Q: Did you meet with Hamilton here? Amaro: No, but I wouldn’t tell you if I did.

— Ryan Lawrence (@ryanlawrence21) December 3, 2012

Angel Pagan and the Giants appear to be happy together, slimming the prospects of a huge Amaroese deal that lands a free agent center fielder, laughing on top of a pile of money.  Which is what we… we… **consults briefcase full of messily arranged papers**

… which is what we want?

**Looks back at crowd of Phillies people, still with handfuls of paper. The crowd collectively nods**

Which is what we want.

But that’s okay, because that was part of the plan all along.  Well, part of one of the plans.  Amaro has indicated–I know, right?!  Rube is indicating things!–that his Winter Meetings plan is far less of a concentrated push and more of a several thousand-part plan to peck someone into submission.

Despite knowing how the plan will be executed, there are still some singularly critical aspects of it that remain a mystery, such as, “what is the plan?” and “when will the plan happen?”

Winter meetings..what’s grilling up ??

— Tyson Gillies (@TysonGillies21) December 3, 2012

Don McPeak-USA Today Sports

We obviously do not even carry the influence of a minor league center fielder waiting to see who he needs to outlive, so our odds of ever knowing any of this until it happens is low. The truth is, like the rest of us, the cracks in any of these plans are visible, and Rube doesn’t like what he sees.  Now there’s just less of what he didn’t want.  I mean, who wouldn’t want Bourn leading off, or Hamilton in the middle of the order?

But who wants to take a risk on Bourn’s speed declining at this point in his career as he tries to get paid as much as possible, or on Hamilton missing 50 games in the summer or leaving the center field position unresolved while piling up in one of the corners. Patience is jarring for us.  It’s supposed to be good, but we’re not used to having to restrain ourselves.

Throwing money around hasn’t really worked, unless you count 102 wins in 2011 as “working.”  Which I do.  But as far as World Series titles go, there are still only two, but hey, Jonathan Papelbon is here with $50 million! The less news there is on the Phillies, the less we have to worry about for the future.

There are a lot of wrong moves to make this winter, and Rube has yet to make one.  Of course, he has yet to do anything at all, really, but in a market like this, those two are close to the same.

I mean, would you rather be wondering:

Nats sign Haren for one year, $13M. I don’t get it. At all.

— Aaron Somers (@AaronJSomers) December 4, 2012

Ha, ha, ha–no you would not.

Perhaps Rube is growing up, progressing from a slick, hungry suit with a money clip trying to pay for everybody’s drinks, to a shell shocked exec knowing he isn’t invincible.  A lot of execs don’t get the tenure to develop.  A lot of them come in with a personality, grind it into the franchise, and leave with a ring, or in a lot of cases, nothing at all.  Rube is using the past years–and the current market–and Dan Haren signings–as learning experiences.  We aren’t who we were.  And neither is he.

**Stoic silence**

Okay I’m getting internet reports that the Phillies have signed Josh Hamilton and Michael Bourn to a 10-year, $650 million deal that doubles in price if either one of them is able to play in more than half a season for the next decade.

“Nothing burns like the cold.”

–George R.R. Martin

In the winter, we hibernate.  Burrowing into our holes, we curl up and embrace life on the indoors, hanging out with family, reading books, sampling canned meats, praying for death, and maintaining our sanity.  But not MLB’s general managers.

Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

Their holes remain unoccupied and their families un-killed by winter’s long, ghastly shadow and their booked unread.  This is the time of year when championship teams are built, with pieces fresh off the assembly line, plucked from another machine, or even snared off the scrap pile before an untimely destruction.  It all culminates at the Winter Meetings, which begin today, and go on for an entire three days of shuffling and treachery.

It’s the 11^th anniversary of baseball’s least accessible arena, during which 3,000 baseball executives will slide pieces of paper to each other from across tables, nod, and repeat the process.

Their home will be the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, which yes, sounds like the facility being built over a summer camp by a Police Academy villain.  They’ll barbecue by the pool, have a wild suit-swapping night, and even reveal sob quietly at the always emotionally scarring Bob Freitas Business Seminar, where they reveal all the ways they’ve betrayed each other throughout the year.

With a crumpled list in his pocket and a new vulnerability, our own Ruben Amaro descends on Nashville, TN with a mission:  find that center fielder.  And do it without succumbing to the pressures set by divisional rivals, forgetting we need a third baseman and bullpen help, and that this isn’t a fresh-faced core he’s dealing with anymore.

Enemies

There are those who wish to avoid, or dare I say it, even willfully harm Rube.

Mike Rizzo

The Nats’ GM may not have a particular bone to pick with the Phillies, but he seems like a generally self-loathing guy who lets his inferiority complex take control.  Maybe the Nationals’ division championship will have subdued this for now!

But as the representative of a franchise that would pick up former Phillies and then immediately turn them around to a microphone bank to say that the Phillies weren’t very good, you’ve got to assume he’s always got a problem with something.  Perhaps he can coin another catch phrase that the Phillies can turn into a t-shirt.

Scott Boras

Look at him back. Ruining everything. Rafael Suanes-US PRESSWIRE

As far as villains go, this guy is the lurking overseer.  Even when he’s just standing there, Boras is easily imagined tearing maliciously into an apple, which he has polished in between bites by an assistant who hates his life.

Boras made everybody nervous recently by claiming that he had no beef with the Phillies, despite an unhappy ending to his client, Ryan Madson’s, tenure with the team.  And he just so happens to be guarding one of the elite center fielders still left on the market, on whom the Phils are just the least bit keen:  Michael Bourn.

Boras is up to something.  Whether it’s sinister or lucrative, the Phillies will always have to walk away wondering if they just got screwed.

Whoever represents Wilton Lopez

Players don’t just show up for physicals and then just not pass them.  I mean, sometimes they do.  That’s why they have them.  But this deal was a sure thing for the Phillies, until suddenly, it wasn’t anymore. Was someone intentionally trying to cast a pall of paranoia around Rube just before heading to the Meetings?

Targets

Michael Bourn: The slick-fielding, high speed, lead off, former Phillie looks even better now that he is even more alone.  His downside is that he is 29 and will want the contract of a 25-year-old.

Angel Pagan:  Older than Bourn (31), a downgrade offensively, not a lead off hitter, injury risk (who isn’t?), oxymoronic name, less WAR than Bourn in 2012 despite a breakout season (4.8 to 6.4), but a cheaper bat, an outfield spot filled, and a treasure pit of puns for both fan group and headline purposes.

I’d show you a picture of his face but you probably do not know what he looks like. It’s a vicious cycle. Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Josh Hamilton:  Ball-blaster, off-the-field issues, on-the-field issues, injury risk, mammoth deal, possibly feeling dejected by the Rangers’ unpleasant qualifying offer.

Jeff Keppinger:  Consistently named in third base solutions, just broke his leg, Yankees have “longstanding interest” in him and may be anxious for A-Rod to see them with someone else, career .864 OPS vs. lefties, solid 2012 performances (.325/367/.439) in limited plate appearances, leg probably not un-broken until January.

Kevin Youkilis:  Is 33 but I keep thinking he is in his mid-40s, broken a lot, frightens people, power-capable, eats most of the post game buffet, frightens people, not stellar defensively, has to be ready to enter the 1-2 year deals phase of his career, frightens me.

Mike Moustakas:  Dom Brown-esque “He’s got to turn it around eventually” dementia, Rube could take advantage of Royals’ very sad desperation for hurlers, only 24, cheap, big upside.

Mark Reynolds:  No thank you.

Chase Headley:  Being too similarly named to Chase Utley would give Sarge a nose bleed, has yet to be looked upon by fanbase without fog of free agency and third base need between them, Padres do not want to give him up, would be easy to overpay for him and the Padres would certainly make Rube do it while laughing.

Giancarlo Stanton:  Not going anywhere but definitely fun to think about.

Endgame

We don’t know.  We may never know.  There are forces gathering right now that we may never understand; transactions deemed unworthy;

But as the Grantland Overworld Arena or whatever slowly fills with 3,000 sharp dressed men and women, the deals will instantly be at play.  The air will thicken with cash incentives and players to be named later; the sound of briefcases scraping across table tops will keep people up at night.  We can only hope that as this process begins, Rube keeps a clever wit and an enlightened mind, avoiding the shadows and following the instincts that have made him a force to be reckoned with.

When does Game of Thrones come back.