Bill Conlin prefaces all of this by saying that it’s just what he’s hearing, not necessarily the God’s Honest Truth, but he tells a story in the Philadelphia Daily News today about why Chuck LaMar resigned as the Phillies’ assistant general manager. A story -- with “quotes” that appear to be paraphrasing, not things actually said -- suggesting that LaMar was dissatisfied with the resources the Phillies were committing to the draft and to player development and his belief that “the well was running dry” in terms of young talent in the system.
Again, that “well is running dry” quote is a Conlin paraphrase from what I can tell. Also in the paraphrase: LaMar’s belief that even the Pirates and Nationals are doing far more to develop young talent than Philly is. It seems, according to Conlin anyway, that LaMar thinks -- dare I say it -- the future is murky at best. He wants to spend more money on prospects and draft picks and the Phillies, it is implied, are telling him no.
To which I give a skeptical “hurm.” There are multiple sides to every story. This is one potential side. A side which, it should be noted, makes LaMar come off as the most responsible guy around who is only looking out for Philly’s future. Which, if you’re LaMar, is exactly how you’d want to come off in this situation. Indeed, if he had a P.R. agent, it’s exactly how the release could have been couched. Which isn’t to say it’s bull -- perhaps there is a core of truth to it -- it’s only to say “be very wary of taking any story which paints someone as a selfless hero at face value.”
The success cycle is a real thing. Teams who have been at the top of it for a while like the Phillies have been are naturally going to have a more fallow farm system than teams who are building. Trading prospects and drafting late in rounds -- even missing out on early round picks because of free agent signings -- is part of the deal. The Phillies are clearly experiencing that just as every other championship-caliber team has done before them.
Perhaps that made Chuck LaMar’s job harder. Perhaps it even lends some truth to what Conlin is writing in this column. But it seems more than a little overblown to me, and I suspect that the story is way more complicated than all of that. Because nothing is that freaking simple.