It's easy to vilify the guy. He did a lot of dumb things. But I would never want to deal with the pressure and expectations of being GM of a team immediately after a World Series win. I would never want to be a GM, period, but still. The new GM will have so much more of a clean slate.
FWIW, I supported the Ryan Howard extension at the time. One of my fondest memories of the Amaro era was when they added Cliff Lee, leading to the "H-O-H-Lee Shit!" season. The subsequent postseason was the most depressing.
I LOVE Cliff Lee, but I think anyone with a working pair of eyes could see the Phillies problem post-World Series was always hitting. Doubling down on the pitching was fun, but, well...
And that Howard deal was an albatross from the moment it was signed.
They have to get a new field manager before they get too far into the offseason, they'll want to have the new GM hired to be part of that discussion, and so they can't wait until the season is over to make that move.
Plus, this seems like the best time of the year to get a hold of GM candidates. Minor league regular season ended on Labor Day, there's no more player movement for now, and you can't do a lot of deep planning for next season yet. September is nerve racking, but there's probably not a lot to do if you're an assistant GM or scouting director.
If the Cox broadcast of the Padres was available I think we would be thinking a lot harder about getting the package... it REALLY sucks to get almost all games with the opposition's commentators. I miss Matty! I miss crazy "HockeySUIT!" calls....
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