Kyle Kendrick Apparently Will Never Go Away
By Alex Christy
Ruben Amaro, for some insane reason, announced that he will offer Kyle Kendrick arbitration this offseason.
This is great news for Kyle Kendrick and… well, nobody else. It has been well documented here at TBOH that Kendrick has been awful this year. He has reverted back to being a replaceable fourth or fifth starter. When asked about Kendrick’s future with the team, Amaro said, “I don’t know why people are asking about that. We will.” Is there a more asinine way to answer a incredibly relevant question? If there was, Amaro would have answered that way.
Aug 27, 2013; New York, NY, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick (38) pitches during the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Kendrick will get about $6 million on a one year deal. Who knows though? Amaro loves cost certainty more than he loves signing good baseball players. I would not be shocked if Kendrick gets another two year deal for $13 million or something like that. “He may not be very good, but we know how much he will cost us going forward!” Amaro can be heard shouting as he rides his big wheel around the office.
Moves like this cement the fact that Amaro is just not a creative general manager. Other teams are spending significant amounts of money to look for inefficiencies that they can capitalize on. Amaro is sitting back figuring out what old or familiar players he can sign so the team doesn’t have to print new player shirseys. I have lost all faith in him ever being a competent general manager.
This team needs some significant changes this offseason. Kendrick is not a change. I am not talking about change for change’s sake, but change because the Phillies are not a good baseball team. The team is in this position because of Amaro, and I have no confidence he can get them out of this mess.