The third GM in the series will be Ruben Amaro, the man who’s built one of the best rotations in baseball. Amaro has been the GM for the Philadelphia Phillies for 2 seasons. He had been the assistant prior to that. Amaro has made 9 trades and 28 signings.
Amaro averages 13.9 WAR per year due to his moves. He’s added a total of 27.7 WAR over his short tenure. The yearly totals:
2009: 18.6
2010: 9.1
Trades
For Amaro’s trades, he’s given up 4.8 WAR and received 11.3 WAR; it’s a net WAR of 6.5.
Top 3 Deals
6.8 Net WAR – 12/16/2009: Traded Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Travis d’Arnaud to the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay.
1.8 Net WAR – 07/29/2010: Traded Anthony Gose, J.A. Happ, and Jonathan Villar to the Astros for Roy Oswalt.
0.6 Net WAR – 12/10/2008: Traded Jason Jaramillo to the Pirates for Ronny Paulino.
The WAR for all three deals will continue to adjust. Drabek and d’Arnaud are still with the Blue Jays; Happ and Villar are still with the Astros; Jaramillo is still with the Pirates. The Phillies still can gain or lose WAR on Oswalt; Halladay signed an extension, so any future WAR will be as a free agent.
The Jaramillo/Paulino deal is interesting to look at. Paulino was dealt before the season started, so he never played a game for the Phillies. Jaramillo saw time with the Pirates since the trade and accumulated a -0.6 WAR. This has been the first instance a deal like this has cracked an article. (Paulino was traded to the Giants for Jack Taschner; Paulino was traded again and Taschner scored a -0.2 WAR for the Phillies. The deal is still a win in WAR for the team)
The original Cliff Lee deal has almost been a wash so far; the Phillies are winning by 0.3 WAR at this point. The Phillies still have Ben Francisco, but the Indians are starting to see dividends from Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, Jason Knapp, and Jason Donald. This could turn into a loss for the Phillies in another year or 2.
Bottom 3 Deals
-2.7 Net WAR – 12/19/2009: Traded Cliff Lee to the Mariners for Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, and J.C. Ramirez.
-0.4 Net WAR – 11/20/2008: Traded Greg Golson to the Rangers for John Mayberry Jr.
-0.2 Net WAR – 03/27/2009: Traded Ronny Paulino to the Giants for Jack Taschner.
The Phillies could see added/lost WAR for the prospects acquired in the Lee deal and Mayberry.
As time moves on, Amaro will start making more deals to off-set the large contracts the team has.
Free Agents
Amaro has a benefit that we haven’t seen yet with John Mozeliak and Billy Beane – a large payroll (don’t get me wrong, the Cardinals spend; just not to the degree the Phillies do). The Phillies have spent quite bit of money since Amaro took over.
Top 3 Signings
6.9 WAR – 02/08/2009: Ryan Howard (Extension)
6.6 WAR – 01/18/2009: Cole Hamels (Extension)
3.5 WAR – 12/12/2008: Raul Ibanez
Amaro has since locked up Howard even longer, but Hamels and Ibanez will build upon their WAR. Cliff Lee should be able to crack the list in a couple of seasons, and Roy Halladay’s exention will crack the list as well.
Bottom 3 Signings
-1.2 WAR – 12/03/2009: Juan Castro
-0.8 WAR – 12/31/2009: Danys Baez
-0.7 WAR – 03/05/2009: Rodrigo Lopez
Castro shouldn’t have received a contract, yet continues to get work; at least now it’s minor league deals. Lopez was attempting to come back from injuries, but wasn’t successful in this stint. Baez is still under contract, so he can continue to disappoint.
Draft
No players drafted by Amaro have made the majors yet, so there are 0.0 WAR there.
Grade
I can’t officially do grades until I’m finished, but Amaro has started OK to his career. I think most GMs would like to get the budget he has to work with.
For the other GMs, click here.