phatj wrote:

steagles wrote:i think this should guarantee that no top tier free agent pitcher will willingly sign with the phillies.

nor will any pitcher with a NTC waive it to be acquired by the phillies.

I don't follow.

i don't think ruben knows anything about pitching, pitchers, or how to deal with them. i think that'll get around the league pretty quickly, and philadelphia will become a nonstarter for players and their agents.


it might be more intuitive than inferential, but i'm pretty sure that this is how it'll play out.

based on what? From what Ive heard Amaro has been good with the contract side of things.

The Red Tornado wrote:based on what? From what Ive heard Amaro has been good with the contract side of things.

this is based on his comments to media outlets and WIP. i don't think he has any idea of the intricacies involved in pitching at the highest level, nor do i think he has any appreciation of what it takes to get up every 5th day and stand out on an island, where you are essentially alone.

i think this might manifest itself in signing a guy like oliver perez, who is a tremendous talent, but who doesn't seem to have all his mental faculties in order.

i think this might manifest itself in drafting pitchers like colt griffin, who arerespected for their velocity, but show no signs of having decent secondary pitches, and also have no stomach for pitching over the course of an 8 month season.

i think this might manifest itself by dealing with pitchers as if they're football players. rub some dirt on it, walk it off, and get back out there.


basically, to me, ruben amaro comes off as a meathead who is dangerously oblivious to the mental side of pitching.

Well, my guess is that his first decision (albeit easy) was to not take the option on Flash and So. SO far SO good

I want my SCOUTS in tune with the "intricacies" and "mental side" of pitchers. I want my GM to be able to be able to listen to those scouts in identifying players who can help the team win and then pay those players accordingly for reasonable lengths of time.

No amount of armchair psychology based on interviews read and heard can give a fair read as to how well Amaro will do in trades / free agency, or in other GM'ing responsibilities.

Look, I wish the guy would fall down a well, but let's try a little tenderness for Christ's sake. He has no record to discuss yet. Hypothesizing a negative one is an exercise for the delusional that I hope most will pass on.

steven snell wrote:Well, my guess is that his first decision (albeit easy) was to not take the option on Flash and So. SO far SO good

technically wasnt that (and buying out So) Gillick's move?

karn wrote:I want my SCOUTS in tune with the "intricacies" and "mental side" of pitchers. I want my GM to be able to be able to listen to those scouts in identifying players who can help the team win and then pay those players accordingly for reasonable lengths of time.

No amount of armchair psychology based on interviews read and heard can give a fair read as to how well Amaro will do in trades / free agency, or in other GM'ing responsibilities.

Look, I wish the guy would fall down a well, but let's try a little tenderness for Christ's sake. He has no record to discuss yet. Hypothesizing a negative one is an exercise for the delusional that I hope most will pass on.

maybe i'm wrong, but a GM sets the tone. he hires the personnel, and he dictates the attitudes said personnel have.

i think amaro is toxic for pitching, and i think that'll show up eventually. i also think he's a smug brown-nosing ass, who is gonna drive talented personnel away from the team, both scouts, and players.

i think this is a bad hire, but i am willing to give it time, and let him prove himself before writing his epitaph.

Meh. The organization has earned the benefit of my doubt.

I think I said it elsewhere, but this is akin to bedding a supermodel, only to have her tell you, post-coitally, that she might have crabs.

I agree that he's smug, and my gut says that he won't be very good, BUT, I am willing to concede that he has been- in whatever capacity- a part of the construction and leadership behind the team that just won the World Series across two GM administrations. Now, either he's been weasely enough to connive his way this far while masking his true intentions once given power, or he's worked hard enough and well enough with some genuinely talented and better experienced people to have convinced David Montgomery that he's a genuinely strong GM candidate.

Sometimes being so close to this historically inept team as we are can color our perception of internal hires as being mere maintenance of the status quo, etc and so on. But sometimes it's not a bad thing at all. The culture right now of the organization is a winning one and morale is at an all-time high level. Amaro's played some small part in building that and he knows the depth charts top to bottom better than anyone they could have brought in from the outside to have to learn pretty much from scratch.

The last significant internal hires they made were of Manuel and Dubee. Those worked out. Amaro could too.

This article doesn't make me feel too good though

LINK

"Amaro, an assistant GM for 10 years with the Phillies, was chosen over Arbuckle, the club’s other assistant general manager.

Neither Amaro nor Arbuckle, long-time co-workers who are anything but close, was reached for comment today, but team sources say an official announcement will be made Monday morning.

Arbuckle, who has been with the Phillies since 1993, was informed Amaro was getting the GM job in an hour-long meeting on Saturday with team president David Montgomery, a team source said.

Arbuckle immediately resigned despite pleas to remain with the organization by Montgomery."

* * *

"The aftermath of Amaro being promoted could lead to more promotions and departures in the Phillies’ front office because, according to sources, many in the scouting and player-development department believed Arbuckle deserved the position and Amaro will want people he trusts in important positions.

Charley Kerfeld, a special assistant to the GM under Gillick, is expected to be Amaro’s right-hand man, a team source said.

There’s a good chance the Steve Nowortya, director of minor leagues, will be out of a job and director of scouting Marti Wolever, a long-time Arbuckle ally, might not want to stay.

It’s believed Montgomery will make an all-out attempt to keep Wolever, whose contract also expires in December. A team source said the Phillies probably will offer Wolver a three-year contract with a nice raise and possibly even Arbuckle’s official title – assistant general manager, scouting and player development."

The internal reaction to the Amaro anointing may tell us all we need to know about how Amaro is perceived by his peers

Woody wrote:The internal reaction to the Amaro anointing may tell us all we need to know about how Amaro is perceived by his peers

Swish. On one hand Arbuckle probably has more stroke in the market right now than at any time in his career...

....but on the other hand I'm wondering what choice the Phillies baseball men have at this point. Are there any open GM jobs right now for Arbuckle to get? Then he'd have to get it and he's about 0-3 so far in his pursuit of such a job and then he'd have to be in a position to bring all those other guys with him. I am hoping that we can retain Wolever and the scouts. Hopefully, the Prince of Smugness will really focus on the whole system so that it doesn't look like only Arbuckle was responsible for the success of the organization.

That article actually cheered me up a little.

It is great to see Montgomery at least recognizes the great job that Arbuckle has done and pleaded with him to stay. I am holding out hope that after cooling down for a few days and seeing a lack of opportunities out there, Arby might change his mind.

Perhaps more likely though, it is obvious that Wolever might leave due to his relationship with Arbuckle. It is great to see the Phillies planning to make a big push to keep him as well.

I don't think he's smug at all. I just think he tries to sound "official" all the time, like a PR person. Which is what I really hate about him, and probably why they chose him over Arbuckle. Any time he's interviewed he NEVER SAYS ANYTHING. If he's asked about offseason plans, he'll say something like "We'll look at our deficiencies and our budget and make a determination based on blah blah blah". He's really going to be infuriating as a GM.

Squire wrote:
On th

OH NO!! Someone kidnapped Squire mid-post!!

So what's wrong with Arbuckle?

The Red Tornado wrote:

Squire wrote:
On th

OH NO!! Someone kidnapped Squire mid-post!!

How do you know it was Squire who posted it? Without the author of the post signing it, I don't understand how you can tell who wrote it.

phatj wrote:So what's wrong with Arbuckle?

Judging from his comments to the media, he is not adept at saying the right thing. He is a good judge of young talent but has had a tendency to downgrade or damn with faint praise most minor leaguers he has commented upon over the years, including Howard and most recently Donald and Jaramillo. I'm going to guess he is a guy who does very well dealing one-on-one with his peers and with subordinates, works well on paper, but is a rotten interviewer who comes across as very unpolished. Probably teams can see him effectively handling most aspects of the job, but not being an acceptable public voice of the team.

Charley Kerfeld, a special assistant to the GM under Gillick, is expected to be Amaro’s right-hand man, a team source said.

admittedly i don't know much about kerfeld, but i'd rather see lamar in this position.