Ruben might be forced now to deal with the consequences of having a compound Eaton situation on his hands. There are a lot of folks confined to funny farms whose wildest fantasies are more realistic than the concept that the Phillies would approach the end of August a fat 21 games over .500. Despite No. 1 starter, double postseason MVP, "the next Carlton" lefthander Cole Hamels gasping along at 7-8 with a 4.52 ERA. Despite Lidge 0-6 with nine blown saves and the ZIP code of Austin, Texas (73301).
Bill Conlin: Amaro needs to force Manuel to change Phillies closer
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There is a time when a GM must save his manager from overplaying the loyalty card. One of Manuel's great strengths is his sense of even-handed justice and ability to maintain a level of fairness and consistency. At the same time, (the manager's favorite segue) there is an overriding obligation to the corporate goal. In this case, the business model is to win another pennant with what is possibly the best overall talent level ever achieved by a Phillies team.
It would be criminal neglect to place the hurt feelings of an individual ahead of the common goal. Jamie Moyer was unceremoniously tossed into the bullpen when Pedro Martinez was deemed ready to start. The Brett Myers crisis last season was resolved in dramatic fashion and with ultimately favorable results.
So it is time for Amaro to play the strong hand most good GMs are reluctant to play. He has to do an intervention. "Charlie, it's not working with Brad, and we have to work out a different way to go."
Bullpen by committee? Park has been brilliant since his new role was defined. I'm not convinced Ryan Madson, with the best pure stuff on the staff, is emotionally incapable of getting three ninth-inning outs. Myers riding to the rescue in his eye-popping Escalade? Give rehabbed and fire-dealing Scott Mathieson a September look?
But all those options and any others are for the baseball people to thrash out. It's why they make the big money.
Meanwhile, a 95-victory season would be a terrible thing to waste.
Send e-mail to bill1chair@aol.com.
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