Grotewold wrote:

Trent Steele wrote:I mean holy #$!&@ #$!&@ this can't be real. When I saw this morning that they were interested, I thought, this blows, this guy is a jerkoff, he's going to steal ABs against LHP from Mayberry and Ruf, that sucks, waste of money, opportunity cost waste, etc. But NOW HE'S THE STARTING RF? HOW THE #$!&@ #$!&@?

Grote/Dajafi, come on, you guys are smart and you like Amaro and were believers in his plan this offseason. Tell me what i'm missing here? Tell me I'm overreacting.

I don't really get it. I guess there's a chance he could recapture his 2010 output, Henderson helps him, weight loss and motivation for one last contract next year, etc. But the clubhouse stuff is either overblown or very unusual for the Phils.

Only thing I'll say about RF is he said "ideally" and then went on to say he could start the season on the DL. Could just be needling Brown and/or the reporters

To me, this is the bizarro Pierre signing. If he performs, he'll play. If he doesn't, he's being paid so little money--and it's not like he's going to match Pierre in the "good influence/does things the right way" department--that they'll cut his ass with extreme prejudice. In that eventuality, MLB will conclude that if he couldn't make it at age 27, in a well known "good veteran clubhouse," he's utterly hopeless and the next time you're likely to hear his name will be as a pre-commercial filler item on Sportscenter about how a former first overall pick was arrested for aggravated assault.

I'm not sure I "like" Amaro so much as 1) I don't believe him to be the utter imbecile so many people here see, and 2) I don't think there was any one or two silver-bullet moves available this winter to re-establish the Phils as clear favorites. His evident human asshattery aside, this move bothers me much, much less than buying Nick Swisher's early decline for $50-60 million plus the 16th overall pick, or Cody Ross's Young-ish mediocrity for 15 times as much money, or Scott Hairston's Young-ish mediocrity for 12 times as much money.

Amaro keeps saying "low-risk, high-reward." This is pretty much the definition of that. If Young didn't have the whole oafish-scumbag persona thing going, I suspect this would be a lot more evident to everyone here.

Just occurred to me that we basically just acquired a LESS selective version of Jeff Francouer without any of Francouer's good defensive qualities.

keithlaw ‏@keithlaw

Pointing out that Delmon Young can't handle right field is like saying that Olive Garden uses too much salt.

thank you for the clarity keith.

dajafi wrote:

Grotewold wrote:

Trent Steele wrote:I mean holy #$!&@ #$!&@ this can't be real. When I saw this morning that they were interested, I thought, this blows, this guy is a jerkoff, he's going to steal ABs against LHP from Mayberry and Ruf, that sucks, waste of money, opportunity cost waste, etc. But NOW HE'S THE STARTING RF? HOW THE #$!&@ #$!&@?

Grote/Dajafi, come on, you guys are smart and you like Amaro and were believers in his plan this offseason. Tell me what i'm missing here? Tell me I'm overreacting.

I don't really get it. I guess there's a chance he could recapture his 2010 output, Henderson helps him, weight loss and motivation for one last contract next year, etc. But the clubhouse stuff is either overblown or very unusual for the Phils.

Only thing I'll say about RF is he said "ideally" and then went on to say he could start the season on the DL. Could just be needling Brown and/or the reporters

To me, this is the bizarro Pierre signing. If he performs, he'll play. If he doesn't, he's being paid so little money--and it's not like he's going to match Pierre in the "good influence/does things the right way" department--that they'll cut his ass with extreme prejudice. In that eventuality, MLB will conclude that if he couldn't make it at age 27, in a well known "good veteran clubhouse," he's utterly hopeless and the next time you're likely to hear his name will be as a pre-commercial filler item on Sportscenter about how a former first overall pick was arrested for aggravated assault.

I'm not sure I "like" Amaro so much as 1) I don't believe him to be the utter imbecile so many people here see, and 2) I don't think there was any one or two silver-bullet moves available this winter to re-establish the Phils as clear favorites. His evident human asshattery aside, this move bothers me much, much less than buying Nick Swisher's early decline for $50-60 million plus the 16th overall pick, or Cody Ross's Young-ish mediocrity for 15 times as much money, or Scott Hairston's Young-ish mediocrity for 12 times as much money.

Amaro keeps saying "low-risk, high-reward." This is pretty much the definition of that. If Young didn't have the whole oafish-scumbag persona thing going, I suspect this would be a lot more evident to everyone here.

Reasonably stated, but I think this is completely different than Pierre, who was basically signed as a 5th OF and worked his way into more AB through a combination of merit/injuries/trades. I think they are going to give him a crack at the everyday job and that he was signed for that purpose. If he's .220 terrible, I agree he'll be cut. But that's unlikely to happen. He'll hit .270, walk in in 3% of his PA, hit an occasional HR with respectable RBI numbers, and destroy this team in non-traditional ways for several months. He'll be brutal on defense, ground into a ton of double plays, not get on base, hit for middling power, and just generally continue to suck.

There's no "high-reward" here. It's all risk to me. Focusing on the money is the wrong way to look at it. It's the opportunity cost of not ACTUALLY improving your team.

So did Amaro say he's our rightfielder or not?

Houshphandzadeh wrote:So did Amaro say he's our rightfielder or not?

He said he "hopes" he is.

I'm sure Amaro also hopes Young turns into Vlad Guerrero as he enters his magical age 27 career year. Maybe they trade him after the season for Sliding Billy Hamilton and start the Revere; Hamilton; Quinn era as the scarce run scoring environment age hits MLB for a decade.

Sounds like the ankle was a major factor the past two seasons, which could explain some of the drop-off. And he's still just 27, coming off a great postseason run. And he has all the motivation in the world to produce this year.

Red flags galore, but I do think there's upside

just stop. Might as well be saying third reich? well, third time is the charm!

Soren wrote:just stop. Might as well be saying third reich? well, third time is the charm!

Kelly started most of those Super Bowls

Apparently Amaro just said at the Reading banquet that Young will only play LF

Eem wrote:Apparently Amaro just said at the Reading banquet that Young will only play LF

Look out, Chooch

Nevermind, reporter said that tweet was a mistake

I'm pissed he's going to take ab's from Ruf or even cause him to be sent to the minors. Seeing if Ruf can cut it is one of the things I'm genuinely looking forward to this year.

if he sucks, charlie will not play him

Trent Steele wrote:

Houshphandzadeh wrote:So did Amaro say he's our rightfielder or not?

He said he "hopes" he is.

Yeah, I think Amaro has no idea quite what he'd going to get out of Ruf, and not a great deal clearer idea of what to expect from either Brown or Mayberry. so he's throwing in a veteran to compete for the spot just in case no one else rises to meet the Phillies' best hopes.

Though this still leaves the best possible scenario as being that Young doesn't play. That's not a good formula to get excited about a signing.

bleh wrote:

jew worms

Just out of curiosity, what was Jim Bowden's prediction for Young's 2013 salary? (I don't have Insider.)

Eem wrote:Nevermind, reporter said that tweet was a mistake

Ian Riccaboni @IanRiccaboni
Correction! Delmon will only play RIGHT

i will be mad if they don't give dom/ruf a fair shot over this guy, but until that actually happens, meh