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

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

Michael Taylor Q&A

Michael Taylor is currently leading the Reading Phillies' offense and is near the top of the Eastern League in most stat categories (3rd in batting avg- .342, 3rd in HR- 14, tied for second in RBI- 55, 2nd in OPS.- .994, tied for 1st in runs scored- 49, tied for 1st in hits...). The 23 year old Taylor is 6 feet 6 inches tall and has quickly grabbed the attention of phans and media alike as a top prospect to watch. I spoke with Mike Taylor over the weekend, and here is that interview. With all the big stats and being among the league leaders in so many categories, do you think you're ready for the next step? It's kind of a difficult question. Do you have anything left to prove here? There's always something to prove. There's stuff to prove every game. I mean that's one thing that's very interesting about this game. It's such a numbers oriented game. You're only as good as your last "whatever statistical category that someone's valuing". ...

PhoulBallz Interview: Off-season check in with 1B Kyle Martin

Kyle Martin, image- Jay Floyd First base prospect Kyle Martin grew up in South Carolina as a Phillies fan, admiring slugger Jim Thome , so it was a dream come true for his entire family when the organization made him their 4th round draft choice this year. A lefty batting power threat, Martin quickly made his professional debut with Class A Lakewood. The transition to the minors seemed easy, as the 23-year-old tallied a .279 average with five home runs and 37 RBI in 65 games for the BlueClaws. I recently spoke with the University of South Carolina product about his remarkable 2015 as a whole and he ranked how playing in the Phillies organization ranks against playing for Team USA in this year's Premiere 12 tournament. Read ahead for that interview and click here for my previous feature on the six-foot-two 240-pounder. -Are you still enjoying downtime right now or have you reached the stage of your off-season where you are back to baseball activities and knocking the ru...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog