The Phillies Bright Future Was Built Entirely By Ruben Amaro Jr.

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Times are changing at Citizens Bank Park and in the National League East. If the Phillies 11-0 symbolic annihilation of the Mets on the final day of the season last Sunday wasn’t proof enough, there were a number of things fans could point to in the waning months of summer that showed that the franchise had indeed hit a turning point.

Aaron Nola has turned into an ace, Rhys Hoskins swung his way into history, and Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro, Aaron Altherr, and J.P. Crawford all helped the Phillies to a 36-38 record in the second half of the season.

As the Mets have steadily self-destructed over the last year (and look to be headed toward a foreseeable future of losing seasons), with the Marlins under new ownership, and the young Braves squad still untested, it’s easy to see the Phillies in second place in the division next year behind the Nationals. And maybe, if they can stick close enough to .500, in competition for a Wild Card. Look no further than the 2017 Twins (59-103 in 2016), 2015 Cubs (73-89 in 2014), and 2015 Astros (70-92) for examples of recent young teams that have earned Wild Card berths the year after horrific campaigns (if you're still unconvinced, take a look at how the 1992 Phillies finished up).

And if the Phillies do achieve any measure of success next year, the odds are that you will have the oft-maligned former general manager, Ruben Amaro Jr., to thank.

Amaro was run out of town in 2015 after the Phillies missed the playoffs for the fourth year in a row. Many blamed Amaro for Phillies demise, and the big contracts he gave the stars of the 2007-2011 dynasty. But before he left, Amaro built nearly the entire roster of the Phillies which many seem to subconsciously associate with new general manager Matt Klentak. In reality, the new regime is responsible for pretty much nothing of the product that put together a winning record in September.

Here’s a look at what Amaro did:

• Maikel Franco was signed by Amaro as an international free agent in 2010.
• Tommy Joseph came from the 2012 Hunter Pence trade with the Giants.
• Odubel Herrera was selected by Amaro during the Rule 5 draft in Dec. 2014.
• Zach Eflin (and minor leaguer Tom Windle) came from the Jimmy Rollins trade with the Dodgers in Dec. 2014.
• Ben Lively came from the Marlon Byrd deal with the Reds in Dec. 2014.
• Nick Pivetta came from the Jonathan Papelbon deal with the Nationals in July 2015.
• Days later, just before the deadline, Nick Williams, Jerad Eickhoff, Jake Thompson, and Jorge Alfaro all came to the Phillies in exchange for Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman.
• The trades were just part of what the Amaro regime built before it departed. Aaron Altherr (2009), J.P. Crawford (2013), Rhys Hoskins (2014), Aaron Nola (2015), and Scott Kingery (2015, expected to make his Phillies debut in 2018) all came from Amaro-era drafts.
• Even the Phillies top minor league prospect, budding ace Sixto Sanchez, ranked the #5 prospect in baseball by MLB.com, was scouted as a 16-year-old under the Amaro regime.

Two-plus years on, all of those draft picks and most of those trades look like wins for the Phillies, and for Amaro’s legacy. The only major rebuilding faux-pas that Amaro made was the Chase Utley deal with the Dodgers; the Phillies landed infielder Darnell Sweeney (since traded away) and minor league pitcher John Richy, who hasn’t done much yet.

And the Hunter Pence trade, while widely maligned for years, could yet turn out to be at least salvageable for the Phillies, who have suddenly two years of production from Joseph and who may look to get something back in a trade now that Rhys Hoskins is cemented at first base.

The only major trade made under the Klentak regime has been to deal Ken Giles to the Astros for Vince Velazquez, Mark Appel, Thomas Eshelman, and others. The success of a flurry of much more minor trades (Jeremy Hellickson, Joaquin Benoit, Juan Nicasio, Howie Kendrick, and Pat Neshek), along with draft picks like Mickey Moniak and Adam Haseley, is yet to be determined.

And the only significant pieces still on the team from prior to the Amaro era are Freddy Galvis and Cesar Hernandez, both of whom could be traded this offseason as well.

Klentak seems to know what he’s doing. The organization is doubtlessly aiming to build a perennial contender, and Klentak and his analytics certainly haven’t gotten in the way of it, thus far. And granted, he’s only been in charge for around two years, so it is perhaps unrealistic to think he would have made more of an impact on the major league roster by now.

But if, on opening day 2018, the Phillies lineup card looks like this, and you’re excited about it, thank Ruben Amaro Jr. For every single player.

1. Herrera CF

2. Altherr LF

3. Williams RF

4. Hoskins 1B

5. Franco 3B

6. Alfaro C

7. Kingery 2B

8. Crawford SS

9. Nola P

Patch file photo