Deal or No Deal - Ruben Amaro's tenure as GM

“Sports, I like sports,” George Costanza once said.

Whenever I think about the general manager of a baseball team I tend to think of that scene. That doesn’t have much to do with anything but I just wanted to give you a glimpse inside my head. Because once you get inside, there’s no turnin’ back baby.

Here’s a quick recap of the results of the last 5 Phillies seasons.

2008 – World Series champions

2009 – Lost in World Series (Yankees)

2010 – Lost in NLCS (Giants)

2011 – Lost in NLDS (Cardinals)

2012 – Lost too much to get into the playoffs

Notice any pattern?  Beside the fact that the team the Phillies lost to in each of those series won the World Series that year. Well, Ruben Amaro Jr. took over as GM in 2009.

A lot of credit has to go to Ed Wade as the man who laid the foundation for the (hopefully still) current run of Philadelphia Phillies dominance. Even more credit has to go to Pat Gillick who was the mastermind and architect behind getting a team with one burgeoning ace, a few All-Star infielders in their prime, and a bunch of also-rans to the pinnacle of baseball in 2008.

Think about it, the Phillies really overachieved considering the talent they had on the 2008 pitching staff. Especially if you compare it to every staff they’ve had since. Obviously, Hamels was untouchable during the entire 2008 postseason run, you don’t win NLCS and World Series’ MVPs without dominating. Hamels started and won game 1 of the World Series, but then take a look at who started the next three games. Brett Myers went in game 2 and the Phils lost 4-2. That wily old-timer Jamie Moyer took the hill in game 3 and kept the Phillies in it long enough to allow them to win 5-4 in a game that included home runs from Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Carlos Ruiz. “Fat Joe” Blanton started and socked a homer in a game 4 rout that saw the Phillies win 10-2. Howard homered twice in that game. Of course, Hamels started game 5 which the Phillies eventually won after a 2 day rain delay.

Hamels, Myers, Moyer, Blanton. Not that impressive of a staff but it was all the other moves that Gillick made that seemed to work out much better than any one could have expected. Nobody really knows how he did it, but Brad Lidge was perfect for the entire season when converting saves. JC Romero knew how to throw strikes back then. But really the biggest of all GM related moves were the acquisitions of Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth. Neither of those guys had done much of anything with their careers before their time in Philadelphia. Gillick, and by extension Charlie Manuel, took a chance on those two and it could not have worked out any better for all involved. The Phillies won the World Series and got back to it a year later. Victorino and Werth played pivotal rolls in more than a few postseason games, and they both proved to be All-Star caliber players when given the chance to play every day. Hell, Werth signed $126 million contract in free agency and Victorino just cashed in to the tune of 3 years $39 million with the Red Sox.

Gillick really seemed to have a knack for finding value in guys that nobody else found value in. It is really the best way to build a championship franchise but it is also really difficult. Winning the World Series in 2008 with marketable stars coupled with a brand new fan friendly ballpark meant that the Phillies have been printing money for the last five years. As the General Manager of a baseball team, that can be a gift and a curse.  When a GM is given free reign to spend and spend then expectations for a team can only grow. Maybe it was a perfect storm that got the Phillies a title in 2008, but Amaro has been determined to create another one ever since.

Ruben inherited a team with serious talent and immediately looked to improve upon a pitching staff that could get the Phillies back to top of the baseball world. You can’t fault the following moves made by Rube: The initial Cliff Lee trade, signing Roy Halladay, acquiring Roy Oswalt, signing Cliff Lee, and trading for Hunter Pence. Sure there have been more moves made, but every one of these moves was made in attempt to “put the Phillies over the hump.” If things fell the right way, any one of these moves could have proven to be a main reason the Phillies won another World Series. Essentially, even though the Phillies have not won another title you can’t put any blame on those moves as to reasons why they haven’t.

Of course, there have been plenty of other suspect transactions that Amaro has authorized since he took over and I would not be doing my job as lowly Phillies blog writer if I did not point out some of these. Last year, the hopeless triumvirate of Jim Thome, Ty Wiggonton, and the still on the roster Laynce Nix were supposed to fill in for a gimpy Ryan Howard. Job not well done. As the Phillies roster currently stands, Amaro has not done much with the corner outfield positions. This has been a combination of home grown talent not panning out the way most had hoped, and a few acquisitions that are of little to no consequence. The 2013 Spring Training not withstanding, Dom Brown has been a bust. He was once the most highly touted prospect in all of baseball, but he looked like he did not belong on the Major League level last year. John Mayberry will show flashes of brilliance but at this point in his career it is hard to believe he will ever show the consistency necessary to play every day in the show.

Then comes the contracts Ruben has doled out. Most of the big time salary guys on the Phillies I’m not too worried about, but if Ryan Howard does not have a comeback player of the year type season his contract will be seen as an albatross. He already had a down year in the contract's first year in 2011 and 2012 was a wash. This year will go very far in seeing just how bad the 5 year $125 million extension Howard signed is. Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels both signed contracts for over $100 as well but my stomach doesn’t feel too queasy when I think about those yet. Amaro went out on a limb and gave Jonathan Papelbon the richest reliever contract in MLB history. Pap signed for 4 years and $50 million. That kind of money is hard to justify for a reliever but if Papelbon can keep performing at an All-Star level the deal will be considered a success. Thankfully, Jimmy Rollins did not insist on a 4 year deal and Amaro got him signed for 3 years and $33 million.  Rollins performed well enough to justify that money last year, which is nice.

Looking forward, the perception of Amaro’s tenure, like most Phillies on this roster, can shift severely this year. If the additions of the projected every day players Ben Revere (centerfield) and proven veteran Michael Young (3^rd base) prove to be beneficial then Amaro can go from questionable to hero once again. Delmon Young showing up and playing well would also aid in believing in Amaro’s judgement and vision for the future.

I feel like I've ended all of these pre-season blogs the same way, but it only makes sense. We'll have to wait and see. I think Bart Scott said it best when it comes to how I feel about opening day.