Ruben Amaro Officially on the Hot Seat

Is the Phillies General Manager, Ruben Amaro Jr., officially on the hot seat?  In an article written by CBS Philly’s Andrew Porter,  that’s the way team Chairman David Montgomery makes it sound.

Pat Gillick in his new role as President of the club will closely monitor the job that Amaro is doing going forward.  Gillick is no stranger to winning as most Phillies fans can attest.  After all, he was the man in that GM role when the Phillies won a World Series title in 2008. 

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Since Gillick stepped aside following the 2008 championship season, the Fightins have steadily declined on Amaro’s watch.  It can be argued that Gillick left Amaro enough tools to get the job done.  And for the first 3 years (’09-’12) under his direction, the club had finished with a 1st place finish in the NL East in each season, posting wins totals of 93, 97 and a franchise-record 102 respectively.

In 2009 the Phillies reached the Fall Classic again, but fell to the New York Yankees in 6 games.  The following season they improved their win total, but were ousted by the NLCS Champion San Francisco Giants in 6.  In 2011, more improvement had been made, but the St. Louis Cardinals took the NLDS in 5 games.  Suffice to say that fans of the Fightins weren’t happy with how those 3 seasons concluded.

After winning 102 games in 2011, the 2012 team fell to .500 and finished 3rd in the NL East at 81-81.  Hardly a finish any Phillies fan was wishing for, especially having tasted the postseason in each of the 5 previous years.  2013 was even worse, with a 4th place divisional standing and 8 games under .500 at 73-89.

By the time 2014 rolled around, most fans were cautiously optimistic for the upcoming season.  Unfortunately the Phils posted the same exact record of 73-89 as the disappointing 2013 club had, but now they had slipped to last place NL East finish, missing the postseason for a 3rd straight year.

With Gillick keeping a watchful eye on Amaro, the 2015 season already looks like the Phils are headed in a better direction, at least organizationally.  Is Amaro on the hot seat?  Will he get enough rope in Gillick’s first year as President?  No one really knows yet, but one thing’s for certain, Amaro’s every move this season will be magnified even more than it has been in the past.