Posts Tagged ‘Evaluation’

Ruben's smitten!

This is the final installment of a series in which I attempt to objectively evaluate Ruben Amaro’s performance as general manager. Part I can be found here, and Part II here.

I concluded Part II with a paragraph that I probably should have saved for the end of this post. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a “edit” function on this blog, or a “delete” key on my keyboard, so my slight error will live on in infamy. Still, when you examine Ruben’s dealings with other ballclubs, as I will today, it remains apparent that he is capable of alternating strokes of genius and mediocrity. The trades, and accompanying analysis, after the jump.

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This is the second in a three part series that attempts to objectively evaluate the performance of Ruben Amaro as general manager. For Part I, click here.

As I mentioned in my introductory post, I’m more of a harsh critic on Amaro than most Phillies fans. After all, the man is batting 1.000 in NL pennants per season at the helm, and we’re still less than five years removed from the Dark Ages of Ed Wade (hard to believe, isn’t it?). You might call me spoiled by recent success, even unappreciative. That couldn’t be further from the truth; I simply like winning and want our front office to continue putting us in the best possible position to do so for many years to come.

In Part I, I discussed Amaro’s handling of arbitration-eligible players and extensions, where the overwhelming majority of his best work has occurred, so I may not have seemed particularly critical of his performance. Today, however, I’ll be examining his forays into the free agent market, and I have some serious issues there. Read on after the jump…

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Shortly after our glorious World Series victory, Pat Gillick stepped down as general manager and was replaced by Ruben Amaro. There was, understandably, some trepidation among discerning Phillies fans. Not only did this lead to long-time assistant GM and respected scouting guru Mike Arbuckle leaving the organization, but Amaro was initially under the tutelage of Ed Wade, who was by all accounts a big, stupid doo-doo head. With a season and two winters under his belt, there’s enough activity to fairly evaluate his work up to this point, and draw some conclusions about the kind of GM he is.

Today, I’ll be looking at how Amaro has handled arbitration, contract extensions, and re-signings. Going forward, my intention is to objectively evaluate Amaro’s decisions without relying on the gift of hindsight; that is to say, I’m attempting to judge the merits of transactions based on what was known at the time. It would hardly be fair to expect Amaro to know the future, after all. Analysis after the jump…

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