Ruben Amaro Jr. returns to Philly: 'I wish them well'

BOSTON — The Phillies clustered Monday afternoon near the batting cage for a pregame stretch and were greeted by a man wearing red. Ruben Amaro Jr., first-base coach for the Boston Red Sox, hugged his former players. They laughed. They wished one another luck.

"I hope they do really, really well," Amaro said. "Except when they play us."

This dynamic is rather unusual: On Wednesday, Amaro will return to Citizens Bank Park for the first time since his embattled tenure as Phillies general manager ended in September 2015. He will not be introduced or acknowledged at the stadium, but he will be on the field. His influence on the current Phillies remains strong. Seventeen players on the 25-man roster were acquired during Amaro's regime. All of the hitting prospects at triple A were Amaro's draft picks or trade returns.

He does not expect a warm welcome from Phillies fans.

"But that's OK," Amaro said. "They have short memories. It is what it is. I loved being with the organization. I love the people there. I keep in touch with a lot of people there still. … They're all like family."

Short memories?

"Well we had a really good run there," Amaro said. "Probably the best run the franchise ever had. So I was proud of that, being part of that. It doesn't matter. It's the past."

It is. Amaro, 52, has embarked on a new baseball path. He wears No. 20 in the first-base coach's box and aspires to be a big-league manager. But from 1996 to 2015, Amaro went to work in South Philadelphia as a player and executive.

He regrets not having the chance to guide the Phillies' current rebuilding process.

"I would've loved to have done that," Amaro said.

Amaro, though, is still defiant about his track record. He cited Jonathan Papelbon's four-year, $50 million contract as a criticized move that should be remembered differently. Papelbon became the Phillies' all-time saves leader. And, in 2015, Amaro flipped him for Nick Pivetta — now a young member of the Phillies' rotation.

"There's other things I wish we would have done a little differently," Amaro said. "When you have some of the circumstances that happen to us, there's just some things you can't control. When I think of Philadelphia, I think of very, very good things. All positive things. I understand why a move had to be made. I get it. I'm happy I'm getting the opportunity I'm getting now."

There is one dark thought that lingers in Amaro's head. Oct. 7, 2011. Halladay vs. Carpenter. Amaro was asked if he thought things would be different for him right now had the Phillies won that night.

"Yep. I do," he said. "I think that was one of the best teams we've ever had on the field. And I'm proud of the fact we got a chance to put that together."

He scanned the field at Fenway Park and saw familiar faces in uniform. Three of the four Phillies starters slated to pitch against the Red Sox this week were acquired by Amaro — Jerad Eickhoff in the Cole Hamels trade, Ben Lively in the Marlon Byrd trade, and Pivetta for Papelbon. Odubel Herrera, Maikel Franco, Tommy Joseph, Freddy Galvis, Cesar Hernandez. Some could be a part of the Phillies when they contend. Others will not.

"I wish them well," Amaro said. "They're developing. It's a process. They [the current Phillies' front office] talk about it a lot. And we knew that when we had to start breaking it down and rebuilding it and stuff. But it's hard to be patient and be a Phillies fan, a Philadelphia fan. That's just how it is. That's the life. So hopefully the fans can stay patient with them because they'll come around. They've got some good players. They just have to do develop and become better players."

Amaro and his wife still have a home in the Delaware Valley, but Amaro will stay in Center City with the Red Sox. He exchanged lineup cards with Phillies manager Pete Mackanin before Monday's game and the two men resumed a running joke from years ago.

Mackanin said it'll be "interesting" to see how Amaro is greeted at Citizens Bank Park.

"I don't know if he'll get a standing ovation like Utley did," Mackanin said. "I'm sure he's wondering how he'll be received."

He is.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't see it on the calendar right away," Amaro said. "It'll be nice to be back, I guess. Kind of cool. Kind of  strange."