Phillies Brass Already Focused on 2012

On Monday, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. was a guest on WIP's Mike & Ike program and discussed his mindset soon after his club took an early bow from the MLB playoff picture and other subjects.

Asked if he took time off to get away after the Phillies were ousted from the opening round of the playoffs by St. Louis, Amaro Jr. spoke of staying focused on his organization going forward.

"I don't take too long," Amaro Jr. stated. "We've talked with our scouts. We've had a couple of conference calls and meetings- several of them. And we've been doing a couple of different things, but, certainly, lining up for 2012 and beyond has been most of the theme for most of our meetings."

The third-year GM also pointed out that he has already had discussions regarding some off-season swaps.

"We'll be ready to strike if there's a deal to be made, either by signing somebody or trading for somebody...I've already had several discussions with several teams about possible trades," Amaro Jr. added.

Amaro Jr. isn't in the dark and realizes, just as many folks around baseball do, that the Phillies' average player age is rising. That is a particular issue that is of considerable concern to the front office.

"I think that there's things we can do to try to improve and try to get ourselves a little bit younger," Amaro Jr. said, adding that John Mayberry Jr. would be a way for the team to add youth, if he becomes a regular contributor next year.

Also, during the interview, in response to an inquiry regarding if he shares the same feeling that many Phillies have, in relation to being so let down by the Phils' shortcomings this postseason and not having interest in watching the World Series, Amaro Jr. said, "I can't watch it either."

The Phillies top executive clarified the reasoning behind his lack of desire to watch the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals battle for the world championship. He added, "Because I still think we're the best team in baseball."

To hear the full segment as Amaro Jr. discusses Ryan Madson, Jimmy Rollins, Charlie Manuel and other matters, click here.
______________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE

Comments

Heroes- Fight of the Century

VS. It's a big day for your boy, Jay Ballz . No work, X-Men Origins: Wolverine premieres, our Phillies face the Metropolitans for the first time this season and tailgating for BOTH doesn't sound all that absurd to me. Anyway, I surveyed some qualified phans and got several opinions on how exactly a fight might go down if the mutant hero Wolverine faced off against Phillies hero Matt Stairs. Well known blogger, Chris, of I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake , kept it real and said the following- "Wolverine has adamantium ( indestructible metal substance) claws, so that's a great advantage. Stairs' Wonder Bat is neutralized there. See, the problem becomes Wolverine's ability to recover (he has a regenerative power) faster. Stairs is merely human. Sure, he has a goatee, and goatees are great, but they're great for saving sauce, not for defeating mutants. I think Wolverine takes it in a fight to the death in about 15 minutes because Stairs simply doesn'...

Jealous Ones Envy

Joe Blanton continues to excel and prove his worth in the Phillies pitching rotation. In his latest outing on Sunday, Blanton threw 8 strong innings, striking out 6, while walking just 1 and surrendering 2 earned runs, improving his record to 7-4. This season in July, Joe is 3-0 over four starts with 22 K's, 5 walks and a 1.21 ERA. Over his last 6 starts, Joe's ERA is 1.94. As a member of the Phillies, Blanton has a 3.84 ERA after the all star break with a 5-0 record. The Phillies are 20-12 (.625 winning percentage) in games that Blanton has started, since being acquired last July. Combined this season against other National League playoff contenders St. Louis, Chicago and Los Angeles, Blanton has a combined 1.67 ERA in 4 starts with a 2-0 record. Blanton is on such a sizzling run that the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a Tampa Bay Rays farm team, will host a Joe Blanton bobble head give away tomorrow. Bowling Green will host Joe's mother, father and sister for the event, as Joe...

...Got My Learn On

The weekend is just about here, but it's not feeling great so far. My college hoops team lost, and my mail included a huge image of Mets star David Wright on the cover of The Sporting News. "All Wright"? Um, I don't really believe it is. Aside from the non-appealing cover, it's the MLB preview issue, so allow me to share some things I learned from this week's magazine. 1- Former Phillie, and regular Sporting News columnist, Todd Jones has gone insane. Jones predicts that Jamie Moyer will win the NL Cy Young Award, and that Manny Ramirez will run for governor of California after the Dodgers win the 2009 World Series. 2- Ichiro Suzuki rocks the party that rocks the body. Metropolitans reliever Francisco Rodriguez compares Jose Reyes to Ichiro, saying they do many of the same things. I must have missed Ichiro performing rehearsed celebratory hand jives after getting a hit or scoring a run in a losing effort. And I know I missed Ichiro getting caught cheating on...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog