Finished taking the defending World Series champion Phillies and transforming them into the worst team in Major League Baseball – only took seven years! – Ruben Amaro Jr. is searching for a new challenge. Amaro is seriously considering becoming a manager.
Not a general manager – he’s radioactive at this point. Not a manager at Dick’s Sporting Goods, either. A field manager, in baseball, as in from the dugout.
Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe has the report:
Ruben Amaro Jr. a manager? Bob Lamonte, the premier agent for NFL coaches and executives, has taken on a new baseball assignment — remaking the former Phillies GM. Lamonte, who has remade the careers of NFL coaches such as John Fox, Andy Reid, and Jack Del Rio, and transformed Jon Gruden from NFL coach to ESPN star, is now working with the 50-year-old Amaro and trying to sell him as a GM or manager. Amaro, who spent most of his eight seasons with the Phillies as their GM, would like to manage, and with the Marlins breaking that barrier with Dan Jennings stepping down from the front office to the dugout this season, Amaro, a Stanford graduate, appears serious about the challenge. Amaro, a former utility player for four major league teams, could appeal to a team such as Miami, which may be looking for a connection with Latin players. Lamonte is close to Tony La Russa, Walt Jocketty, and Pat Gillick, who all have endorsed Amaro pursuing a managing job.
It wasn’t enough for Amaro to allow the Marlins to become a better baseball team than the Phillies? Now he needs to actively manage against them, for a division rival no less?
As Cafardo points out, the career change is not as outlandish as it may sound. There’s precedence, there’s endorsements, and Amaro spent eight seasons in the big leagues from 1991-98. If he’s serious, he probably will find work at some point.