With Ruben Amaro Jr., Are the Philadelphia Phillies Really in Good Hands?

Philadelphia Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is a smart man.

He graduated from Stanford with a B.S. in Human Biology and from all accounts has been a fundamental aspect of the Phillies‘ success in recent years. 

Amaro is also a baseball man. 

He played in the major leagues for the Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians, and Toronto Blue Jays. He spent 10 years as assistant general manager to the Phillies under Ed Wade and Pat Gillick and has been the general manager for two years now. 

With Amaro as assistant general manager, the Phillies made the playoffs for the first time in a decade and won the World Series. In his first full year as general manager, the Phillies returned to the World Series. This kind of success generally gives you a small grace period from serious criticism. 

As long as Amaro has held a significant position in the Phillies front office, they have had a great run of success and have made some tremendous decisions. He has worked with Gillick to keep this window of success open for as long as possible, and he should be commended for that. 

But over the past year, Amaro has made some curious decisions that have made me start to question exactly how competent this new regime is.

Has Amaro really been such an asset to the club, or has he been simply enjoying the success of the foundation that was set by former GMs Gillick and Wade and former scouting director Mike Arbuckle?

Let’s take a look.

Amaro’s first decision as general manager was to reward Jamie Moyer with a two-year, $16 million contract extension. 

Now, I am one of Moyer’s strongest supporters. I appreciate everything he has done for the Phillies and throughout his career and the strength of his determination to pitch as long as he can. But most importantly, because of his experience and pitching acumen, I believe Moyer has more influence on the Phillies’ pitching staff than anyone outside of Rich Dubee.

But $8 million a year for a man who will be 47 at the end of this contract?

Moyer got rocked last year, and by the end of the season he was pitching long relief in the bullpen. He has pitched solidly so far this season, but $8 million is still very high, especially considering the Phillies weren’t facing any significant competition for his signature.

Next, Amaro signed Raul Ibanez to a three-year, $31.5 million contract that will keep him on the Phillies until he is 39. 

Ibanez got off to a roaring start last year, putting up almost Albert Pujols-like numbers for the first half of the season. But following the All-Star break, Ibanez slumped miserably and dealt with a debilitating groin injury (probably something similar to the kick to the nuts that he dealt to most National League pitchers early in the year).

Rauuuuuuul (as his name is chanted at Citizens Bank Park) is a fan favorite in Philadelphia and was a significant part of the Phillies’ early-season success last year.

But this contract strikes me as strange for two reasons.

One, it guarantees $10 million a year to a guy who will be 38 this year, an age where most baseball players are long past their prime. 

Two, this contract was signed very early in the offseason, long before the outfielder market was set. Similarly aged outfielders like Bobby Abreu were eventually forced to take fliers on one-year contracts for significantly less money. 

I love Ibanez, but this contract looks like it will be hurting the Phillies next year, especially if it prohibits them from locking up Jayson Werth, a superior and younger player (and former owner of the greatest beard in the National League; I mean seriously, that thing was tremendous).

Midway through the 2009 season, Amaro made his most successful decision yet. He traded prospects Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, Jason Donald, and Jason Knapp for Cliff Lee. 

Carrasco just hasn’t been able to put it all together and achieve to the extent of his talent and looks destined for a future role in the bullpen. Marson and Donald appear to be no more than future utility men. The jury is still out on Knapp and will be for a long time. With his talent, he could be the next Josh Johnson, or he could succumb to further injuries and never even make it to the major leagues.

We all know what Lee did last year.

But ultimately, the verdict on Amaro’s entire career as general manager might come down to his subsequent decision to trade Lee to the Seattle Mariners.

Lee had an incredibly affordable $9 million contract and was absolutely beloved in Philadelphia. 

But Amaro decided that Roy Halladay was the pitcher he really wanted, sent more prospects to Toronto to acquire him, and discarded Lee.

The decision to acquire Halladay was a great decision. In my opinion he is the best pitcher in all of baseball, and he signed a very reasonable contract extension to stay in Philadelphia for the next three seasons. 

Don’t even bother trying to argue that Lee is better than Halladay. He’s not.

But Amaro’s polarizing decision was to give up the mouthwatering prospect of a rotation headlined by Halladay-Lee-Cole Hamels in order to restock the farm system. 

I perfectly understand the need to restock the farm system, but it seems like Amaro could have just as easily waited for interest in Lee to rise and then exchanged him for a stronger collection of prospects. 

I like the potential of the group that they acquired. Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, and J.C. Ramirez all have the potential to be productive major league players, but I think the Phillies got shortchanged here.

This season, Amaro signed Ryan Howard to a monster five-year, $125 million contract extension. 

I analyzed that decision in full detail in an article yesterday, but simply put, this extension is for too much money and for too many years, and the timing of the extension was strange at best. 

When you put it all together, it makes a curious portfolio. 

Ruben Amaro Jr. has made some great little signings—classic Pat Gillick signings for unheralded players like Juan Castro and Jose Contreras that provide the Phillies with great organizational depth. Pedro Martinez was a vital part of the Phillies’ postseason success.

He has made some fantastic trades, acquiring two of the best pitchers in the game within two seasons.

But on the big signings, the most important decisions, it seems like Amaro has made some foolish mistakes.

He hasn’t made any horrific decisions yet, the ones that cripple organizations for years (though many will argue that the Howard contract will do just that), but when it comes down to it, it makes you wonder…

Are the Phillies really in good hands after all?

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com