Breaking Philadelphia: A Ruben Amaro Jr. Dynasty Report

[RookieBatBoy]

Hello everyone. I've been wanting to get involved with posting Dynasty Reports for a while and so I'm excited to put out my first Dynasty Report. However, I currently only have OOTP 15 (can't afford 16 yet) so this report will be using OOTP 15 as a starting point, meaning my game will begin in 2014.
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So without further ado, let me introduce you to the *new GM of the Philadelphia Phillies!



The series of events that led to the firing of Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and then his subsequent re-hiring a few months later had many journalists and fans scratching their heads. Rumors say that the firing was the result of Phillies owner David Montgomery losing patience with Amaro but then finding no suitable replacement for him. These rumors also say that literally no one offered the job would take it citing the horrific contracts and the polarizing fanbase. Thus having no other choice, Montgomery went to Amaro Jr. and apologizing profusely offered the former GM his position back with the team.



However happy he was to return to his old position within the Phillies Organization; Ruben Amaro Jr. knew at the same time he was going to be watched very closely by both the ownership and the fans. Contracts initially seen as strokes of genius were now seen as a detriment; dragging the potential of the team down in overpaid veterans. But what made Amaro Jr. the most frustrated was that even though the fans raged at him for giving out these contracts, they loved the players who had these contracts. In addition, Montgomery made it abundantly clear to Ruben Amaro Jr. that under no circumstance was he to attempt to trade away a popular player like a Papelbon. The team still needed to make money and playes like Papelbon put butts in seats.



Of course, even if he were allowed to trade those contracts away, it wasn't as if his fellow GMs would bite. The ever increasing popularity of sabermetrics made most of his fellow GMs suspicious about the quality of the players being offered. What most fans didn't know was prior to his initial firing, Ruben Amaro Jr. had been attempting to dump some of his overpaid contracts but almost every response had the same line of speech in the reply: "I'm sorry but I won't accept any trades involving overpaid veterans!"



And so Ruben Amaro Jr. is at a crossroads. The ownership has said they will no longer tolerate his excessive contracts, but at the same time insist on him keeping those very contracts he initially gave out due to the popularity of the players. The fans will call for his head at the first sign of trouble, yet at the same time insist on constraining him from making moves that would relieve the strangle-hold the contracts put on him because of the popularity of those players.



As stressful as the upcoming season and potential future seasons might be, at least Ruben Amaro Jr. could count on his managing staff. He wasn't like other managers who meddled in the day to day affairs of his team. He delegated. He trusted Ryan Sandberg would take the team given to him and piece them together into the best team possible. The same applied for his minor league system. It was Ruben's job to build it. The rest was up to the coaches and the managers to handle. Of course if things fell apart most of the blame would fall on his shoulders. But baseball was never known as being a forgiving sport, especially not in Philadelphia.

[RookieBatBoy]

I noticed the screenshots are a bit large. I'll edit my game window size to a more manageable size. I've already taken some more screenshots with the current window size so it'll most likely be after my next update where the updated screenshots will come in. Unless of course the current set up is okay with everyone.

As for style: This will be very role-play oriented. By that I mean I am going to do things as I think Ruben Amaro Jr. would under this invented scenario. So of course that means not trading away players like Papelbon, Hamels, or Howard. The reason being the popularity of the players or just the unwillingness for anyone to touch the contracts. So what does someone like RAJ do in this scenario? He must sink or swim and swimming will involve having to be creative with how he finds talent for the short term and long term futures of the Phillies.

[RookieBatBoy]

While most of the league is looking at the Free Agent Market at the beginning of the season where players like Rusney Castillo will command the attention of many teams, Ruben Amaro Jr. is forced to refrain from entering the sweepstakes. Instead, he decides to kick the tires of the International Free Agents. Right away he sees three promising players.



The first player is a 16 year old pitcher by the name of Leonardo A. Rodriguez. Philadelphia's scouts tell Amaro that the kid should develop into a solid starter with excellent stuff, movement, and control. Not needing to think twice, Ruben decides to offer a contract with a small bonus to Rodriguez. And from what the young player's agent tells him, the offer is acceptable to the 16 year old pitcher.



The next player on Ruben's radar is a left fielder by the name of Wasner Peguero. While he doesn't expect to make a lot of contract, the amount of power the kid has as well as his excellent eye makes Ruben think he'll be an excellent power bat for the future.



And so it's a no brainer for Ruben Amaro Jr. when he offers a contract to the power hitting left fielder.



The last player that catches Ruben Amaro Jr.'s eye is a young right fielder by the name of Oscar Gonzalez. The scouts tell Ruben he should make decent contact, and will have a decent amount of discipline at the plate. The only worry they have is his ability to differentiate between what is a strike and a ball. However, he has a power ceiling very similar to Peguero's and Ruben thinks his minor league coaching staff will be able to teach the young man how to more effectively pick out pitches.



With the last contract offered to Gonzalez, Ruben Amaro Jr. hopes everyone else in the league will be too focused on winning the Rusney Castillo sweepstakes to pay too close attention to the International Free Agent market. If all goes well, the Phillies will have three new players with considerable upside developing in the minor leagues for the future.

It's going to be a long season.

[RookieBatBoy]

Hey all, the next update after this will have adjusted screenshots to not make them so huge. Until then sorry for the behemoths staring at you.

[phillyboy19]

Ok

[RookieBatBoy]

With the feeling of every decision being scrutinized by the fans, the media, and the ownership it's at least relieving that something Ruben Amaro Jr. has set his sights on has come through perfectly. The three International Free Agents he offered contracts to signed within a day of being notified of Philadelphia's offer without even considering any other teams offer. It would seem Ruben Amaro Jr.'s assumption that the other teams would be more focused on the regular Free Agent Market was correct to an extent. Other international players were signed, but that didn't matter to Ruben. He got the players at the cheapest possible price. There would be no bidding wars this time for Philadelphia.



While travelling, Phillies Head Scout Marti Wolever came across a young First Baseman named Jose Duran. Wolever sang Duran's praises to Amaro Jr., but Ruben didn't buy the hype being sold to him by Wolever. Eventually the Scouting Director and the GM agreed to offer Duran a Minor League Contract but no signing bonus. Thankfully, Duran's family and friends convinced him to take the deal and the opportunity to play baseball in America. As far as Ruben Amaro Jr. is concerned, he'll be happy if Duran ends up being a diamond in the rough, but he has his doubts.



The rest of the pre-season sped along without any activity from Philadelphia's part before Opening Day against the Texas Rangers. Top Free Agent Rusney Castillo had yet to make a decision on which team he would play for this year. Meanwhile, Kendrys Morales ended up signing a one year contract to play for the Mariners at $3,630,000. Morales' agent said the contract would allow Morales to prove to the Mariners and other teams that Morales could still play good baseball and this one year contract should be seen as nothing more than a stepping stone to a larger contract in the future.

Ruben Amaro Jr. found himself enjoying being able to sit back and watch the other teams scramble after these Free Agents. There was something liberating about not having to dip his hands in the shark infested waters that Free Agency was in the weeks before the season began. Still when he looked at his team he knew it wouldn't inspire confidence in a Philadelphia championship. This fact was plainly seen at the Opening Day Press Conference when a BNN reporter and Ruben Amaro Jr. had the following conversation.

BNN: "Ruben, this offseason you were fired and then re-hired months later after a falling out with owner David Montgomery. How has your relationship changed with David after the rough patch in the offseason?"

RAJ: "Me and David have a good relationship which doesn't mean we always get along or agree on things, but what's most important about our friendship is the willingness to talk to one another no matter how upset we might get with one another. I'm happy we were able to work out our differences and now we're focused on providing the great fans of Philadelphia with the best team possible."

BNN: "Best team possible? There are many who predict Philadelphia to finish near or even dead last in the division. How do you respond to these predictions?"

RAJ: "There are many predictions made before the season starts, but games still have to be played. I have every confidence in my manager Ryan Sandberg to lead our team and remind everyone why we're called 'The Fighting Phils'.

BNN: "After your re-hiring by Montgomery, Philadelphia was relatively quiet on the Free Agent Market. Can you comment as to why Philadelphia has not made any offers to Free Agent Rusney Castillo or any other Free Agents?"

RAJ: "I have to correct you there. We were active in the Free Agent Market. We've signed 4 young men from the International Free Agent Market. We're confident that these young men will develop into fine Major League ball players. Thank you, but that is all I have time for today."

The apparent combative tone from Amaro Jr. was of interest on opening day. Many attributed the testiness of Ruben due to the pressures he was under. Many predicted the GM would most likely be fired by the middle of the season or the end of the season if he didn't show signs of progress to the ownership.

When asked to comment on the GM situation, Phillies owner David Montgomery simply said, "Ruben Amaro Jr. is our GM for the foreseeable future."

However, with Opening Day comes the end of speculation. Now it's time for teams to show what they're made of. Will the Phillies flounder like so many have predicted? Or will they surprise everyone and be the talk of the year?

[phillyboy19]

Your narrative is very interesting. Good luck. I do have to say this since i'm a Phillies fan FIRE RUIN TOMORROW JR.!!!!!!

[RookieBatBoy]

One month into the season and the Phillies are to no one's surprise in 4th place in the NL East and not that far away from last place either. Many thought the Phillies would get a boost when the Phillies activated SP Cole Hamels from the Disabled List on April 11th and later activating SP Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez on April 20th, but so far in his short 2014 campaign Gonzalez is not pitching to expectations which is worrisome to Ruben Amaro Jr. since Gonzalez has a significant three-year contract with Philadelphia.

To make room for the players coming off the DL in the month of April, Philadelphia demoted 3B Cody Asche, SP Jeff Manship, SP Kyle Kendrick, and 1B Darin Ruf to AAA to make room for Hamels, Gonzalez and SS Freddy Galvis.

However, as players came off the DL more would take their place. On April 18th, RF Marlon Byrd suffered a broken hand that would keep him out for 5 weeks. 1B Darin Ruff was recalled from AAA to take his place on the roster. Next, on Aprl 26th, Chase Utley had to take a few days of rest with sore knees and C Carlos RUiz suffered a hand contusion. However, the severity of Ruiz's injury wasn't enough to warrant a DL stint and so he was simply benched while backup catcher Wil Nieves took over until he would heal. The Philadelphia training staff said it would only be a week for Ruiz to heal and be back on the diamond.

However, the next day on April 27th, disaster struck when 2B Chase Utley was diagnosed with a fractured finger. Reports say the pain in his knee made Utley not recognize the pain in his finger until the next day. Utley was immediately placed on the 15-day DL and C Koyie Hill was recalled from AAA to help shoulder the catching burden until Ruiz was healed from his injury.

RP Mike Adams was eligible to return to the active roster on April 25th but Ruben Amaro Jr couldn't find a suitable candidate to demote in favor of him so instead Ruben Amaro Jr. decided to have Adams undergo a minor league rehab stint until something can be done with him. An insider source with the Phillies say most likely the Phillies will look to move Adams since even though his contract is expensive, he is not all that popular with the fan base.



The most obvious problem with the Phillies at the end of April is their almost non-existent offense. Dominic Brown and Ben Revere, two players Ruben Amaro Jr. hoped to at least play up to replacement level are struggling offensively. The injuries to Chase Utley and Marlon Byrd offer another severe blow to the Phillies Offense as well.



The Phillies rotation is mostly solid. Starters Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roberto Hernandez, and Aaron Burnett are pitching well so far but the horrific start by Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez can't be ignored. Ruben Amaro Jr. hopes he can bring his large ERA down as the season progresses otherwise he might have to send the expensive pitcher down to AAA in favor of recalling a pitcher like Kyle Kendrick or Jeff Manship.

The Phillies Bullpen is much a similar story as the Phillies Rotation is. Most of the relievers pitch decently to well but with one glaring exception. This exception is the Phillies setup man Antonio Bastardo. Ruben Amaro Jr. was hoping Bastardo would help anchor the bullpen and pass the ball to Papelbon in the 9th inning, but with his high 6.57 ERA, Amaro Jr. finds himself considering if it would be better to have Adams replace Bastardo in the bullpen once his rehab stint is finished.

Much happened in the month of April in terms of other teams news. The San Francisco Giants swooped in at the last moment and were able to sign highly sought free agent Rusney Castillo. At the press conference for his signing, Castillo said what drew him to San Francisco was its winning culture and his belief that they could compete for many years to come.

The New York Mets were surprisingly busy on the trade market along with the Miami Marlins in the month of April.

The Mets would send LF Andrew Brown and SS Yeffry De Aza to Texas for LF Leonys Martin. They would also receive SP Travis Wood from the Cubs in exchange for 3B Eric Campbell and SS Cecillio Aybar.

The Marlins would send 1B Garret Jones and RF Alfredo Lopez to the Blue Jays for SP Dustin McGowan. They would also receive 1B Justin Smoak in exchange for SP Kevin Slowey and C J.T. Realmuto. And finally the Marlins would get RF Jon Jay and $1.8M in exchange for RP Mike Dunn and CF Ryan Aper. Curious moves for a last place team, but then perhaps the Marlins expect to have a resurgence later on in the year.

Other deals of note would include the Pirates sending 3B Pedro Alvarez to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for RF Josh E. Bell and SP Rick Porcello.

Another deal of note was the Blue Jays sending 1B Adam Lind and $3M to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for SP Chris Archer and 3B Richie Shaffer.


With one month gone and a month until Draft Day, Philadelphia hopes to return to form in May, though it may be difficult if their offense cannot produce for their surprisingly decent pitching with the exception of Bastardo.

Asked about his teams record at the end of the month, Ruben Amaro Jr. said curtly, "There's more than one month in a baseball season."

[RookieBatBoy]

Originally Posted by phillyboy19

Your narrative is very interesting. Good luck. I do have to say this since i'm a Phillies fan FIRE RUIN TOMORROW JR.!!!!!!

Thank you!

[RookieBatBoy]

Two months have passed since the start of the season and the Phillies remain in 4th place in the NL East. The offense has continued to struggle for the most part, thanks to the absence of players like Utley and Byrd. In addition, the Phillies rotation and bullpen simply cannot pitch well enough to counteract the lackluster Phillies offense. As such, the fans of the Phillies see their team lose more games then they win simply by being outscored.



Insiders in the Phillies front office report to BNN that owner David Montgomery called Ruben Amaro Jr. into his office and yelling could be heard. When asked about finishing in 4th place for a second straight month in a row, a visibly stressed Ruben Amaro Jr. said to BNN, "Look we've been hit pretty hard by injuries offensively. Losing Byrd and Utley for a month is not going to help our offense in any way. I ask for the fans' patience and faith in their team. We may be down now, but we're definitely not out."

Some fans have called for the promotion of prospects to "put a fire into the team" such as 3B Maikel Franco or SS J.P. Crawford. And with the team doing so poorly, and ownership becoming increasingly frustrated with the way the year is progressing, perhaps Ruben Amaro Jr. might need to make a desperate play in order to calm some tempers around him.

However, there is a bit of excitement for the Phillies fans on June 1st. The Amateur Draft will happen on that day. The officially released draft order has the Phillies picking 7th this year. So they'll have at least one shot to draft a potentially valuable piece for the future and perhaps give fans something to look forward to.





Knowing the delicate situation he is in, Ruben Amaro Jr. was reported to have sent his scouting division instructions to look at every person on the top ten list. He would make no assumptions as to who would be picked when or by whom. He wanted to be ready in case someone who was undervalued dropped to 7th and Philadelphia.



C Max Pentecost is one such player that Amaro Jr. believes could be an anchor for the Phillies in future years. It's no closely kept secret that Carlos Ruiz is getting up there in age, but the Phillies are very thin in terms of catching depth. Pentecost could provide a future starter who can repalce Ruiz should the Phillies be lucky enough for him to drop to 7th in the first round.



Another player that is on Amaro Jr.'s radar is 1B Justin Bellinger. Another area of weakness for the Phillies is 1B. While 1B Darin Ruff could potentially replace Howard in the future, Ruben Amaro Jr. doesn't believe he'll have staying power in the Major League beyond being a very good platoon player. Bellinger would provide the Phillies with a 1B to replace Howard that would be better than a platoon option.

The frustrated fans of Philadelphia will watch the upcoming draft with more scrutiny then previously seen. If the Phillies and Ruben Amaro Jr. can't show their dedicated to improving the team and make a mistake in the draft, it could very well mean the end of Ruben Amaro Jr.'s career in Philadelphia. Reports from the Phillies front office say the Phillies GM knows this and has spent hours pouring over the scouting reports.



If there is one pleasant surprise for the Phillies this year, it has been the surprising resurgance of 1B Ryan Howard. Sporting a solid .276/.353/.512 line, the Phillies 1B has the crowd cheering him onward for the comeback player award. When asked about his play Howard said to BNN, "I'm really happy. I feel healthy for the first time in a long time and things are just coming together." When asked about the performance of the team, Howard said that as a veteran he knew the season would have its ups and downs and that it was too early to pass judgment.

Howard would take some time off in the upcoming week to rest a sore hand, but otherwise he says there is nothing else wrong with him. Phillies manager Ryan Sandberg said of Howard, "The kid is seeing the ball well and when he swings, he makes contact more often than not. You love having a player like that to show the rest of the team how it's done."

An interesting topic of conversation is whether Ruben Amaro Jr. might consider a new manager to try and "shake things up". While Sandberg and him are close, the stress of ownership pressing down on him from above has led some to believe that Ruben Amaro Jr. is starting to think with new management, the team might perform better. Only time will tell if these rumors will have substance to them or not.

As it stands on draft day, the Phillies so far are playing as expected to everyone else but the Phillies. If Ruben Amaro Jr. is to keep his job he'll either have to convince David Montgomery to be more patient with him, or a drastic move will have to be made to jump start the Phillies.

[ptautscher]

good read! im pretty sure the Phillies manager is Ryne Sandberg though

[RookieBatBoy]

The month of June begins with division news for the Phillies as the Miami Marlins have fired manager Mike Redmond after the Front Office of Miami expressed continued anger at the way in which the manager managed the on the field team. No news has been given as to a replacement.

However, the league's focus was not on the schedule in the month of June but on the upcoming Draft Day on June 6th. Front Offices have poured over every detail of every player and now the time has come to turn the mock drafts into actual drafts. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. visiting a popular Philadelphia Fantasy Baseball group spoke to the group at length about the process of drafting and even participated in a mock draft with them as well. "It's good to see these guys and gals so passionate about the sport, especially an area not a lot of others have as much excitement over. I'll admit I got a bit carried away and allowed myself to be talked into doing a draft with them. I had a lot of fun."



BNN did it's own mock draft and distributed its predicted top 10 picks on Draft Day. The Phillies GM who a week before the draft when he went to the Fantasy Player Group looked relaxed on this day was quiet and looked very nervous. A member of the Phillies Draft committee who spoke with BNN on the condition of anonymity said that the pressures of the Phillies current seasonal record as well as pressures coming from down high have the Phillies GM in a state of perpetual stress. Ruben Amaro Jr. hopes a good draft can relieve some stress on him.



BNN went to a local Philadelphia bar where a small group of 30 people gathered to watch the Draft on television. There was a murmuring of approval when the Phillies drafted C Max Pentecost in the 1st round, despite his dropped value since May 1st. When asked how he felt about the pick, local Philadelphian Mark Peterson said, "He might have dropped a little but he's still a solid catcher. It might not be flashy, but it's respectable. I think it'll end up being a pretty good decision by Ruben."

When asked at the end of the Draft about Pentecost, Ruben Amaro Jr. said,"We're happy we were able to grab him with the 7th pick. We believe Mr. Pentecost has a bright future in Major League Baseball and we hope that future can be with Philadelphia for a long while."

Philadelphia would waste no time offering contracts to the players they wanted. C Max Pentecost ended up getting a $5M signing bonus. One that Amaro Jr. had to fight his owner on. The consensus at the end of the Draft was that besides a solid 1st round pick it would take time to see how the rest of Philadelphia's draft choices would pan out.



Midway through June, the Phillies would receive a significant scare when SP Cliff Lee would leave a game early with an apparent injury. Fans speculated a significant injury and were bemoaning the horrific turn of fate that would take the barely floating Phillies from 4th place and jettison them to last. However, after having a full MRI done, the only issue found with Lee was a sore ankle. This news was a great relief to the fans who feared the SP might have torn an achilles tendon.

However the news received the next day would absolutely shock the fans of the Phillies. Ruben Amaro Jr. who had been dormant for the first two months of the season when it came to transactions suddenly exploded to life on June 16th and made two trades.



The first trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers had Philadelphia sending SP Kyle Kendrick, SP Roberto Hernandez, and CF John Mayberry Jr. to Los Angeles in exchange for SP Josh Beckett, 1B Scott Van Slyke, and minor league SP Carlos Frias.

Los Angeles GM Ned Colleti when asked about the trade said Hernandez and Kendrick would be useful as pitching depth for the Dodgers and that Maybery Jr. had better upside to Van Slyke in the opinion of the Front Office. The loss of minor league SP Frias was worth completing the trade

Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. when announcing the deal at a press conference said the trade would help improve the Phillies rotation and bench. SP Carlos Frias would report to the Phillies AA organization and Ruben Amaro Jr hopes he can develop into a good pitcher with the help of the Phillies minor league coaches.

BNN analysts say this trade from the Phillies perspective was all about improving the rotation and bench. Hernandez and Kendrick were pitching okay, but not well enough to warrant their large salaries. Finding the willing trade partner in the Dodgers was extremely helpful to Philadelphia. Even though the Phillies would take on more salary commitment to Beckett, he was a much better pitcher than either Hernandez or Kendrick. Van Slyke would most likely provide a better bat off the bench than Mayberry Jr. and will come cheaper as well.



The second trade made by Philadelphia was with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Phillies sent 3B Jayson Nix to the Diamondbacks in exchange for 3B Eric Chavez and $2M. Even though Chavez has expressed an interest in retiring at the end of the season, the potential for minor league 3B and Phillies prospect Maikel Franco to start next year at 3B makes this trade a beneficial one for the Phillies.



The most surprising news would come when Philadelphia announced the firing of their hitting and pitching coaches. It was no secret Ruben Amaro Jr. was getting increasingly frustrated with the teams performance, and many thought Manager Ryne Sandberg might be in danger of losing his job. Instead, Ruben Amaro Jr. decided instead to replace the Hitting Coach and Pitching Coach. The new coaches, Carlos Lopez and Rudy Jaramillo will look to improve a Phillies Team that so far into the season is not impressing anyone.

Halfway through the month of June and the Phillies have woken up from their hibernation and made two trades and fired and replaced two coaches. Will these moves be enough to help the Phillies get out of their 4th place rut? It will remain to be seen. GM Ruben Amaro Jr. would not say whether the Phillies would or would not make any further moves. BNN analysts predict there might be an attempt to trade for another pitcher as current 5th SP Jeff Manship has a horrific 7 ERA.
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Real Talk: Hey everyone wanted to give my personal opinion on the trade with the Dodgers and Dbacks. Given my trade difficulty is on Hard, I don't look at these trades as "gaming" the AI. The trade with the Dodgers began just by me shopping Mayberry Jr and seeing the Dodgers offering Beckett in exchange. I believe he was in the Dodgers AAA affiliate when I looked at the information for him so I believe they decided to do the trade because of how upset Beckett was at not starting in the majors. I added on Scott Van Slyke to the deal because I wanted to retain a bench player who could play LF and RF and the Dodgers agreed as well. Then I decided to just see if they would accept taking the salaries of Kendrick and Hernandez and the surprisingly said yes. I asked for Frias to make it an even trade and they said yes. Would this trade have happened in real life? It's hard to say but I'm okay with it since I was able to work it out with the Hard and Favor Prospect settings for AI.

As for the Diamondbacks, I believe they just wanted to dump the salary. I didn't ask for anything else besides the $2M as it was the most I could get and I wanted to not have to pay all of Chavez's salary ($3.5M).

If I were to compare the two, I think I'd say the Diamondbacks trade was the most balanced, but I'm still happy to have made the trade with the Dodgers. I'll look at the players involved with the Dodger trade again and look at their record and try to think of a reason why the AI might be willing to take players like Kendrick and Hernandez. Until then thanks for reading.

[RookieBatBoy]

As June carries over into July the first sign of a rift developing between the ownership and the Front Office was seen when Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. was bypassed by owner David Montgomery and Phillies Manager Ryne Sandberg was fired. While the Phillies GM still had to give the announcement at a press conference on the afternoon of 7/13, given the GM and former manager's close friendship hardly anyone believed the move was chosen by Amaro Jr.



As a double whammy, the owner then turned around and signed former manager Manny Acta to a contract behind Ruben Amaro Jr.'s back. It's becoming quite apparent to anyone watching now that there is trouble in the house of cards that is the Philadelphia Phillies.



Manny Acta looks to improve upon a lackluster start by his predecessor Sandberg, but the relationship with Ruben Amaro Jr. will take time to build. Not easily done seeing as how the Phillies GM feels he was stepped over and was not consulted in the decision.



A look at the Phillies team stats and their positions shows the reasons for their continued bad play. For one thing, the pitching staff is giving up far more runs then the offense scores. And secondly the Starting Staff's ERA varies from the high 3's to the low 6's. Ruben Amaro Jr. had hoped the trade for Beckett would help the Phillies rotation, but it seems the newly acquired pitcher is suffering at the hands of the hitters ballpark that Philadelphia plays in.

What's more, the Phillies have no more room in their budget to sign any more players. A bad situation to be in since July was the month new international free agents were posted. At this point, the Phillies are going to have to hunker down and weather the storm that is the rest of the season. BNN analysts believe a firesale should happen soon, but contrasting arguments point out that should Ruben Amaro Jr. trade away anyone as popular as Howard or Papelbon he'd lose his job.



In other Phillies news, newly acquired 1B/UTIL Scott Van Slyke suffered a sport's hernia and will miss 8 weeks. This is a truly devastating blow to the Phillies who looked for Van Slyke to provide a potent RHB off the bench for them.

We're halfway through the month of July and at this point things don't look well for Ruben Amaro Jr. His chosen manager was fired and replaced behind his back. His team that he constructed has been riddled by injuries during the year. His rotation instead of his lineup is severely under-performing and lastly his efforts to placate the owner by trading for players like Beckett and Chavez as well as the efforts to sign draft picks this year has the Phillies with little to no budget left for any big trades.

It might be time to start placing bets on how much longer Ruben Amaro Jr. lasts as GM of the Phillies.

[RookieBatBoy]

From July 15th to the trading deadline on July 31st there was a palpable tension in both the Phillies clubhouse and in the Front Office. After the firing of manager Ryne Sandberg and the hiring of new manager Manny Acta without the consultation of Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr., many in the Phillies organization believed the Phillies GM would be the next to be given his walking papers.



One player who did not like the tense atmosphere was 3B Eric Chavez who demanded a trade from Philadelphia. The reasons given by his agent was his role on the team as a platoon player but players in the Philadelphia clubhouse speaking to BNN on the condition of anonymity say the real reason was that Chavez and manager Manny Acta did not tend to see eye to eye.



Already knowing that the clubhouse situation was a very tenuous one and not wanting to keep around a player who might bring a low clubhouse morale to devastating levels, Ruben Amaro Jr. immediately sent the 3B Chavez to the Washington Nationals for SP Ross Ohlendorf. Ohlendorf was immediately placed in the rotation and SP Jeff Manship and his big ERA was demoted to AAA. To replace the newly open 3B position on the major league roster, 3B Cody Asche was recalled from AAA and given the starting job.



The stress of the season beginning to get to the Phillies GM, he began discussing a deal that would send CF Ben Revere to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for LF Norichika Aoki. At the last minute the deal fell through and a visibly stressed Ruben Amaro Jr. was seen staring at the phone in his office. The only reason BNN was able to hear of the potential deal was because of a Kansas City insider in the Royals Front Office who hours before the deal fell through leaked the deal as being "virtually done". Our analysts say that Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. ended up making the right call not trading Revere as he has been one of the more valuable offensive pieces for the Phillies.

On July 26th, SP Josh Beckett left a game with discomfort in his throwing arm. An MRI scan would later diagnose the SP with shoulder tendinitis that would sideline the pitcher for 1 week. No roster moves were made in response and Beckett was simply kept inactive until he was healed.

The trade deadline would pass for Philadelphia with no moves being made. BNN's insiders within the Phillies Front Office reported many potential deals being set up but Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. simply couldn't get any to go through due to budget concerns.

On August 1st, Phillies Scouting Director Wolever gave Ruben Amaro Jr. his analysis on the players in the Phillies organization and there were some grim news. It was long suspected but now confirmed as the report on SP Cliff Lee proclaimed that his stuff, stamina, and velocity had declined sharply over the season. It seemed as if the 35-year old starting pitcher's age was beginning to catch up to him.



However, on August 20th, the Phillies were able to make a waiver deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. A big concern for the Phillies for the next year was the budget and Amaro Jr. had been seeking ways of relieving the budget concerns for next year. He found a willing partner in the Toronto Blue Jays as the two clubs swapped outfielders. Philadelphia would receive CF Melky Cabrera in his final year of his contract while Toronto would get RF Marlon Byrd. Perhaps a deciding factor in the trade was Cabrera's anger with Toronto which some speculate pushed the Toronto GM into trading for a veteran with a multi-year contract.

The next day, on August 21st, 1B/UTIL Scott Van Slyke was activated from the Disabled List and 1B Darin Ruff was sent down to AAA though with the promise to be recalled by September 1st.

But the injury bug that had plagued the Phillies offense during the year would re-surface a day before rosters were set to expand. LF Dominic Brown suffered a torn ligament ending his 2014 season. 1B Darin Ruf was recalled a day earlier than promised and Philadelphia would sorely miss Brown's service in the last month of the season.



Just two days later after the rosters were expanded from 25 to 40, the Phillies on September 2nd passed a somber threshold. GM Ruben Amaro Jr. had to announce to the owner David Montgomery that at 82 losses, the Phillies would no longer be able to meet the expectations to play .500 baseball.

The month of September passed in the relative same pattern for the Philadelphia Phillies. Their offense could not score enough runs to counter the average ERA of their rotation while their bullpen, the only highlight of the Phillies season was wasted.

However some levity was found as the Phillies hired former manager Ryne Sandberg to be the new manager of their VSL team after manager Jorge Orta retired.

When asked about the hiring of Sandberg, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said, "Me and Ryne have always been close. I'm overjoyed to welcome him back into the Phillies organization."

Ryne Sandberg when asked to comment about his change in vocation from the beginning of the year to now managing the VSL Phillies said, "I'm happy to help these young guys develop. I hope I can use my knowledge and experience to help them develop into good ballplayers who play the game the right way."



There was some interesting legal news near the end of the season. Minnesota Twins reliever Yohan Pino was served a federal indictment for participating in a scheme to defraud investors of up to $9M. If found guilty he could serve years in prison.



That would be the most interesting baseball news for the Philadelphia fans as the Phillies would finish the season on September 30th at 63 wins and 99 losses. At the end of the last game of the season inside Citizens Bank Park cheers of "I've got 99 problems but 100 losses ain't one!" could be heard.

Commenting on the season, Phillies owner David Montgomery simply said, "Disappointing."

GM Ruben Amaro Jr. declined to comment and those players who accepted BNN's request for comment all voiced the same thing: frustration.

Well the playoffs are now underway and the baseball world's attention shifts to the bracket the wonder of who will win it all. But for the fans of the Philadelphia Phillies it'll be a time to reflect on a disappointing season and to wonder what GM Ruben Amaro Jr. can do to save his position and to improve his team for the 2015 season.

Next time, the Phillies season will be reviewed as the team will be analysed after a complete season to assess their strengths, weaknesses, as well as to highlight players of note who either exceeded or did not meet expectations.

[RookieBatBoy]

Phillies OOTP Pitcher Overview - Album on Imgur

Since the next few updates will be analytical in nature and therefore will have much more pictures then I'd be willing to post in the body of the update, I've decided to put them in an album that you can view on your own and look at alongside the post. Thank you.
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Another season of Phillies baseball has come and gone and it's now time to evaluate the Phillies and assess the team's performance in 2014. Our first installment of "Looking at the Phils" will look at the team's pitching staff and go in deep and see who was a hit or who was a bust.

To begin with, we'll look at the Phillies starting rotation. While the front 3 of Hamels, Lee, and Burnett were mainstays throughout the 2014 season, spots 4 and 5 saw significant upheaval throughout the season. The arrival of SP Josh Beckett from the Dodgers placed him in the number 4 slot until the end of the season and the 5th spot was a revolving door practically until Ohlendorf came in to lock it down until the end of the season.


However, the Phillies rotation severely underperformed in 2014. From Lee, Burnett, and Beckett looking like they've begun to show the signs of their age getting the better of them to the mediocre campaign of Hamels as well as the awful stats of the 5th starters brought in to the rotation like Manship and Gonzales and it's safe to say that the 2014 Phillies staff was awful.

Grade: D


The Phillies bullpen on the other hand was a more mixed bag. Strong seasons from Closer Jonathon Papelbon, RP Cesar Jimenez, RP Mike Adams, RP Justin De Fratus were not enough to counterbalance the awful rotation and poor performances by Brad Lincoln, Jake Diekman, and BJ Rosenberg did not help the Phillies bullpen to stop the rotation from sinking the ship.

Grade: C

When looking at the 2014 Phillies pitching staff as a full what becomes readily available to the analyst and the introspective fan at home is that the rotation and bullpen lacked the ability to stop an offense from scoring runs against it. There was no lockdown starter the Phillies could turn to and thus the bullpen suffered as a result. Starters were left in longer to prevent the bullpen from being over-exhausted but as a result scores got inflated.

Next time: We will look at the Phillies offense, the second side of this coin to help further analyze why the 2014 Phillies ended up being the worst team in baseball.

Hint: If you're giving up more runs than you can score, you're going to lose more games than you can possibly win.

[RookieBatBoy]

Last time, we analysed the Phillies pitching staff and bullpen and came to the conclusion that an underperforming starting rotation combined with a mixed bag bullpen helped to contribute to the Phillies last place finish in 2014. However, pitching is one side of the coin. Now let's look at the other side in the offense. For the purpose of this analysis we will look at what were expected to be the main contributors for 2014 and see how they stacked up.



The first baseman for the Phillies, Ryan Howard had arguably a bounceback year in 2014, playing through a season with no major injuries for the first time since 2011. He provided decent power in the line-up this year to the tune of 25 home runs and slugged a clean .450. However, his WAR for the season was only .6 and he did not really drive in any runs this year batting in only 70 men. However, more good news is that his 158 strike outs were slightly better than his last full season in 2011. With 3 more years remaining on his contract and his popularity still at a premium, the Phillies will most likely hope that 2014 was the beginning of a resurgence for Howard.



Next we have another popular player with the home crowd: second baseman Chase Utley. Utley had a fine 2014 starting 127 games and batting to a tune of .264/.365/.445 with a WAR of 3.9. His 17 home runs and 85 rbis would seem to indicate that the player who once hit 31 home runs in 2009 has seen a drop off in power though he still seems able to contribute to the team offensively. Utley has one year remaining on his contract and is still very popular with the fans. The negotiations between his agent and GM Ruben Amaro Jr. next year on a possible extension that could keep Utley a Philley until he retires will be of interest to the home crowd and the ownership.



Next is Phillies backstop Carlos "Chooch" Ruiz. Much like Howard, Ruiz played through 2014 without significant injury. His line of .255/.308/.388 is decent but not spectacular to be honest and his WAR of .5 makes it obvious that he might soon find himself becoming a back up rather than a starting player. He still has 3 years remaining on his contract but it seems as though the fans and the owners would not mind seeing his $8.5M go somewhere else if they get something good in return. Of course, whether anyone would want to take on such a commitment remains to be seen.



This next player is one that has been with the Phillies for a very long time. He's the one, the only, the ever lovable Jimmy "J-Roll" Rollins. The SS had a good 2014 playing to the tune of .264/.330/.436 and hitting 15 home runs with 45 runs batted in. The 35 year old SS did see a reduction in his running game this year however, stealing only 11 bases, a 50% drop from the year before. Rollins looks to be in a similar situation to Utley. His contract will run out after next season but he is still very popular with the home crowd. Expect ownership to direct Ruben Amaro Jr. to sign the veteran SS to a deal that will keep him in Philadelphia until he decides to hang up his cleats during the season next year.



Next we'll look at the left fielder for the Phillies, Domonic Brown. Brown played in 131 games in 2014 and produced a line of .252/.305/.417 with 18 home runs and 62 runs batted in. However with a WAR of only .6 Phillies front office and on the field management will hope the LF will have a much better 2015. Primarily they will look for the 27 year old to hit more home runs and drive in much more runs. With the decline in power of Howard and Utley, players like Brown will need to step up to carry the weight. Brown is entering into an arbitration year this offseason so it will be interesting to see the negotiation process between his agent and the Phillies Front Office.



The final player we shall look at is the Phillies CF Ben Revere. The Phillies CF had a good 2014 with a WAR of 2.2 and swiping 33 bases. However decent a year Revere had for the Phillies, it was still a slight drop off from his 2013. However, the CF did see a major increase in power. Increasing his power output by 100% the CF flashed his muscle hitting one home run. Impressive seeing as he did not hit one all of 2013. Much like Brown, Revere is entering into an arbitration year this offseason. There will be no doubt the major arbitration negotiations will be between the Phillies CF and LF.

So what was the Phillies offense contribution to the Phillies last place finish in 2014? Well as a team the Phillies offense scored 574 runs. However, the Phillies pitching staff gave up 719 runs. It's no secret that if your team is giving up more runs than it scores, it's not going to win a lot of games.

Well with the pitching and offense having been analysed it's time to look at what can be improved in 2015. Either the Phillies are going to need to have a significant offensive increase or their pitching will need to bounce back in 2015 to improve on their 2014 finish.

Looking at our crystal ball, we predict the Phillies will most likely look to sign a SP in the free agent market when the time comes to sign Free Agents and look to sign a value bat. However, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. might have to decide between the two if the budget does not allow him to do both. Also, with 3B open this year will the Phillies give Cody Asche a full year of 3B or will top Phillies prospect Maikel Franco get the call up in 2015?

The Phillies will have $27M in money to spend on Free Agents this offseason without Arbitration contracts. If a conservative number on arbitrations bring the budget down to around $18-20M it'll be interesting to see what the Phillies can do with this money to "fix up" the team.

[RookieBatBoy]

The 2014 playoffs have come to an end and the Washington Nationals have bested the rest and have won the world series. After the celebrations and the congratulations, it's now time for the offseason to begin. The Phillies will look to improve on a abysmal 2014 and fill in holes in their rotation and their offense.



On the coaching staff, Bench Coach Larry Bowa informed the Phillies of his decision to retire. At his press conference, Bowa had high praise for the organization citing his time spent there as a player and as a coach.

In a statement released Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said: "Larry Bowa has been a valuable member of the Phillies organization both as a player and as a coach. We wish him all the best in retirement and thank him profusely for his contribution to the organization."



Pitcher A.J. Burnett also notified Ruben Amaro Jr. of his decision to not utilize his player option and to test Free Agency. Burnett took out a full page ad in the Philadelphia Newspaper thanking fans for all their support and enthusiasm. The fans were not enthusiastic about the departure of Burnett.




The arbitration period passed with the Phillies winning the majority of hearings against players. However, the rule 5 draft saw the Phillies lose Aaron Alther and Kelly Dugan.



The first free agent the Phillies signed this offseason was SP Brandon Morrow. Signed to a one year deal worht $1M with a bonus of $1M if 200 innings pitched is reached. Morrow looks to slide into the middle of the Phillies rotation and hopefully help the rotation pitch better in 2015.



A few weeks later, the Phillies announced the signing of RF Corey Hart to a one-year deal for $3.5M with a team option for a second year. Before reaching a deal with Hart, the Phillies were in discussions with Norichika Aoki but talks broke off. The breaking point was Aoki's unwillingness to take a short term deal.



After the signing of Hart and Morrow the Phillies surprised everyone with their next two moves. First, they inked Free Agent Pablo Sandoval to a one year $10M contract. The expectation had been to use Cody Asche at 3B in 2015 but the signing of Sandoval to a one year deal seems to make the most sense. With 3B Maikel Franco on the cusp of breaking into the bigs, Sandoval provides a good bridge to Franco for the Phillies.



The biggest surprise of the 2014 offseason for the Phillies was the signing of Russell Martin to a 3 year deal. Many thought the Phillies would keep Carlos Ruiz as the starting catcher and use Cameron Rupp as a back-up, but with the signing of Martin, the expectation now indicates that Ruiz will find himself in a back-up role.



The 2015 Phillies look to be much better offensively. However, only time will tell if the 2015 rotation will improve or not. The Phillies will need better seasons from both Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee if they hope to do better then their 62-99 record in 2015.

In other news, the Commisioner of Baseball announced the reduction of the active roster size to 24 players from 25 players.

Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. had a much better offseason in 2014. Every one of his deals did not lock the Phillies into long contracts and some of those players signed such as Hart and Morrow could be potential value signs if they have good years for the Phillies.

Ruben Amaro Jr. has indicated that the Phillies are finished making moves for the offseason, so BNN and the Philadelphia fans look forward to the 2015 season to see how this Phillies team performs for their home crowd.

[RookieBatBoy]

The rest of the offseason passed by with the Philadelphia Phillies and GM Ruben Amaro Jr. spectating the flurry of trades, free agent bidding wars, and rumors. Many agreed that while the Phillies may have some holes in their rotation and bullpen, their lineup was pretty solid. Of course, any such criticism about their pitching would be rendered moot if Hamels and Lee rebounded in 2015.



Alas, the first bit of news GM Ruben Amaro Jr. received in Spring Training would be crushing. SS Jimmy Rollins suffered an injury during a Spring Training game and had to leave the game. A few days later and tests revealed he had torn his labrum. The 36 year old SS held a private meeting with GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and Manager Manny Acta. The details of the meeting weren't made clear until a week later when Rollins held a press conference where he tearfully announced his retirement from Major League Baseball.

"I can't speak highly enough about the fans in Philadelphia. They pulled for me since the moment I came up here and kept rooting for me throughout my career. While I wish I could keep playing for this great team, this great city, these great fans; I also have to face facts."

The loss of Rollins was tragic for the fans and to the Phillies Front Office, but baseball was still baseball and a replacement was needed on short notice.



The Phillies decided to sign Free Agent SS Yunel Escobar to a 1 year $1.1M deal with a team option for a second year. What could have been a huge hole in the Phillies offense had been patched up quickly thanks to the decisive action taken by Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr.



The rest of Spring Training would pass by with the Phillies learning to work together as a team under the watchful eye of manager Manny Acta. Many reporters saw Acta and Ruben Amaro Jr speaking to one another during team workouts and believe a respectful partnership is beginning to build between the two. The manager is being greatly helped by 70 year old bench coach and former manager Tony LaRussa.

As it was last year, this year Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. was called into the office of owner David Montgomery and given the goal for the season: play .500 ball. To many it would seem the Phillies are in a better position this year to achieve that goal than last year, but as many know the season is a beast all its own and there's no telling what can happen.



Whatever the owners say of their teams goal for the year, it would appear BNN analysts expects the Phillies not to finish at a .500 record. However an improvement to 77 wins, an increase by 15 wins should the Phillies play to expectations should be seen as a great improvement for GM Ruben Amaro Jr. Of course, whether or not owner David Montgomery would see it that way remains to be seen.

Asked about the expectations for the season Ruben Amaro Jr. said, "We aim to win it all regardless of what everyone says about us."



In other news, Twins reliever Yohan Pino was convicted of being part of a scheme to defraud investors across the nation and sentenced to 5 years in prison for his participation in the illegal operation. The commissioner's office quickly brought the hammer down on him and issued a life long ban for Pino.

But now with opening day upon us once again. It's time to see who can outdo expectations and who will fall from the sky. The people of Philadelphia are still loyal to their fightin' Phils but their Phils need to show them some signs of life to reward their loyalty and soon.

[pjh5165]

quick tip before you get started...from the OOTP start screen, go into "add-ons central" and download and install the All-in-One mod. It'll make the game look a lot better

[RookieBatBoy]

Originally Posted by pjh5165

quick tip before you get started...from the OOTP start screen, go into "add-ons central" and download and install the All-in-One mod. It'll make the game look a lot better

Well considering I'm a year in, I think it's safe to say I already started. However, I do want to know what benefits does it give?