A Phillies' Fan Defense of Ruben Amaro, Jr.
Last week, Phillies fans acting in disbelief upon hearing a report that the team was considering Ruben Amaro, Jr. for the open Manager's position. Amaro, currently serving at the First Base Coach of the Boston Red Sox, was drummed out of Philadelphia which much fanfare towards the end of the 2015. During Amaro's reign with the Phillies as General Manager, the team saw itself go from a feared powerhouse in the National League East, to a perennial last place team. Amaro largely shouldered the blame. Certainly, during his tenure Amaro was responsible for a number of transactions which were either unpopular at the time, or in retrospect were not beneficial to the team. For example, Amaro was responsible for tying the Phillies' hands financially with a number of high-priced, long-term contracts, such as those for Ryan Howard and Jonathan Papelbon. Amaro traded away popular players at questionable times, raising the ire of many fans. Amaro trade Cli...