Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
November 02, 2008
Gain and a Loss

Via Balls, Sticks and Stuff, the Phillies are set to name Ruben Amaro, Jr. their new general manager on Monday.

The decision to hire Amaro, 43, is hardly a shock. There was strong speculation when Pat Gillick was hired three years ago that he was brought in, in part, to mentor the young assistant.

Amaro, who was often presented as the public face of the Phillies front office as Gillick preferred to operate of the spotlight, is heavily involved in many aspects of the organization, including contract negotiations. It was Amaro who introduced closer Brad Lidge and spoke for the organization when the Phillies announced his contract extension earlier this season.

Amaro has strong Phillies ties. His father, Ruben Sr., played for the Phillies and then worked for the team in a number of capacities. Ruben Jr. was a batboy for the Phillies from 1980 through 1983, and also played for the Phils in 1992-93 and 1996-98. He is also bilingual and a graduate of Stanford.

As BSS points out, however, the hiring comes with a loss:

What is of more concern is the loss of Arbuckle. He is the man predominantly responsible for the developing of most of the Phillies core -- Utley, Hamels, Howard, Rollins, Burrell, and Ruiz. That's six of the nine players in the starting lineup that just won the World Series. And not only will he be missed, but what of the people he might take with him when he goes?

Congratulations to Ruben Amaro. With Arbuckle's resume, I'm sure he'll wind up in an important position with another team.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:21 AM | Management | TrackBack (0)
Comments

seems ridiculous that we cant keep both. i understand arbuckle wants to find a gm job, and i dont blame him, but the phils worked best with these two as a tag team. just pay the man more money, give him a promotion to the next highest seat, and let them both do what they're good at. makes sense that despite winning, philly will still be philly

Posted by: BenJah at November 2, 2008 09:41 PM
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