Inside the Phillies: In picking Papelbon, Amaro was true to form

CLEARWATER, Fla. - For the third straight offseason, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. revealed his infatuation with pitching by acquiring the best available arm.

That's what Amaro did when he pulled off a three-team trade that brought the Phillies Roy Halladay from Toronto after the 2009 season. And that's what he did again when he brought back Cliff Lee as a free agent in December 2010.

Those moves were cause for much celebration. In fact, the news that Lee was returning to the Phillies nearly forced Mayor Nutter to come up with a parade route through Center City.

For some reason, the excitement level was not quite the same in November when word spread that the Phillies had signed veteran closer Jonathan Papelbon to a four-year, $50 million deal. When the Phillies pitchers and catchers report for their first workout Sunday at Bright House Field, Papelbon should not expect the same loud greeting that Halladay and Lee received the previous two years.

Maybe that's because the fan base was perfectly content with Ryan Madson as the closer after he put together an outstanding 2011 season. Compare Madson's statistics to Papelbon's from last season and there is no discernible difference.

Madson is only three months older and could have been retained for a lot less money even if the Phillies had paid him the four-year, $44 million deal that agent Scott Boras felt had been offered shortly after the free-agent market opened. Madson eventually had to settle for a one-year deal worth $8.5 million with the Cincinnati Reds and the Phillies would have gladly re-signed him at that price, but he was not going to return to Philadelphia in a setup role.

For some reason, the Phillies had their reservations about Madson in the closer role. That was apparent last April, when Brad Lidge went down and manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee decided Jose Contreras should get the first shot at replacing him as the closer. Boras assured Amaro then that Madson would be his closer by the end of the season and he was right. That, however, did not alter the general manager's thinking once it was time to put the 2012 Phillies together.