By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Former Philadelphia Phillies general manager and current New York Mets first base coach Ruben Amaro Jr. is not having a good final month of the 2018 Major League Baseball season.
Prior to joining the Mets after the 2017 season, Amaro spent two seasons in the same coaching role with the Boston Red Sox — who are now two wins away from their ninth World Series championship in franchise history.
To make matters worse, Amaro Jr. was recently denied an interview for the Mets' open general manager position, according to Fancred's Jon Heyman. Agent Brodie Van Wagenen is considered a "significant favorite" to land the role.
Back in September, Amaro Jr. told The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal that his main purpose of pursuing a coaching role was to "get back onto the field" and "someday" become a manager. Amaro Jr. said he still has "a lot to offer" in the front office as well, if the opportunity were to arise.
"I felt like being back on the field would give me a different and interesting perspective as a far as doing a better job as a GM, and trying to improve my information resources," Amaro told Rosenthal. "I’m open-minded. If you were to ask me if I would like my next step to be a GM or a manager, I guess it would be a toss-up."
The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo wonders why Amaro Jr. is not being considered for general manager or managing jobs, given he is "relatively young, bilingual, and smart." Cafardo writes:
He’s already been a GM, made mistakes and also made some of the best deals, unloading high-priced players, of any GM in recent times. How many guys can actually be up for both a GM and a managing job? Executive and field experience. The Mets’ first base coach was also exposed to one of the best analytical departments when he was a coach with the Red Sox. He’s the first one to say his one regret when he ran the Phillies was he didn’t embrace analytics sooner. Over the years he’s done a good job dealing with the media, which has become one of the top attributes a manager or GM needs.
Unfortunately for Amaro Jr., he will not get the chance to make his "next step" this offseason — at least with the Mets — to replace the vacancy left by Sandy Alderson amid his battle with cancer. Amaro Jr. will get to make an acting cameo on ABC's "The Goldbergs," however.
Amaro Jr. spent roughly 2,500 days as Phillies general manager, from Nov. 3, 2008, to Sept. 10, 2015. While Amaro Jr. won't get his second World Series ring with the Red Sox, nor the Mets general manager position, at least he will always have 2008 under Pat Gillick's wing to recollect back on.
