Just because the Phillies were matched up with the Yankees in the World Series, don't expect them to act like the Yanks when it comes to ostentatious player acquisitions.
"Signing a 'sexy name' doesn't necessarily mean that's the best player to get," Amaro said, adding the air quotes with a curl of his index fingers. "We acquired Cliff Lee, and a lot of people were talking about other names. He turned out to be pretty effective for us."
Yes, he did, and the Phillies locked up Lee for 2010 by exercising a $9 million contract option, which will be a bargain if he performs as well next year as he did since coming over from the Cleveland Indians in late July.
By the end of the postseason, Lee was the only reliable starter on the staff. Hamels was lost in a funk, Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ had been jerked around and were off their rhythm, Jamie Moyer was long gone because of an injury, and Pedro Martinez was weary beyond retrieval.
Looking ahead to next season, with the likely exception of Martinez, those guys are probably going to form the core of the rotation. Amaro said he would like to add depth from the outside, and perhaps Chan Ho Park will be given another shot, and perhaps Kyle Drabek will be ready for the big leagues by the all-star break.
But barring something unexpected, the Phillies are relying heavily on Hamels to join Lee at the top of the rotation and pitch as if he belongs there.
"If we get Cole Hamels pitching back where he was, we'll have a pretty unbelievable No. 1 and No. 2, really," Amaro said. "He wants to succeed, and I think many of the issues he had were [because] he was kind of fighting himself, creating expectations of himself.
