Philadelphia Phillies’ Ruben Amaro Jr. under negotiations for hiring free agents in offseason-MLB
General Manager for Philadelphia Phillies, Ruben Amaro Jr. is extremely busy at the moment. As he talked to the reporters, his phone was ringing over and over again, giving clear indications that he is being contacted by various organisations for the exchanges
of players in the offseason.
After their lacklustre campaign in 2012 regular season, the Phillies have a point to prove. Their fans are desperate to see quality players occupying the roster and leading the team to glories next year.
In order to achieve the objectives, the Phillies’ GM has an important role to play.
Currently, he confronts the task of obtaining centre fielders as the team lacks in this department. He can evaluate free agents available in the market and make attempts to sign deals with them.
The Phillies unloaded Shane Victorino from their roster during the season through a trade. As a result, they have been left with little options in the outfield, making it necessary for them to pay special attention to position players in the offseason.
It is probable that the Phillies re-sign Victorino from free agency.
Commenting on the on-going talks with the concerned officials of the rest of the teams, Amaro has clarified that he is still at the initial stages of negotiations.
Right now, he is more focused on taking opinions of his associates and ascertaining that an objective appraisal of the possible options is carried out through a General Manager meeting.
“Right now everything is just informational, but if the right thing comes along we could strike quick,” Amaro said. “More than anything else, I think the [GM] meetings help us at least see what might be realistic possibilities in our pursuits as far as possible
trade partners are concerned. It gives you a lot of one-on-one face time with other clubs. You never know. Some trades take two seconds to do and others take years to do.”
Apart from centre field, GM will be conscious of the need for acquiring relievers.
Bullpen remained a major problem for the team as was evident during the 2012 season, which means that the possibility of inking one year agreements with the free agent relievers cannot be ruled out.
It will be interesting to keep track of the events related to the moves undertaken by the Phillies to improve their roster for the upcoming season.
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