon Young,Revere. WTH?
Amaro seems to be in one of these mindnumbing bad streaks where he cant do anything right. Pressure of failure has gotten to him. Its probably time for as fresh set of eyes to be running this organization. You have a $170 M payroll, a semi pro league outfield, and 2 starting pitchers that should probably be in AAA. If Halladay is the same Halladay as 2012 this team is in the exact same boat as it was last year. After Hamels and Lee its going to be a buffet for opposing hitters.— argonne - Amaro claimed there was a "miscommunication" with Cruz' agent about the report date?
Good one, Rube!
Liar, liar...pants on fire!— dasher - I predict ruben will fired before the all star game. great job you smug moron— stayoutofphilly
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