The Billy Wagner meeting went on as scheduled. David and Ruben caught the Acela down to Richmond and had a preliminary discussion with Wags and his agent. According to the assistant GM, the two sides are still far apart.
“We made a proposal, received feedback, understand we have ground to cover and plan to have further discussions.”
Good, they’ve bought themselves some time to begin the search for a new GM. While this is certainly a good move to lengthen the contract talks, a protracted negioation might cause Wagner to reconsider his options and either ask for more money or start shopping around at other clubs. Maintaining the right balance with these dual timelines will be a crucial test left in the hands of owner David Montgomery.
That said, I hope he realizes that Ruben Amaro, Jr. would be a bad choice for the next Phillies GM. You know he’s still upset over the snub in the ’93 postseason. The speedy Tony Longmire made the roster despite playing in less than half the games as Ruben on the season. This could be his chance to sabotage the Phils with ice cold revenge aged 12 years. Not that he could do much harm as GM; but regardless, I’m fairly sure that Montgomery is wise enough to go with someone with a little more experience.
To keep tabs on the grab bag of other potential candidates, keep an eye on the ‘probables’ table to the left.
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