Madden: Phillies wanted Aaron Judge for Marlon Byrd at trade deadline

by 72 Comments

Deadline pickups already paying big dividends in the field
Game 113: Bounce Back

Via Bill Madden: The Phillies wanted top outfield prospect Aaron Judge in exchange for Marlon Byrd at the trade deadline. The report comes after Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told Matt Gelb his deadline inactivity was due to other teams not being aggressive enough. Other reports indicate clubs did not believe Philadelphia had sincere interest in moving their players given their unwillingness to negotiate.

Judge, 22, is having a monster year after being selected with the second of the Yankees’ three first round picks last summer. He’s hitting .319/.429/.509 (165 wRC+) with 20 doubles, 15 homers, and a system-leading 74 walks in 108 games split between Low-A Charleston and High-A Tampa. Judge for Byrd is silly and the Yankees would never do it, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with initially asking for a big return. If teams never did that, there wouldn’t be any Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano trades. It’s the unwillingness to budge that’s the real problem. For the Phillies, anyway.

Deadline pickups already paying big dividends in the field
Game 113: Bounce Back
  • Farewell Mo

    Amaro has to be the worst GM in pro sports right now.

    I hope Cashman told him to call him back after he pulls his head out of his ass.

    • acx

      Everyone who complains about Cashman, just remember…

      That team in Philadelphia has it so much worse.

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/roadgeek Roadgeek Adam

    More like it’s Ruben Amaro Jr’s unwillingness.

  • Bo Knows

    Amaro was smoking some crazy ass weed to think Marlon Byrd was worth that much

  • mustang

    mustang says:
    August 5, 2014 at 1:42 pm
    “The Phillies asked for Aaron Judge in exchange for Marlon Byrd, according to Bill Madden of the New York Daily News. Needless to say, the Yankees balked at giving up Judge, who was drafted 32nd overall in 2013 and is ranked by MLB.com as the fifth-best prospect in the Yankees’ farm system”
    “surprising to hear GM Ruben Amaro Jr. say that his peers were not sufficiently aggressive in pursuing Philadelphia’s players, with Stark adding that other general managers have indicated to him that they were less than pleased with the commentary.”

    Mike your getting slow with your old age….
    ;)

    • mustang

      Sign of a bad GM:

      1-unwillingness

      2- Pissing off your trade partners

  • acx

    The Phillies will continue to get worse as long as he is their GM….

  • Jorge Steinbrenner

    Hope Amaro enjoyed the nice bag of dicks he got instead.

  • http://www.twitter.com/_swarlesbarkley Mark Teixeira – Ghostbuster (formerly Drew) RIP Egon

    Wasn’t this reported a few days ago? Anyhow, if RAJ isn’t already considered the worst GM in all of baseball (Jack Z is up there too) then I think this deadline really entrenches him in that glorious top spot.

    • BKamm

      It was implied, or rumored, but not confirmed.

  • cr1

    It’s situations like this that gave rise to the saying that sometimes the best deal is the one you didn’t do.

  • acx

    Right now he is probably calling teams asking for their best prospect for Cliff Lee. Yes. That Cliff Lee. The one who may never be able to pitch the same again with his bum elbow.

    • Farewell Mo

      Severino and Clarkin for Lee.

      Lee can always learn to pitch right handed if need be

  • Shame Spencer

    I’m still acclimating myself to the rules around here… are we only allowed to make jokes about how terrible Amaro is in this thread?

    I’m not opposed…..

    • Jorge Steinbrenner

      Old-school Match Game with Gene Rayburn style. Yes.

      “Dumb Ruben is sooooooo dumb….”

      “How dumb is he?!?!”

      • ropeadope

        Gene: “Dumb Ruben is sooooooo dumb….” Let’s go first to Brett Sommers.

        Brett: He thinks Jack Klugman and I are happily married.

        Gene: No match. Now let’s go to Charles Nelson Reilly.

        Charles: He thinks Brett Sommers and I are happily married.

    • The Ox

      No, you can also say how smart Cashman is for not making the deal. :-)

      • acx

        I said earlier, some of Cashman’s best deals are the ones he doesn’t make:

        Re: Ubaldo Jimenez

    • BKamm

      Does any of what just transpired answer your question?

  • rbibaseball57

    Amaro: You like Byrd?

    Cashman: Yes. What do you want in return:

    Amaro: That Aaron Judge guy looks like a nice B prospect

    Cashman:……………..

    Amaro: Hello? Hello? Anyone there? Can you hear me now?

  • blake

    I just can’t figure out why teams weren’t more aggressive says Ruben Amaro Jr.

  • forensic

    AHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAHA!

    *breathes*

    AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!

    • acx

      Cashman: (farts into phone, then hangs up)…

    • mustang

      So I guess you didn’t take this seriously.

  • TWTR

    That is why Byrd was the player I least wanted because of the Phillies’ likely insane demands.

    • Scott47

      LMAO.

      ALthough I shouldn’t be laughing at a 12 year old joke, I really am enjoying it.

      • Scott47

        Meant to reply to acx (cashman farts into phone.

        • acx

          Let’s be real. Requesting our top hitting prospect for Marlon Byrd and his contract deserves toilet humor reaction.

  • ropeadope

    Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told Matt Gelb his deadline inactivity was due to other teams not being aggressive gullible enough.

    What Amaro really meant.

  • acx

    How embarrassing for Philly fans that Amaro did nothing at the deadline? That team is in worse shape than the Red Sox were. They at least sold off. Amaro got rid of no salary, nor brought anything for the future.

  • Go Win

    What Amaro didn’t get is that there was an opportunity cost to his club for doing nothing. Blaming others will not help him resolve the Phillies problems.

  • BKamm

    Either dumb or insane. Can it be dumb and insane? Can that combo happen?

  • BKamm

    What on earth would he ask for Hamels?

    • FIPster Doofus

      $ Texas.

    • Tanuki Tanaka

      a 10% share of the franchise he trades Hamels to.

  • MG

    I haven’t seen Judge but based on the reports the Yankees did exactly the right thing by hanging up on Amaro.

    If they had said ‘yes’, you might eventually get a replay of the classic Seinfeld interaction between Frank Costanza and George Steinbrenner (as played by Larry David).

    Hal: Mr Costanza, I have bad news, George is dead, he was squashed by a ceiling beam falling on his desk while he took a nap underneath, thare wasn’t anything we could do.

    Frank Costanza: Oh my god, that isn’t good, George was a good boy but how could you have traded AARON JUDGE for Marlon Byrd? Judge is 6’7″ he’s hit over 400 home runs, won the MVP 2X, for MARLON BYRD?!!!!!!

    Hal: It was Eppler’s fault, he scouted Byrd, thought we could get into the playoffs with him. How were we supposed to know he had a degenerative hip issue and would need surgery the week after we got him?

    Frank: You are IDIOTS!!!!! It’s no wonder you haven’t made the playoffs in 15 years, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!!!

  • RayVT

    The Phillies had an insane starting 3 Pitchers (Halladay, Lee & Hamels) under Amaro & he even added Papelbohn as his closer. He also gave a contract to Ryan Howard. He had the pieces to be successful. A good infield up the middle (Ruiz, Rollins & Utley). He even had Pence & Victorino in 2012 but he didn’t keep them. He thought Domonic Brown, Ben Revere & Delmon Young were the answers in 2013. Now its Domonic Brown, Ben Revere & Marlon Byrd. He got rid of all his miLB players & went cheap on the OF & even 3B while he had the studs in the rotation. The Phils have money they just didn’t have the leadership in Amaro to have much success with his lack of depth & glaring weaknesses.

    • TWTR

      Yes, this was a George in his manic phase type of trade proposal.

      • TWTR

        I replied to MG, weird.

  • Deep Thoughts

    Best nickname I’ve heard so far: Ruin Tomorrow Jr.

    Any others out there?

    • dkidd

      whoops. didn’t see this before posting below
      that one is hard to beat

    • Cool Lester Smooth

      That’s been going around for years and years.

      …because it’s perfect.

  • The Great Gonzo

    Ruben AmaLOLo, Amirite?

  • hardwired

    I’m pretty sure there’s a secret No Rubens Club, and its members are the other 29 MLB GMs.

  • blake

    @Ken_Rosenthal: Sources: Hamels claimed on revocable trade waivers by unidentified club. #Phillies have 48 hours to work out a trade or pull him back.

    Cubs….guaranteed .

    • MTU

      Muy interesante.

      They have the money and the prospects to get a deal done if Philly really wants to move him.

      • blake

        Yup but Amaro will pull him back probably

        • MTU

          Cub are on Hamels NT list so that would complicate matters too.

          • MTU

            sp:Cubs

  • dkidd

    my philly fan friends refer to raj as “ruins tomorrow”

  • Giuseppe Franco

    It really wasn’t that long ago when the Phillies were the Yankees of the National League and were built for a sustained run of winning.

    But that window closed much sooner than most everyone expected.

    Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of assholes.

    • TWTR

      I blame Cliff Lee’s wife.

    • MTU

      Yes GF.

      They just came apart at the seams and that window slammed shut
      right in RA’s face.

  • Dan A.

    Ruben Amaro is a joke. Would anyone take Cole Hamels if it also meant taking Ryan Howard. Going back to the Phillies would be a prospect or two who aren’t sniffing the top 30 (org guys). It’s tight, but I think I would do it. The Yanks can handle the cost (and it’s only 2 years), and getting a a reasonably priced ace in his prime would be worth it.

  • Game 3

    Amaro is loco.

  • pete22

    I don’t really count on prospects until they succeed at AA. Look forward to seeing if Judge can make the jump. It would be awesome if he can

    • MTU

      Same here.

    • MTU

      Some already have him penciled in as the next Winfield.

  • Shame Spencer

    I love eating Reuben sandwiches.

    • MTU

      I’m sure you add extra cheese and leave off the Amaro.

  • bernbabybern

    Test

  • captainmike

    if judge is ready for the big leagues in two years where will he play ?
    we have long term contracts for ells, gardner and beltran
    and probably several people for the DH position with contracts we can’t unload.

    • Evan3457

      Judge will probably not be ready before the end of the 2016. Right on time.

    • Mister D

      In 2 years I expect Beltran to be a full time DH. If not, I expect injuries will take care of the logjam.

  • Mister D

    I’m just hoping John Sterling hangs in long enough to give us his Judge home run call.

  • JustAJagielo

    ::slow clap::