Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. sought to explain his comments about the team’s fans impatience regarding the handling of prospects on WIP following a story from CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury.
When it was pointed out that some fans wanted to see the Phillies be a little more aggressive in advancing prospects Aaron Nola and Zach Eflin up the chain, Amaro told Salisbury the process was complicated.
“They don’t understand the game,” Amaro said. "They don’t understand the process. There’s a process. And then they bitch and complain because we don’t have a plan. There’s a plan in place and we’re sticking with the plan. We can’t do what’s best for the fan. We have to do what’s best for the organization so the fan can reap the benefit of it later on. That’s the truth.”
Speaking with WIP’s Howard Eskin on Tuesday morning, Amaro explained the quote.
“I didn’t say they don’t understand,” Amaro told Eskin. “Some fans don’t understand it’s not all Philadelphia fans. That was not the purpose of it. It is some fans who think that bringing [Zach] Eflin and [Aaron] Nola, for instance, to the major leagues at this time is the right thing for the organization. It’s those fans that really quite don’t know — or bringing young minor league players to the Major Leagues before it’s time for them to really be ready to reap the benefits of being in the Major League. It’s those fans that really don’t understand.
“When I said that, it’s more about the fan that really doesn’t understand the process — and it’s not all fans. There are just some who feel like, ‘Let’s just bring this guy because he’s a young player and it’s OK, we just wanna see him.’ That’s not how the process works. And you know, when I said the fan, that’s not all the fans. I know that there’s a lot of knowledgeable fans. There are those loud, minority of fans that believe that we should be doing X, Y, or Z, and we have to do our work based on what’s important and what we feel is right for the organization as a whole.”
Amaro also told Eskin that the front office is working for the fans and that the best move is to allow Nola and Eflin to develop further in the minors.
MLB
“I think it’s important for the fans to understand that what we’re doing is ultimately for the fan,” Amaro said. “When we develop those guys properly, we should be in position to be able to entertain the fans the way we want to on a perennial basis. We can’t make decisions based on what the fan wants from us. It’s ultimately about putting our organization is position to get us to the point where we can entertain the fans in the best way we can.”
For more on Amaro’s comments on WIP, listen here.