Dear Angry Phillies Fans & Amaro Haters: Theres no question its sad. It stinks - they stink. Truthfully, its hard to believe the same Phillies team that won a World Series and five straight division titles is this bad. Yep, hard to believe Harry. So whos to blame? There must be somebody to blame for this, right? I mean, thats what we do when it goes wrong, point the finger, blame somebody! Boo! Fire general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., its completely his fault! Thats all Phillies fans are yelling right now! Fire Ruben Amaro Jr., Its completely his fault! I get it, its frustrating, its beyond frustrating. So Amaro is all to blame for this mess, right? After all, blaming all of this on Amaro is easy. He is the GM, he is in charge, hes the boss, he gave out these rich contracts with extra years and extra vesting options and he shouldve seen this collapse coming before anyone else, right? Well, yes and no. I am not defending Amaro 100% here but you have to look at the entire situation, piece by piece, as painful as that is. I get it, this is a bad last place baseball team and they have gone backwards the last three years. Its tough to watch! Theres no question Amaro added fuel to the fire by not having a fire sale before Thursdays trade deadline. For all of the Phillies fans killing Amaro for not making a trade or blowing up the roster, what if the other teams were not willing to give the Phillies players/prospects who have MLB potential? Should Amaro just give away Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Cole Hamels, Marlon Byrd, AJ Burnett, Jonathan Papelbon, etc., for guys who will never see the light of day in the majors, let alone be productive MLB players? What would be the point? The Phillies are willing to eat a lot of money because they can afford it, but to trade a guy just to trade a guy doesnt always make sense and could very easily set this franchise back another 5 to 7 years. To say, just give them away for nothing is an ignorant and immature way to look at it. A lot of people say Amaro over values his own players? Maybe or maybe not? Amaro knows these players are not worth as much today as they were in 2011 or 2012, but its bad business to give away guys at their lowest value and he couldnt possibly have had a fire sale three years ago and thats why the situation is so complicated right now. Hindsight is 20/20 and Im sure reading this, youre thinking Im an apologist for Amaro and the Phillies, Im not. Its not Rubens fault the Phillies didnt win another World Series or two. And how much better would you feel about this decline and the general manager over the last three years, if they had won another World Series or two? On Rubens watch the Phillies went to the World Series in 2009 and then had the best record in baseball during the regular season in both 2010 and 2011. Its not his fault they came up a hit or two short in the 2010 National League championship series against the San Francisco Giants. Its also not his fault Cliff Lee blew a four run lead in the 2011 National League divisional series against the St. Louis Cardinals & its also not his fault they came up a hit or two short in game five of the NLDS, is it? Is it Amaros fault the Phillies only got three hits off of Chris Carpenter in game five? Is it Amaros fault Ryan Howard hit only .105 in the 2011 NLDS? Had they won another World Series in 2009, 2010 or 2011 Amaro would probably get more of a break by all of the angry Phillies fans that want him fired. Was Amaro supposed to blow up the roster after the 2011 NLDS defeat and a MLB high 102 regular season wins? Its easy to say yes now because they have failed to make the playoffs since. Amaro could not have predicted all of the key injuries. Howard missed a ton of time in 2012 as did Utley. Howard again had health issues in 2013 as did Roy Halladay. Again, not all Amaros fault. Phillies fans were applauding Amaro when he landed Cy Young award winners Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee as well as Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence, all for prospects in the system. By the way to this date, zero of those prospects the Phillies gave away for that collection of all All-Stars, have come back to haunt them - 0. For arguments sake, if Amaro did not re-sign Ryan Howard, did not re-sign Chase Utley, did not re-sign Jimmy Rollins, did not re-sign Cliff Lee and let them walk over the last few years, the fan base wouldve killed him correct? Its easy to stand here now and say its all his fault because he put this thing together and its not working, but its not all his fault. Its easy to point at the Ryan Howard $125 million deal as being a huge mistake, but Howard was on pace for Hall of Fame type numbers at the time and you could not have predicted he would have had a devastating and career altering injury in 2011. Howard, by the way, is still on pace for roughly 23 homers and 92 runs batted in this season and thats without taking into account he statistically has his best months in August and September. Howards 16 HR right now is 5th best among National League First baseman. Also only one player in the NL has more runs batted in against left-handed pitching & Howard is ranked in the top 10 among NL 1B in fielding percentage. Does that equal $25 million a year, maybe not, but if he made $20 million instead, would you feel any better? Maybe, but money is not an issue to the Phillies, so what do you care what his pay check is? The Howard scenario is not all on Amaro, its apart of the business. The Phils were trying to lock up their star players at a younger age. Howard is not the only first baseman in major-league baseball making a ton of money and putting up similar numbers. Texas first baseman Prince Fielder makes $24 million a year and hes only hit three homers this year and has been sidelined with an injury. Fielder and Howard have virtually identical home run numbers over the last two years and if you compare their career numbers, Howard has more HRs over the last decade than Fielder. How about Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira? He makes over $23 million this year and Teixeira has 19 homers, only three more than Howard and hes batting .236, also not that much better than Howard. Tex also has fewer RBIs than the Big Piece. Like it or not, this is the type of money power hitting first baseman command. Fans also say the Phillies shouldve moved on from Jimmy Rollins. Well who would replace this: JRoll, the former NL MVP, is ranked in the top five in home runs, runs, walks and stolen bases among all Major League Shortstops. Rollins is also ranked in the top five in all of baseball in fielding percentage. What else do you want? Stud shortstops dont grow on trees! How many shortstops have been consistently better than Rollins and are the Phils capable of getting that player on their team? The Phillies locked up their stud players in the prime of their careers and also made tough decisions by letting Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino go. Good move or bad move by Amaro? Werth got $126 million over seven years from the Washington Nationals and he has not even made an All-Star team since leaving Philadelphia, so was Werth worth the money? Both Werth and Victorino have been injured a lot, and for the most part, have not lived up to their contract values according to the fans expectations. What if they were still on the Phillies roster at their current price? Amaro could not keep everyone. Look, did the Phillies give out a lot of money, and a lot of years to a lot of guys? Yes! Maybe too much? Maybe? But thats also what happens in the baseball business when all-stars and franchise caliber players are set to become free-agents. The players and their agents want to be rewarded with cash and lots of it. Its definitely easier to say yes, all the money, all of the years and bonus vesting options backfired now, because they are not getting production or any trade value in return. Hey maybe those contracts would be easier to trade and get rid of now, if they were shorter and less expensive. And then again, maybe not. When the Phillies signed Jonathan Papelbon a few years ago he was the best closer on the market. Did Amaro overpay for Papelbon a little bit? Probably, but we will never know that and thats what happens in free agency and to be honest, Papelbon has been very good and shouldve been an all-star again this year. What wouldve happened if the Phillies signed Ryan Madson instead of Papelbon? Talk about a mess! Mike Adams also looked like a good veteran set up man addition a few years ago but he got hurt. Did Amaro give Marlon Byrd an extra vesting option for 2016, probably, but maybe thats what it took to get a deal done and they needed a right fielder. Byrd, by the way is one of the best hitters in the National League right now, he has 21 Home runs, only two NL players have more. How about, AJ Burnett, he got a lot of money for a one-year deal that also includes an option, but hes an experienced pitcher, who was won a World Series and you can never have enough pitching. Amaro Is also blamed for their lack of talent in their minor-league system. Amaro did trade away, for the most part, all of their top prospects, but name one player that has come back to haunt them, let alone that is playing well in the major leagues? Name one? In return for depleting the Phillies minor-league system, which he admitted to doing years ago, he got proven major-league talent, who are by the way Cy Young award winners and All-Stars. Everybody wants to get excited about minor-league prospects and and what this guy may or may not do one day, but the fact is most guys dont work out, let alone make it to the major leagues. Look, every team in major-league baseball is filled with so called top prospects who never make it. Again, Im sure reading this, youre thinking Im an apologist for Amaro and the Phillies, Im not. Trading away Lee the first time was a mistake; they ended up re-signing him anyway and losing their 2011 first round draft pick in the process. Trading away Pence was a mistake. Sometimes the small moves matter too! Ryan Vogelsong was in the Phillies organization and was released in 2010. In 2011, Vogelsong was an all-star for San Francisco. In 2012, he won a World Series. Having an inadequate bench the last few years has burned them. Letting a productive pinch hitter like Kevin Frandsen go in spring training was not smart. Amaro, has made mistakes but was also caught in between a tough transition of an aging Phillies roster full of MVPs, Cy Young award winners and all-stars. The majority of the Phillies roster has been full of players, who you could say, are the best players in franchise history to play their position. For every move Amaro made, what were his other options at the time? Its the only fair way to look at it. Its the only way to judge it. Look the Phillies are paying the price for all of it, theres no question! Amaro and the Phillies went for it and are now getting killed for it. We knew this was going to happen. We knew this day would one day be here, the day we could say their run was over. Its sad and frustrating but its evolution. It was so exciting and so good for so long, thats what makes this Phillies team today so depressing. Phillies fans fell deeply in love with these players and the high of going to the playoffs five years in a row and now it feels like they are breaking your heart. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, even if you do everything right, it still may not work out. Did Amaro do everything right? No, of course not, but is this all Amaros fault? No! There are a lot of factors and variables that go into this: Amaro, the front office, scouts, age, injuries, timing, luck and last but not least - the players. This is the price you pay in baseball, this is the price you pay for guaranteed contracts. As much as you want to pick on the Phillies for having a $178 million payroll and not making the playoffs since 2011, Its not necessarily better anywhere else. The New York Yankees have not made the playoffs since 2012 and they dont appear to be going back again this season and their payroll is roughly $210 million. The good news is that the Phillies have cash and lots of it. Theres a chance they will be able to buy their way out of this mess or maybe not. Amaro claims the Phillies will makes changes for next season, but only time will tell what happens and if it will make a difference next year or anytime soon after. More importantly than trying to buy your way out of this situation, the Phillies have to rebuild through the draft, its really the only way. Thats how this franchise became successful in the first place. Granted, the Phillies traded away prospects but they have not had a first-round pick develop into a MLB All-Star in more than a decade when they selected Cole Hamels in 2002. They also lost their first-round picks in 2009, 2011 and 2012 when they signed free agents Raul Ibanez, Lee and Papelbon, but hey its the price they paid to go for multiple World Series titles. Phillies fans say the Phillies have not drafted well, yes and no. Do you know how hard it is to hit a home run in the draft and developing players consistently year after year? Everybody swings and misses. Millville native Mike Trout is arguably the best player in major-league baseball right now and just about every team passed on him in the draft in 2009. How about Phoenixville native Mike Piazza who was drafted in the 62nd round in 1988 and only as a favor to Tommy Lasorda. Piazza was a 12-time all-star and one of best catchers in the history of the game. We could go on and on. Hindsight is 20/20. Nobody is on top forever, thats why you should appreciate the remarkable run they had between 2007-2011, even if it still was not good enough in your eyes. You have to ask yourself though what would be good enough? I remember the Phillies getting booed on opening day in 2009, the very day they received their 2008 World Series rings! Too soon? You have to have reasonable expectations. To win every year in professional sports is impossible. Its such a hard and complicated and unpredictable business. Sometimes we forget that these athletes are human, despite the pedestal we put them on and despite their astronomical contracts. Have the Phillies made mistakes, yes. Has Amaro made mistakes, yes. Amaro and the Phillies, also gave this city a great baseball team to watch and root for. They went for it and I commend them for that. You cant have it both ways. Thats why you should appreciate the good times, because they will not last forever.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 12:15:00 +0000
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