Amaro Says The Phillies Are Underrated, Can Contend
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – People aren't expecting much from the Phillies this year, and general manager Ruben Amaro is not at all happy about it.
"I'm a human being and, yes, it [ticks] me off because I know our players are better than the perception," Amaro told the Inquirer's Bob Ford on Tuesday. "The team we fielded the last third of the season was not our club. That wasn't the expectation when we started the season last year."
The Phillies had significant injuries to key players last year, including former ace Roy Halladay, first baseman Ryan Howard, second baseman Chase Utley, center fielder Ben Revere, and right fielder Domonic Brown.
While injuries certainly played a part in the Phillies poor performance, the idea that players on the wrong end of 30 would have injury problems isn't a foreign one. Brown, while of the team's youngest starters, has also had his share of injury issues prior to this season.
"If the club we believe is going to break camp is able to stay on the field, we're a contending team," Amaro told Ford.
That might be true, but it is certainly a big 'if,' considering that Rollins, Howard, and Utley haven't gotten any younger, and the Phillies biggest addition, Marlon Byrd, will be 36 years old.