Philadelphia Phillies: Grading Every GM in Franchise History
May 18, 2012 by Greg Pinto
Filed under Fan News
Being a general manager in MLB can be incredibly rewarding or incredibly infuriating. Of course, as with most things in this game, that depends on just how successful you are.
If you were the general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980 or 2008, you’ll probably never have to pay for another meal in this town. The math is simple: When a GM’s team is going well, he rides on cloud nine. He becomes the master assembler who fit all of the pieces together, like the perfect jigsaw puzzle.
General managers for losing teams don’t have as much fun as their winning colleagues. When the product on the field is less than impressive, the general manager shoulders a large chunk of the blame. They made all of the wrong decisions. The pieces don’t fit.
Anyone with a passing knowledge of the Phillies’ history knows that they have had their share of each of those seasons—the really good ones and the really bad ones. They’ve even had a quite a few average ones.
Looking at what the future holds for this club, particularly just how hot Ruben Amaro, Jr.’s seat would be if this Phillies club missed the postseason, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at each of the Phillies’ 11 general managers.
Each general manager will have two slides. The first will give a brief review of their tenure, including some of their best and worst transactions as well as draft picks (if applicable), and the second will feature my grade of said general manager. Who’s been the best? Who knows. But one thing is certain.
It’s been the good, the bad and the ugly.