Former Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. is no stranger to television. Of course for years he appeared in front of cameras playing baseball for the Phillies and California Angels. Then he did press conferences for the Phillies. Of course, there was his television appearance on The Goldbergs playing Ruben Amaro, Sr. This time he will have a new role: baseball analyst.
According to Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Amaro is headed to NBC Sports Philadelphia to take part in pre-game and post-game coverage of Phillies games:
Multiple Phillies sources indicated Sunday that Ruben Amaro Jr. is on the verge of accepting a job as a studio analyst with NBC Sports Philadelphia. The job would likely entail him working as a pregame and postgame analyst during the team’s telecasts.
Brookover reports that Amaro was the one who declined to renew a relationship with the New York Mets in the front office. Amaro was incredibly popular in Philadelphia after trading for Cliff Lee, trading for Roy Halladay, and then signing Lee as a free agent. The 2011 Phillies team that Amaro assembled set the club record for wins. And then 2012-2015 did not go as well.
The Phillies dismissed Amaro during the 2015 season after Amaro oversaw the trade deadline that saw pitcher Cole Hamels traded to the Texas Rangers. That coincided with the hiring of Andy MacPhail as the team's new president. MacPhail praised Amaro's work at the trade deadline, but ultimately hired Matt Klentak to chart the course ahead.
There is a good amount of Amaro that on paper should be popular among Phillies fans. He was the son of a Phillies player and grew up in the Rhawnhurst section of town. He played baseball at Penn Charter, before heading on to Stanford and then playing for his hometown Phillies team. But the lack of a rebuild seems to be fresh in Phillies fans' minds. Will that stick? Maybe after getting to know him again on television, they'll think differently.
