page_title: Rubén Amaro Jr.
section_title: Front office positions
hierarchical_section_title: Rubén Amaro Jr. / Post-playing career / Front office positions
caption_attribution_description: English: Philadelphia Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.
context_page_description: Rubén Amaro Jr. is an American former professional baseball outfielder and General Manager. Amaro played in Major League Baseball from 1991 to 1998. He was named the GM of the Philadelphia Phillies on November 3, 2008, succeeding Pat Gillick and remained in that position until September 10, 2015. Amaro is currently a baseball advisor in the front office of the New York Mets, having previously served as the first base coach for the Boston Red Sox and Mets. He is the son of former MLB infielder and coach, Rubén Amaro Sr.
context_section_description: Amaro joined the Phillies front office immediately after his playing career ended in 1998, hired by then-GM Ed Wade. He served as Assistant GM for the Phillies for 10 seasons, before being named GM. His first seven seasons were under Wade, followed by three under Gillick.
  On November 1, 2008, the day after the Phillies’ second-ever Broad Street Parade, it was confirmed that Amaro was given a three-year contract to be the new Phillies GM, as well as Senior Vice President. 
  The Phillies won the National League East divisional title each of the first three years of Amaro's tenure, appearing in the 2009 World Series and finishing with the best record in baseball during the 2010 and 2011 regular seasons (the latter, with 102 wins, their best record in franchise history). In 2009, with the Phillies pitchers struggling despite being the defending World Series title holders, he traded for Cliff Lee and signed free agent Pedro Martinez, who contributed to the Phillies' return run to the World Series. In 2010, Amaro traded for Roy Halladay but also dealt away Lee. In late July, when the Phillies were 3½ games behind the Atlanta Braves, he pulled off yet another crafty trade, acquiring Roy Oswalt and "triggering a late-season blitz to baseball's best record." Prior to the 2011 season, Amaro managed to convince Lee — then a free agent courting interest from the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees — to re-sign with the Phillies, joining a pitching rotation consisting of Halladay, Oswalt, Cole Hamels, and Joe Blanton. Commentators called it one of the best rotations ever assembled. Halladay, Oswalt, Lee, and Hamels were dubbed the 'Phantastic Phour' by fans and the media. However, Amaro was criticized for giving a US$125 million 5-year contract extension to an already-ailing Ryan Howard in 2010, which was regarded as highly unnecessary, because Howard was already signed through to the end of the 2011 season — by which time he would be 32 years old, which is "about the age at which teams start to worry about decline in big-bodied first-base/DH types."
  Further, the latter part of Amaro's tenure as GM was comparatively unsuccessful, as Philadelphia failed to reach the postseason in 2012 and subsequent seasons. Howard's performance ended up far worse than skeptics expected, and by 2014 Amaro was "trying hard to deal Howard away, expressing a willingness to eat a lot of the money.” Shortly after Amaro fired manager Charlie Manuel, in 2013, Manuel admitted that he had known that the Phillies roster lacked enough "pieces to win" in 2012 and 2013. In July 2014, a "Stay Or Go" poll was conducted by Philly.com with over 10,000 fans involved, and 93.6% of voters wanted Amaro to be removed from his position, with only 6.4% wanting Amaro to remain GM.
  Amaro's performance with the Phillies was unlike that of his predecessor; in May 2014, Sporting News ranked Amaro the worst general manager in MLB, noting his propensity to signing aging veterans who fail to perform at a level commensurate with their contracts. With the writing clearly on the wall for some time, Amaro was let go by the Phillies on September 10, 2015.
  Following the 2018 season, the Mets promoted Amaro from the coaching ranks into a front-office advisory role, under new GM Brodie Van Wagenen.
caption: Amaro in April 2010
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