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Gillick to stay with Phils as front office advisor
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Pat Gillick will stick around to help Ruben Amaro.
After losing one piece of the general managing triumvirate, the Philadelphia Phillies will at least keep two.
Just a day after stepping down as the GM of the World Champion Phillies, Pat Gillick will become a part-time consultant for the Phillies. He will stick around in some capacity to advise team president David Montgomery and new GM Ruben Amaro. It’s not quite retirement, but it is close since he will be doing it mostly from home.
After the promotion of Amaro to Gillick's old spot, co-assistant GM Mike Arbuckle stepped down, frustrated that he was passed over for the job.
As I wrote yesterday, this could end up being the biggest loss for the Phillies throughout this offseason. Arbuckle is responsible for bringing in a slew of the talent that brought this city a World Series title. Teams will be lining up for his services now that he has officially left the franchise, with Kansas City being mentioned as a possible front-runner. Arbuckle is from Missouri, so the rumors may hold some water.
Amaro is now on his way to California for the general manager meetings and is in a tough situation with having to hire a supporting cast around him. A more expensive situation for Amaro is the salary arbitration available for many of the key components of the Phils 2008 run. Amaro can put his mark on the offseason quite quickly by locking up the younger players to long-term deals during the early stages on free-agency.
As far as Gillick is concerned, it is always a positive when you can keep a Hall-of-Fame quality baseball mind on board. Dallas Green is another member of the Phils that comes to mind as someone who stayed and made a positive impact after a sort of “retirement”. He is currently the Senior Advisor to the GM, and he may be welcoming Gillick in that same position.
The 71-year old Gillick has proven to be a winner everywhere he has gone, so it is a plus that he sticks with the club to help move to a new era with Amaro as the leader. At the same time, it is still sad to see a man of Arbuckle’s stature leave the organization, especially after the players he found became winners.
The Phillies will now move forward with Amaro as the man with the plan, but also with Gillick in the shadows, ready to help when necessary. This move should help soften the blow of Arbuckle and should make the transition to a new GM even smoother.
The Phillies have a tough winter ahead of them, so its nice to see GIllick will still have his hand in baseball decisions.
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