2010/11 Phillies Offseason Thread

[PhillyPhreak54]

Philly Mag article on His Highness, Ruben Amaro Junior;

http://www.phillymag.com/articles/ruben_amaro_jr_arms_dealer/page1

Amaro had assembled the smallest possible circle of advisors for pursuing Lee. Gillick, Proefrock and Phillies president David Montgomery. That was it. No one else, not even manager Charlie Manuel, could know what was brewing. Though there was one other person he told. On the last weekend of negotiations, Amaro called Roy Halladay and asked what he thought of the team pursuing Lee, knowing they'd have to give him more money and years than they'd given Halladay.

"Ruben, I just want to win," the pitcher told Amaro. "I don't care what you give the guy."

So much for needing to massage the ego of Halladay, who was merely the National League's best pitcher last year.

And then, shortly after rejecting the Phillies' initial offer, Braunecker called Proefrock. Lee was still willing to consider, he said.

This was Amaro's element.

"Ruben and Scott were sitting there like they were in a NASCAR race," recalls Gillick. "Just sitting in third place, idling, letting New York and Texas blow their wads and do what they had to do."

Amaro also knew not to overplay the cunning and intrigue of the deal. "Sometimes GMs think it's such a poker game that they try too hard to create illusions," says Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane. "With Ruben, he's not going to play games with you. That's why people like dealing with him."

To that end, Amaro had been frank with Lee and his agent from the beginning. He'd told them, "Look, you guys are the ones who are going to have to make this happen. Not me. You guys are the ones who will have to bite the bullet, because we're probably not going to be able to match the money or contract years of the other guys."

IT'S IRONIC, PERHAPS, that the first bit of feedback Amaro received after the good news broke was not one of praise, but derision. It came in the form of a text from the recently expatriated Jayson Werth. All it said was this:

"BOOOOOOOO!"

"That reaction from Jayson was funny," says Amaro in his office in February, again flashing that smile. "He was pissed off. He had just signed with Washington. He said to me, 'You dumbass. You could've had both of us.' And I said, 'You're the dumbass. You could have taken our arbitration offer.'"

lol

[Don Ho]

HA!  

I want to say farg you Werth but I know I'll really be missing him come June 1.  Enough time to know what the bums got in RF.

[charlie]

HA!  

I want to say farg you Werth but I know I'll really be missing him come June 1.  Enough time to know what the bums got in RF.

June 1st is right around the time Werth usually goes into a 12 for 80 funk with 46ks.

[Rome]

The Phils are on MLB Network right now against the Roy Jays.

[Sgt PSN]

After reading that article, I'm officially taking a stance opposite Phreak.  Farg it.  Rube is farging awesome.  Phreak hating on Amaro for his smugness is akin to IGY hating on Mcnabb for being corny.

[MDS]

wheeler and mccarthy

kill me now

[Rome]

I don't see any reason for Luis Castillo to be on this team.  He's barely adequate hitting the ball, his speed is gone and he's a wreck in the field.

Also - going to Orlando tomorrow to see the gawd Roy pitch.

Boners.

[Don Ho]

Has Castillo even got a hit yet?

[PhillyPhreak54]

I think he has two, but has been walking a lot.

[SD]

I caught some of todays game, Castillo had a nice looking hit, took some pitches for a walk (Wheels said it was his 3rd in two games), scored a run, and missed a routine grounder to second. It's hard to get a gauge on him, he looks like he can still work a count and get the occasional hit but his range in the field is bad and he looks slow as shtein.

[MDS]

simple answer is that

whatever he brings at the plate will be negligibly better than valdez. but, castillo is so washed up and his defense was never even good to begin with.

phillies are going to have to win 2-1 games from this point on, at least until some magic indian cures utley's grit and ben francisco starts doing his best jayson werth. you win 2-1 games with defense. you dont win 2-1 games with luis farging castillo at 2nd.

[ice grillin you]

how was his defense never good....he was known for his defense and has like 3-4 gold gloves

[PhillyPhreak54]

Barfield was sent down - Castillo one step closer to wasting a roster spot.

From Buster Olney :

By the way: Rival scouts trailing Phils convinced that Placido Polanco's injury will be a major factor for him and affect his availability.[\quote]

Nice!

[SunMo]

castillo reached base last 6 of 9 plate appearances.  wilson valdez is definitely better

[SunMo]

and lol getting salty about josh farging barfield being sent down.  talk about wasting a roster spot