After Charlie Manuel closed the door and let his players have it following last night's ugly loss to the Mets, Ruben Amaro Jr. said Charlie handled the situation "very well."
CSN's Jim Salisbury talked to Ruben about the state of the Phillies and clearly the Phils' decision maker is not happy. There are some real good quotes about what's going through the mind of a GM with the highest payroll in the National League whose team is playing wretched baseball.
But the juicy stuff is when Amaro points out that if things don't turn around, he could be a seller come July. Imagine that.
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“July is so far ahead,” Amaro said. “We just have to get on track. But
if July comes and we’re playing like this, we’ll be sellers. How we play
now will determine whether we’ll be buyers or sellers in July.”
Let's talk hypotheticals here for a minute. Say the Phillies don't turn it around and our still hobbling around in the basement of the NL East, who could Ruben sell? If he doesn't think there's a shot he can resign Cole Hamels, does he move him at the deadline to get something in return? Imagine how the fanbase would react to that. I'm guessing not well. Although you could likely get some stud prospects in return.
Would he trade Cliff Lee again?
On the offensive side of things, it's tough to pinpoint a player he could sell. Shane Victorino? But that leaves a giant hole in your outfield in 2013. It's tough to imagine a team having much interest in any other bat besides Hunter Pence. Although a team could be looking for a solid bench guy like Wigginton or Nix.
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The bottom line: let's hope that we don't have to see how Ruben operates as a salesman.