Phillies GM Ruben Amaro spoke to the media about the Phillies’ position in the market with ten days to go until the trade deadline. Prior to this afternoon’s 5-0 loss to the Mets, the Phillies were again at .500, 6.5 games behind the Braves in the NL East. He talked about the scarcity of capable center fielders and the high price tags on relief pitchers, but also added a seemingly unnecessary snipe at people who have commented on the team’s Minor League system, viewed as among the weaker systems in baseball.
Via Jim Salisbury:Amaro will be protective of his minor-league prospects when considering trades. The Phils’ system is thin on blue-chippers, but it does have some coveted players. Amaro used the subject of the minor-league system as a springboard to rip those who rate minor-league systems.
“We have some guys that may be available,” Amaro said. “Clubs have asked about some guys that you don’t see on the top 25, top 50 lists of everyone who knows everything about baseball. I said that sarcastically, by the way, because I don’t think people know (crap) about it. You can print that if you’d like.
“There’s just a lot of those lists that come out that make me laugh. I don’t see anyone working for any major-league clubs that do that with those lists. It’s interesting.”As Eric Longenhagen pointed out on Twitter, Amaro has yet to attend a game at one of his affiliates and is mouthing off despite being the guy behind a system that doesn’t have a capable plug-in center fielder. Amaro very nearly single-handedly ruined Domonic Brown as well. While his overall grade as GM of the Phillies may get an average to slightly above-average mark, his grade on handling the Phillies’ farm system would keep him off of the honor roll. His comments, in context, seem preemptively defensive more than anything.