Ruben Amaro is an A**hole!

“There’s a very thin line between arrogance and confidence…Being humble is that line. No one has ever said that humble guy is really an asshole.” anonymous

Ruben Amaro, in my opinion, is an asshole. I’ve heard many adjectives to describe Ruben over the past seven years (incompetent, clueless, lost, idiot), but none seems more fitting than asshole. I’m sorry if the term offends you, the reader. I just can’t think of another term that describes how Amaro has been acting.

Ask Kyle Kendrick. Here are his quotes from a philly.com article about learning that the Phillies weren’t bringing him back:

Ruben (Amaro Jr.) called me about a week after the season and said we’re going to go in a different direction, we’re going to go younger,” Kendrick said, “and then he signs Aaron Harang and Jerome Williams. So I was like, (huh). That’s the way it is.

The way that it is is an asshole way.

Last year Peter Gammons, one of the most respected baseball writers of all time, said this about the Phillies:

“It’s one of the last franchises that, they really don’t use any analytics. It’s kind of an out-dated organization in many ways.”

This was a fact that everyone knew at the time. Ruben basically admitted this in his asshole response in which he’s dismissive of Gammons:

“we are making some changes. Peter, again, I don’t talk to Peter all that much, but he’s entitled to his opinion and he knows the game very, very well, but unfortunately he doesn’t know a lot of about the inner-workings of our organization.”

Peter did happen to know a lot about the inner-workings of the Phillies. It wasn’t until after this Gammons quote that the Phillies made real moves towards getting serious about analytics. They added full-time intern Lewie Pollis, a Brown University graduate with a degree in economics to help implement analytics. They’ve also decided to invest in a computer software similar to other organizations to help with statistical models. This was all AFTER the Gammons quote. I’m not inferring that the changes were made because of Gammons quote. I’m simply stating that Gammons was right at the time.

Then, there’s Ruben’s comments to Jim Salisbury about the Phillies fans, who’ve watched this team rapidly and steadily decline under Ruben’s GM tenure:

“They don’t understand the game,” Amaro said. “They don’t understand the process. There’s a process. And then they bitch and complain because we don’t have a plan.

The Phillies are the worst team in baseball and Ruben insults the fans? What an asshole!

And, then there’s Chase Utley. I own a Chase Utley jersey, but I’m not a blind Utley loyalist. I believe he’s received far more patience and support from Phillies fans than both Rollins or Howard. I never understood why. Utley, struggling to stay over .200, barely hears a boo while Howard has heard so many he has to be numb to them at this point. That being said, Utley is one of the 5 greatest position players in Phillies history. Maybe 4th best as Mike Missanelli discussed yesterday.

We’ve all read the quote when Amaro was asked if Chase is the second baseman once he returns from the DL:

“Not for me, he’s not. Cesar Hernandez is our best second baseman. I would assume that Cesar would be our second baseman. I think that’s fair.”

The proper response, as Ken Rosenthal wrote in a scathing piece, should have been:

“It’s too soon to answer that. Chase has meant a lot to this franchise. Cesar Hernandez is playing well. We’ll see where we are when Chase comes off the DL. So much can happen between now and then.”

But no, Amaro just dismissed Chase Utley and everything he’s meant to the Phillies organization the same way that he dismissed Peter Gammons–like an arrogant asshole.

What does Cesar Hernandez’s success say about Ruben’s ability to judge the talent in his own system? If he had any GM skills wouldn’t he or the people below him have known that Hernandez had breakout abilities and not have extended Chase, allowing Utley to move on with dignity? Instead, the situation has dragged on Amaro publicly disrespects Utley by stating that Hernandez is the best second basemen on the team because he’s had a hot month.

Why is Amaro still here? Aside from his inability to build a competitive baseball team that thinks about the future, he continually makes the organization look foolish with his quotes. He should not be allowed to comment on the current situation. He’s already had to apologize to the fans (PhillyVoice). As Rosenthal and Crossing Broad have both indicated, he’s going to have to apologize to Utley either publicly or privately.  Please, put this guy in hiding. We’ve had enough. He’s a terrible GM and he continues to prove again and again that he’s a pompous, arrogant asshole.

*That’s just this writers opinion and not a statement of fact.