Ruben Amaro does it again

[TOXIC ASSETS]

Ruben does his best Leon Hess imitation ("I want to win now" when he hired Rich Kotite to coach the Jets).....and signs Chad Billingsley to join the Phils staff. I don't care if Chad came cheap, what's the damn point here? Time to get younger, not older, Ruben. If there's a worse GM in baseball, I'd like to know about it.

http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/mlb/ ... illingsley

[Bronx Yankees]

Ruben does his best Leon Hess imitation ("I want to win now" when he hired Rich Kotite to coach the Jets).....and signs Chad Billingsley to join the Phils staff. I don't care if Chad came cheap, what's the damn point here? Time to get younger, not older, Ruben. If there's a worse GM in baseball, I'd like to know about it.

http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/mlb/ ... illingsley

Can't argue with any of that, but as a lifelong, die-hard, long-suffering Jets fan, the last thing I need to see when I wake up in the morning is a Rich Kotite reference. Ugh! Futility personified. Nausea-inducing. Those were two especially dark years. Let's keep these Boards Kotite-free please. Thanks.

Mike

[DOUGHBOYS]

Amaro's ineptitude is known by all, especially Phils fans. And he continually does things that make everybody scratch their head.
Imagine that you have an old jalopy in the garage and your wife wants you to get rid of it. You would put an ad somewhere putting that car in the best light. That's what we all do.
Amaro does this....

"We've talked to Ryan," Amaro said. "And I told him that in our situation it would probably bode better for the organization not with him but without him. With that said if he's with us, then we'll work around him. We'll hope he puts up the kind of numbers that we hope he can and we'll see where it goes from there."

This is like trying to sell the car with an ad that reads, "I have a car. It's slow, old, and would rather it be in your garage than mine.
Instead of extolling the virtues of Howard staying healthy and driving in 95 runs, Amaro paints Howard as being an overpaid slug. Forgetting that HE overpaid the slug.

Amaro then blames other GM's for doing something he has never done in his career.
There is this...

'Ruben Amaro said other GM’s were overvaluing prospects, and that his demands for his own players were reasonable.
Amaro is still shocked he hasn’t been able to arrive at a deal, particularly for closer Jonathan Papelbon.'

Amaro has painted himself in a corner with Paps. He knows that Sandberg and Papelbon are a match made in Hell.
And now that he wants to trade Papelbon for prospects, it has become other GM's who over value prospects.
Then, there is this...

'Last week, rumors came out that the Milwaukee Brewers were about to make a giant mistake and trade something of some value to the Phillies for Jonathan Papelbon. The Brewers were interested in Papelbon, but as soon as those reports heated up, they subsided. Why? Because Ruben Amaro’s vesting options, like in many of the contracts he draws up, are a real problem.
the Phillies could give some closing opportunities to Ken Giles early in the season, making it harder for Papelbon to reach the 48 games finished mark that activates his option. Then, knowing whatever team gets him wouldn’t have to worry about paying him a ridiculous option, Papelbon all of a sudden becomes more tradable. Of course, Papelbon would probably light the clubhouse on fire if the Phils tried to pull those shenanigans. Either way, he’s not very appealing at the moment.'

Vesting options are a bane for most Managements, but Amaro promised them to almost every player signed.
Amaro is now paying off most of the vesting options in trades.
There is this,,,,

"Yes, it's a tough decision to give up a young pitcher, but it really is a strength of our organization, especially right-handed pitching,'' Reds GM Walt Jocketty said. "They are paying a significant amount of his salary this year, which is the only way we would have been able to do this deal.''
Byrd gets $8 million next season on the final year of a two-year deal that includes an $8 million team option for 2016. The Phillies included cash to pay part of Byrd's salary as part of the deal.

Right now, Amaro is a lame duck trying to fix his own mistakes. I wondered why Philly didn't fire him. But now know why.
He is Ernest T. Bass. He threw the rocks through the window. And Andy is making him fix the windows before he boots him out of town.
Amaro has done so much damage to this franchise, the after effects will be felt for years.

Amaro signing Harang. Amaro signing Billingsley?
He still can't help himself.
At the very least, they didn't get options.

[Yah Mule]

Ruin Tomorrow is such an apt nickname.

[Hells Satans]

I hate Ruben Amaro more than anyone and I say a rosary every night that he gets caught up on some type of prostitution scandal. but the Harang and Billingsley signings are no-risk, low-cost deals that Phillies fans should be happy about. Someone needs to pitch, and the current rotation includes Jerome Williams and David Buchanan, both of whom are as likely to be DFA'd as they are to post an ERA under 4.5. These are good deals for a team that is likely to be the worst in MLB and has no ML-ready pitching prospects except Nola, who has about 50 professional innings under his belt.

They did something very similar last year with Roberto Hernandez and obtained a pretty good return for him from the Dodgers.

[Potter]

Amaro's ineptitude is known by all, especially Phils fans. And he continually does things that make everybody scratch their head.
Imagine that you have an old jalopy in the garage and your wife wants you to get rid of it. You would put an ad somewhere putting that car in the best light. That's what we all do.
Amaro does this....

"We've talked to Ryan," Amaro said. "And I told him that in our situation it would probably bode better for the organization not with him but without him. With that said if he's with us, then we'll work around him. We'll hope he puts up the kind of numbers that we hope he can and we'll see where it goes from there."

This is like trying to sell the car with an ad that reads, "I have a car. It's slow, old, and would rather it be in your garage than mine.
Instead of extolling the virtues of Howard staying healthy and driving in 95 runs, Amaro paints Howard as being an overpaid slug. Forgetting that HE overpaid the slug.

Amaro then blames other GM's for doing something he has never done in his career.
There is this...

'Ruben Amaro said other GM’s were overvaluing prospects, and that his demands for his own players were reasonable.
Amaro is still shocked he hasn’t been able to arrive at a deal, particularly for closer Jonathan Papelbon.'

Amaro has painted himself in a corner with Paps. He knows that Sandberg and Papelbon are a match made in Hell.
And now that he wants to trade Papelbon for prospects, it has become other GM's who over value prospects.
Then, there is this...

'Last week, rumors came out that the Milwaukee Brewers were about to make a giant mistake and trade something of some value to the Phillies for Jonathan Papelbon. The Brewers were interested in Papelbon, but as soon as those reports heated up, they subsided. Why? Because Ruben Amaro’s vesting options, like in many of the contracts he draws up, are a real problem.
the Phillies could give some closing opportunities to Ken Giles early in the season, making it harder for Papelbon to reach the 48 games finished mark that activates his option. Then, knowing whatever team gets him wouldn’t have to worry about paying him a ridiculous option, Papelbon all of a sudden becomes more tradable. Of course, Papelbon would probably light the clubhouse on fire if the Phils tried to pull those shenanigans. Either way, he’s not very appealing at the moment.'

Vesting options are a bane for most Managements, but Amaro promised them to almost every player signed.
Amaro is now paying off most of the vesting options in trades.
There is this,,,,

"Yes, it's a tough decision to give up a young pitcher, but it really is a strength of our organization, especially right-handed pitching,'' Reds GM Walt Jocketty said. "They are paying a significant amount of his salary this year, which is the only way we would have been able to do this deal.''
Byrd gets $8 million next season on the final year of a two-year deal that includes an $8 million team option for 2016. The Phillies included cash to pay part of Byrd's salary as part of the deal.

Right now, Amaro is a lame duck trying to fix his own mistakes. I wondered why Philly didn't fire him. But now know why.
He is Ernest T. Bass. He threw the rocks through the window. And Andy is making him fix the windows before he boots him out of town.
Phils fans will suffer for a long time. Amaro has done so much damage to this franchise, the after effects will be felt for years.

Amaro signing Harang. Amaro signing Billingsley?
He still can't help himself.
At the very least, they didn't get options.

Put this one in the "Best of Doughboys" anthology.

[76erfan]

yeah i hate amaro but i got no problems with these deals. one year...need guys to eat innings this year...if they do well first half you flip them for a prospect at deadline similiar to what they do with Roberto Hernandez last year....no harm in these one year deals.

The fact that howard and papelbon are still around is whats killing me.

He cant screw up the hamels trade so I dont have a problem with him being picky on that front.

[DOUGHBOYS]

He cant screw up the hamels trade so I dont have a problem with him being picky on that front.

Seriously, if I am Phils Ownership, I do not give Amaro the power to trade Hamels.
Deal Howard and Papelbon and whoever else Ownership deems expendable.
Then fire Amaro and let the new GM deal Hamels for prospects that he and his new regime desire.

[76erfan]

He cant screw up the hamels trade so I dont have a problem with him being picky on that front.

Seriously, if I am Phils Ownership, I do not give Amaro the power to trade Hamels.
Deal Howard and Papelbon and whoever else Ownership deems expendable.
Then fire Amaro and let the new GM deal Hamels for prospects that he and his new regime desire.

yeah he shouldnt be in charge. they recently made gillick president(who is too old school) so amaro probably has one year to show signs of a turnaround.

just saying if he is getting low balled for hamels...its ok to hold on to him.

there are a few teams that really need an ace that may cave eventually.

[TOXIC ASSETS]

That's an epic rant, Dough.
Bronx -- sorry for bringing back those bad Kotite memories!

At least the Phillies have kept Pat Gillick around to help straighten out this mess.
Face it Phils fans, we are STUCK with Ryan Howard until the end of his contract which other than A=Rod's contract may be the worst in MLB history. He's untradeable.