We had a chance tonight to speak with Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. at the Phillies Winter Tour stop in Lakewood. You can listen to the entire interview in audio form by clicking here. Below find some text comments…

You’re trying to acquire as much talent as you can so you can help the major league club. If you include Blanton and Halladay, and Lee, and Oswalt, we’ve moved 13-14-15 guys off our roster that are making an impact, but that’s part of developing talent. Our guys have been challenged to replenish that and have done a good job.

(On the 2010 BlueClaws) They had some very very athletic kids, some of whom we could have moved. Greatathlets. Great attitudes. Valle really improved. Jiwan James really improved. Josh Zeid put himslelf on the map. Colvin and others, like Cosart, really came into their own. It’s a really good group that made a mark. Singleton is obviously one of the better hitters in our organization.

(On BlueClaws 1B Jonathan Singleton) He’s going to get a chance to play some left field. We messed with it during instructional league but he seems like he’s excited to get the opportunity. Anyone that knows him knows he wants to play big league baseball. If this is the path he takes, that’s great. If anyone can swing the bat like he can, we’ll find a place for him to play.

(building the system) Chuck (Lamar)’s done a great job putting the right people in the right spots. We’ve gotten great support with the fanbase and atmosphere. I come here sometimes and get very envious. When I was playing in Lo-A…I came through the Angels. Quad Cities was one for us, in Iowa. Those are tough places to play. You’re a young player, you’re alone. I think the support system they get here in Lakewood and from the fans in fantastic.

(winning at the minor league level) The number one priority is to develop Major Leaguers, but it’s also important to develop championship caliber Major Leaguers. Winning means a lot. We like to try to create winning atmospheres in the system because we need that at the Major League level.

There’s more in the audio version, which is about 9 minutes and 45 seconds.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 at 8:13 pm and is filed under Around the Farm, Past BlueClaws, Phillies, Q&As, Winter Tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.