Philadelphia Phillies: Grading GM Ruben Amaro’s Offseason Moves
February 14, 2012 by Marilee Gallagher
Filed under Fan News
Phillies fans have recently been accustomed to big offseason moves.
After completing a blockbuster trade for Roy Halladay, and then swooping in and stealing Cliff Lee as a free agent the year after, Ruben Amaro has made it his mission to bring the top names to Philadelphia.
Because this has been Amaro’s claim to fame ever since he took over as GM after the 2008 season, Phillies fans and media have almost expected Amaro to bring a star to the city every single season. It even seems that anything short of that is considered an offseason failure.
In 2012, Amaro did make a blockbuster move but it was in the form of a closer and with guys like Jose Reyes and Prince Fielder leading a very talented and versatile free agent class, Amaro’s signing of Jonathan Papelbon wasn’t exactly the amazing move some may have expected.
With guys like Halladay, Lee, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley occupying a good portion of the team’s current salary, bringing in more superstars wasn’t likely. Despite this however, Amaro did make some minor moves to bolster the Phillies bullpen and bench depth.
As spring training nears, it is time to evaluate some of these moves and hand out Amaro’s 2012 offseason report card.