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Jesse Biddle, image- Jay Floyd When a CSNPhilly piece by Jim Salisbury featured quotes from Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. discrediting prospect Jesse Biddle 's assertion of suffering from a concussion last season, the uproar that should accompany such contradiction was missing. The Phils' 2010 opening round draft choice (27th overall), Biddle, missed considerable time last year after the Phillies told the media that the German Town Friends School graduate needed a mental break. Biddle struggled with his production after he was struck in the head with an ice pellet during a hail storm in May.  Prior to the ailment, which forced him to miss one start initially, the Philadelphia native posted a 3.18 ERA with 61 strike outs and 24 walks in 10 starts for Double-A Reading.  In the five starts that followed he had a 9.81 ERA with 15 strike outs and 16 walks issued. At the time of the injury, Biddle was diagnosed by a doctor as having a concussion and, accordi...

Hoping to keep things light on the first day of spring training, Phillies starting pitcher Cliff Lee showed up to speak with members of the media toting a plastic answer providing assistant.  With his Magic 8 Ball by his side, the 36-year-old proclaimed with a smile that he'd use the device to help with any hard questions. Relying on the toy for answers related to teammate Cole Hamels ' proclamation this week that the Phillies won't be winners and if he'd wish to be traded to a contender, Lee offered more genuine thoughts on his outlook overall.  The four-time All-Star pledged his focus to win a championship for the team he's currently with. "Until we get out there and play the games, get ourself in a certain position, I can't expect to do anything other than to win and get to the World Series, and win a World Series," Lee asserted.  "That's the only way I know how to look at it." Team general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. w...

Late last week the Phillies signed minor league free agent Elvis Araujo to a big league contract and it was partly a relationship in the team's front office that helped get the deal rolling. Araujo, a six-foot-six 215 pound lefty has previously pitched in the Cleveland organization, tallying a 22-14 record with 11 saves and a 3.87 ERA in 102 games (57 starts) in his five-year professional career. Last year, the 23-year-old, who regularly reaches the upper 90's with his fastball, split his season between Class A Advanced Carolina and Double-A Akron, posting a 3.42 ERA and a 9.0 K/9 mark in his first season working exclusively as a reliever. Pitching for Zulia in the Venezuela Winter League, where his teammates include 2014 Phillies contributors Freddy Galvis and Aaron Altherr , Araujo has a 2-0 record with 11 strike outs, three walks and no runs allowed in 8 1/3 innings over seven appearances. Another Phillies tie with the Zulia club is the team's assistance genera...

On the 62nd edition of the PhoulBallz Minor League Podcast, Jay chats with righty pitching prospect Perci Garner , who discusses how confidence is key for him, his pitch repertoire, rehabbing with Jamie Moyer and plenty more. Tug and Jay also discuss J.P. Crawford 's hot stretch, Addison Maruszak 's unique double header, Andrew Knapp 's and Roman Quinn 's progress, David Buchanan 's big league debut, Ruben Amaro Jr.'s low rank among GM's and loads more. Use the media player below to stream the full episode, or simply download it by clicking HERE . You can also check out previous episodes and subscribe on iTunes .

The Phillies have been quiet thus far at the annual MLB Winter Meetings in Orlando FL, but one storyline impacted Philadelphia fans a great deal.  On Monday, Roy Halladay , who helped the Phils lock down two division titles announced his retirement from playing baseball. Halladay, an eight-time All-Star, signed a one-day contract with Toronto in order to retire as a member of the team that drafted him.  Proving to be a class act that he has always been regarded as, Halladay and his family took out a full-page ad in the Philadelphia Daily News thanking the Phillies organization and their fans for their dedication to him during his time in town. The text of the ad reads as follows... "To the City of Philadelphia, and Phillies fans everywhere: My family and I want to thank you for four amazing years. We have so many great memories of our time with the Phillies, on and off the field, and we will cherish those always. We want to also express our appreciation to my te...

Initially on Friday, the Phillies announced a press conference of an unspecified nature.  Then, news began to leak that Charlie Manuel , would be replaced as skipper of the team he had led throughout their strongest period in organization history. The beloved 69-year-old took the Phillies to two World Series, winning the team's second ever title in 2008 and losing to the Yankees in 2009.  Unfortunately, the past is just that, and with the team floundering in fourth place in the National League East, 20 1/2 games out, with a 53-67 record, team executives felt that a change was in order.  In nine seasons with the Phils, Manuel notched a 780-636 record in the regular season.  General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. announced that Manuel was asked to stay on with the Phillies, in some front office capacity and it was said that Manuel accepted that role for the remainder of the season, but Manuel then asserted that he would need to take some time off.  As a result...

Could Phils GM Ruben Amaro Jr. trade Cliff Lee again? Occasionally, here on the site, we feature guests tackling a topic related to the Phillies.  This time around, I surveyed some of my favorite sports commentators and fans on the subject of which Phils player is most likely to find himself traded by the July 31st non-waiver trading deadline. The participants in this roundtable are my PhoulBallz Podcast cohost and TheFightins.com front man Tug Haines , WFAN radio host and sports writer Joe Giglio , the biggest female baseball fan I know Casey Landman , PhilliesNation.com writer Kieran Carobine , Wall St. Journal Radio's Tyrone A. Johnson as well as yours truly.  Here's what the group had to say on this subject. Tug Haines- With Ruben Amaro Jr. at the helm, Chase Utley , Freddy Galvis , and Jesse Biddle will be traded for seven Dominican outfielders, (all 5'10" and 180 lbs.), and three 6'5" first basemen. Joe Giglio- Cliff Lee: With t...

As we do each week, Tug Haines and I bring you another new edition of the PhoulBallz Minor League Podcast! The latest edition features a big time Twitter focus with a lot of Latin flavor, as we talk about potential Phils' opening day second baseman Freddy Galvis, another Chooch story and Ruben Amaro Jr's impact on acquiring foreign born players. We also have some fun with several team personnel's social networking accounts and there's plenty more. Check out the player below, to listen or download the show. And don't miss our previous two episodes. ________________________________________________________ You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE . Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE .

This week, the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws hosted their annual Phillies banquet at the Woodlake Country Club in Lakewood, NJ. Prior to the event that raised money for BlueClaws charities, I had the opportunity to sit down with Philadelphia general manager to discuss various organizational subjects. Ruben spoke about the Wilson Valdez for Jeremy Horst trade, highly regarded pitching prospect Jesse Biddle, Domonic Brown's future, last year's draft class and plenty more. Check out the media player below to listen to the full one-on-one interview with Ruben Amaro Jr. To check out my previous interviews with Ruben, click HERE and HERE . ___________________________________________________________ You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE . Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE .

The annual NHL Winter Classic is set to be played on Monday, January 2nd and will pit the Philadelphia Flyers against the New York Rangers. Recently, NHL.com writer Adam Kimelman published quotes from a few important Philadelphia basball figures in regards to the upcoming outdoor contest, to be played at the Phillies' home, Citizens Bank Park. He spoke with Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., team president David Montgomery and the most tenured player on the team, Jimmy Rollins. Amaro: "It's pretty cool. It's been pretty neat watching the development, the things that are happening. … I've been watching every single day we walk in. I take a route in through the concourse and check out the progress. It's been neat to watch." "I'm born and raised here, a big Flyers fan. I was here when the Broad Street Bullies were big-time. I think I was 9 or 10 years old when they were winning. And it's exciting. I've always been a big Flyers ...

Ask a child about his Christmas wish list and the tyke might not be quite as excited as Tyson Gillies is when he talks about being on a baseball field on a daily basis. The Phillies' young outfield prospect has spent a great amount of time away from the diamond, as he has suffered repeated injuries over the past two seasons. However, at long last recently, Gillies has been on the field, training at the Phillies' spring training facilities in Clearwater, FL. "I took a week to ten days off for Thanksgiving and when I came back I started hitting straight away. (I've) been taking fly balls in the outfield and I'll be starting to run again here soon. And basically, I've just been lifting weights, hitting and fielding a little bit. I love being on the field!" The Canadian born Gillies was acquired by Philadelphia as part of the December 2009 Cliff Lee trade with Seattle, along with pitchers J.C. Ramirez and Phillippe Aumont . Fresh off a stellar cam...

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 discu...

The Phillies announced Wednesday that manager Charlie Manuel's contract has been extended through the 2013 season. The new contract squashed the remaining year on Manuel's previous deal and revamps the agreement the Phillies have with Manuel in 2011. The new agreement extends Manuel for two additional seasons, through 2013, and will reportedly pay the native West Virginian between $9.5 and $10 million over the three years. Via a press release from the Phillies today, team general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. stated, "We are pleased to have come to terms with Charlie. He has been an integral part of the success we've had over the past several years. There was little doubt that he was going to continue to be our skipper past his current contract and we look forward to the next three years with the hopes of continued success." With Manuel at the helm from 2005 through 2010, Philadelphia has posted the best overall record among all teams in the National League, at 544-428....

Scott Mathieson is a long-time Phillies pitching prospect that fans have grown familiar with for the wrong reasons, unfortunately. The right-handed Canadian, who was drafted by Philadelphia in the 17th round of the 2002 amateur draft, had his Major League career sidetracked due to serious injuries and is still battling his way back to the big time. It took Mathieson, who went on the operating table three separate times for his pitching elbow, roughly four years to get back to being a true contender to earn a spot on the Phillies' Major League roster. As a starting pitcher, Mathieson broke into the Majors with the Phillies, at age 22, in 2006. However, his season was cut short when he required Tommy John surgery to repair ligament damage in his elbow. The following season, as Mathieson began rehab work, it was discovered he also needed an ulnar nerve transposition procedure. Then, in 2008, Mathieson had a second Tommy John surgery. In 2009, Mathieson rehabbed and pitched a combined ...

I spoke with Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. this week, prior to the Phillies Winter Tour stop in Lakewood. I asked Amaro about several things including his thoughts on how relievers like Scott Mathieson and Justin De Fratus might contribute to the big club in the coming season, about JC Ramirez's recovery from off-season hip surgery, Charlie Manuel's contract situation, about new BlueClaws manager Chris Truby and more. Amaro also answers questions from Trenton newspaper reporter Josh Norris about Jon Singleton's switch to the outfield from first base and his overall opinion on the state of the Phillies' minor league system. Check out the media player below to listen to excerpts of my time with Ruben Amaro Jr. _______________________________________________________________________ You can follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter by clicking HERE . Connect with PhoulBallz.com on Facebook by clicking HERE .

Phillies prospect Phillippe Aumont will return to a relief role going forward. As reported by the Inquirer's Matt Gelb on Thursday, the Phillies plan to restore the righty Aumont to the role in which he enjoyed the most success in his career. A first round pick in the 2007 draft, Aumont was a prized prospect acquired in the deal that sent Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners last off-season. Aumont posted a 2-6 record with 16 saves, a 3.88 ERA and 59 strike outs in 51 relief innings at two levels of the Mariners system in 2009. However, after coming over to the Phillies, the organization chose to move Aumont, who stands 6'7", into a starting role, and he was not nearly as effective. As a member of the Double A Reading Phillies staff, Aumont struggled, going 1-6 with a 7.43 ERA in 11 starts. By June, the Phillies demoted Aumont to High A Clearwater, where he initially pitched in relief and improved somewhat, posting a 2-5 record with a 4.48 ERA in 16 games (10 starts). Philli...

It was a move that nobody seemed to expect. But, as the afternoon hours turned to evening hours, baseball insiders began to trickle out rumors online that the Phillies were the previously rumored mystery team making offers to Cliff Lee and, later, negotiations were confirmed by multiple sources. At about midnight the story broke that the Phillies had locked down the services of the man they traded away one year ago...Cliff Lee. On December 14th, 2009 the big story was the trade to acquire Roy Halladay and the subsequent deal that sent Cliff Lee away to Seattle. It's not possible to forget the months of second guessing that so many Phillies phans did, as they wondered what a rotation that included Halladay, Lee and 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels would have been like. 365 days after Lee left, he's back and the Philadelphia phaithful have their wish...as well as a bonus. When the Phillies worked a trade in July to acquire ace righty Roy Oswalt from the Astros, there was a wide ...

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is in the house at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood for game 3 of the South Atlantic League Championship. I had the opportunity to speak with Amaro Jr. about several subjects including the importance of the BlueClaws' run at a SAL title repeat, prospects that came in return for Cliff Lee, prospects who have shot up the Phillies' ranks this year, and plenty more minor league related matters. Check out the media player below to listen to the full interview. **This interview was featured on 97.3 ESPN's The Weekend Sports Guide with Tyrone Johnson. Listen to The Weekend Sports Guide every Saturday at noon on WENJ 97.3 in Millville, NJ.** ______________________________________________________ You can follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter by clicking HERE .

On Tuesday, Phillies reliever Ryan Madson had successful surgery on his right great toe, that he injured in the wake of a blown save last week in San Francisco. Madson broke the toe by kicking a chair in frustration, as detailed in this article . The procedure involved placing two pins in Madson's toe. The pins are expected to be removed in about 4 weeks, provided the healing process is on schedule. Early estimates have Madson missing at least 8 weeks, as he will not be able to put a significant amount of weight on the foot until the pins are removed. The team plans to keep Madson's arm strong through modified exercises, like throwing from his knees or from a sitting position. A clear plan for physical rehabilitation will be available until Madson can resume putting weight on the foot. General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. spoke of Madson's situation's impact on the team, "Well, it's a concern he's out that long, there's no question about that. It's a pre...

Lots of talk, no moves at all for the Phillies on day 1 of the 2009 Winter Meetings in Indianapolis. Relief pitching should be the priority. The Phillies are in the market to retain some of their own, as well as add some players who have become free agents from other team. Near the top of the list seem to be Chan Ho Park returning and perhaps Brandon Lyon, the former Tiger and D-Back. The Phillies met with Park's agent Jeff Borris on Monday, and talks remain ongoing. In 374 career games, the 30 year old Lyon has a 4.20 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Trade rumors mainly surrounded only one current Phillie...Joe Blanton. ESPN's Jayson Stark reported that the Phils quietly let other teams know they'd listen to offers for Blanton. Ideally, they do not wish to trade him, but if the deal could improve the club and/or offer enough salary relief, it could interest the National League champs. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told reporters that re-signing Pedro Martinez is something that cou...