Generally Speaking, Ruben Amaro Outplayed Ned Colletti

Not many people doubted that the Phillies lineup of tater tot smashers could bring the team back the World Series for the second year in a row. After all, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Jayson Werth have been there, done that, seen it, tore it up before. But for first-year general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., nothing was guaranteed from Opening Day all the way up to his stint on the platform to receive the National League Championship trophy last night. True, Ruben inherited a team built at its foundation by a lucky Ed Wade and fine-tuned by a shrewd evaluator of talent in Pat Gillick. And yes, Ruben didn't have to make any exceptionally wild changes to a team coming off a dominating 2008 postseason run. But in the end, Amaro deserves all the credit for three moves that were proved to be both bold and fruitful. First, he brought in an aging Raul Ibanez to replace fan favorite Pat Burrell. Ibanez was seen as a simple slugger with no defensive aptitude and fading production. Ibanez ...