Ruben Amaro Jr. appeared on "Inside Pitch" with Jim Bowden and Casey Stern on MLB Network Radio this afternoon and offered insights. Bowden asked Amaro pretty much everything that is on Phillies fans' minds, including Hunter Pence, Cliff Lee, Jimmy Rollins, and the Phillies' putrid bullpen.
Bowden asked, "Will the signing of Cole Hamels force the Phillies to trade Cliff Lee or Hunter Pence?"
"No, we don't have any financial constraints or issues like that as far as that as concerned. Yes, we do have three highly paid pitchers right now… that doesn't affect the way we do business…We're not forced to do anything; if it makes sense for us to do something we'll explore it."
Can the Phillies come back and make a playoff run? Amaro seemed to think of it being unrealistic, but seemed to move towards looking to do something to improve the team.
"We can't have any dellusions of grandeur…We do have to do some things with our bullpen".
He said that if he can improve the bullpen he likes the Phillies chances better than not.
Finally, Bowden asked whether the Phillies have taken calls on Jimmy Rollins. Without directly answering the question, Amaro stated he expects Rollins to stay:
"Our shortstop is a 10 and 5 player who is a legendary player; the best shortstop who has ever been in our organization and I have a lot of confidence he will be our shortstop for the next several years. We'll see what happens, but I'm sure he'll be our shortstop for the next three or four years".
So, probably if a desperate team was willing to blow the Phillies out of the water, they would be game. But with Los Angeles getting their shortstop in Hanley Ramirez, they may not have an interested suitor.
