Former Phillies reliever Phillippe Aumont, acquired in the Cliff Lee trade, has retired to pursue a career in farming
Former Philadelphia Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. made some great trades to help prolong the team’s postseason window of success in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
Amaro Jr. acquiring eventual Hall of Fame starting pitcher Roy Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jays stands out the most.
But, even moves that we can now look back on as successful, there were some bad ones as well. Among the worst occurred on December 16, 2009, as the Phillies dealt Cliff Lee — who had just dazzled, going 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA in the World Series — to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for three minor-league prospects: outfielder Tyson Gillies, along with pitchers Phillippe Aumont and JC Ramirez.
Earlier this year, Aumont and Ramirez were at the spring training camps of the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Angels, respectively. Neither were recently named to their teams player pools — for Aumont, in particular, because he has retired from the game of baseball to pursue farming.
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In a recent interview with CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning, Aumont said he is thankful for the baseball career that he had, as it provided him the opportunity to do a lot of things in life. But, the COVID-19 pandemic quickly changed his original plans to fight for a spot on this year’s Blue Jays’ roster.
“When the pandemic hit,” Aumont said, “you saw what it caused in our cities. I just felt a need to start something, to just go back to nature and get away from negative stuff.”
Aumont continued that there is meaning behind him now pursuing a career in farming.
“It’s something that my fiancée and I have talked about a lot — having a farm with chickens and pigs. You name it, we want them all,” he said. “I want to touch nature. I want to learn about animals, and growing vegetables and fruit crops. Just the endless possibilities for me on a farm are priceless.”
“Baseball is only part of life, but nature is going to be there forever.”
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After his 2012-15 stint with the Phillies, in which he went 1-6 with a 6.80 ERA and 1.992 WHIP spanning 46 appearances, Aumont was able to land deals with other organizations but never pitched in the majors again.
He had signed with the Toronto Blue Jays (July 2015-August 2015), Chicago White Sox (December 2015-June 2016), Detroit Tigers (January 2018-November 2018), and, most recently, a minor-league pact for a second stint with Halladay’s first team in the Blue Jays (December 2019).
In between, Aumont had also appeared as a player and coach with independent baseball’s Ottawa Champions, where he recorded a single-game Canadian-American Association league record of 18 strikeouts in a July 2019 start.
Unlike Aumont and Ramirez, Gillies never appeared in the majors, but appeared in the same Canadian-American Association league as recently as 2019. Ramirez has appeared in games for four different teams since posting a 7.50 ERA in 18 appearances during the 2013 season.
Aumont had gone 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA across two appearances and three innings earlier this year in the Blue Jays’ spring training camp.
So, the return on investment for the Phillies’ December 2009 trade of Lee to the Mariners was significantly low. Lee would eventually return to the team for the 2011 season, but imagine the possibilities of having a 2010 rotation that featured both Halladay, Lee, not to mention Cole Hamels, among others.