The Phillies will announce Monday that assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has been promoted to replace departing GM Pat Gillick, a source from the organization confirmed Sunday.
As the organization’s assistant general manager, Amaro had long been rumored to succeed Gillick, who was hired three years ago and had openly stated his intention to retire from baseball following this season.
A Philadelphia native and graduate of William Penn Charter High School, Amaro served as a batboy for the Phillies from 1980-83, and played for the organization from 1992-93 and 1996-98. He was drafted by the California Angels in the 11th round of the 1987 amateur draft and played for the Cleveland Indians and Phillies during an eight-year pro career.
A graduate of Stanford, Amaro joined the Phillies’ front office following his retirement after the 1998 season. He introduced closer Brad Lidge to the media last offseason and has been involved in numerous aspects of baseball operations in recent years. He interviewed unsuccessfully for GM jobs with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston and Baltimore.
Amaro, 43, beat out another internal candidate in Mike Arbuckle for the GM position.
Arbuckle, the team’s assistant general manager of scouting and player development, received word of the Phillies’ decision to promote Amaro in an hour-long meeting on Saturday with team president David Montgomery, a team source said Sunday. He resigned after the conversation ending a 15-year stint with the club.
Arbuckle, 58, deserves much of the credit for the organization drafting Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Brett Myers, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Madson, and Chase Utley. He also played a role in the organization signing Carlos Ruiz and will likely take other front office staff with him to his next destination, rumored to possibly be Kansas City.
The Phillies won their first World Series title sine 1980 last Wednesday, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in five games. Gillick, 71, announced in February that he planned to retire to spend more time with his family.
Prior to coming to Philadelphia, he led the Toronto Blue Jays to a pair of World Series titles and the Baltimore Orioles to two ALCS appearances. In three seasons with Philadelphia, the club went 267-219 and won two NL East titles.
(Patrick Gordon is a freelance writer and managing editor of the Philadelphia Baseball Review).
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