Ruben Amaro Jr. beat Barack Obama in setting his braintrust.
From a Phillies press release:
Ruben Amaro, Jr., Phillies senior vice president & general manager, made several appointments and promotions in the club’s Baseball Operations department.
Benny Looper has been hired as assistant general manager, player personnel. In his role, Looper will oversee the scouting and player development areas. Looper, 60, had spent the previous 23 years with the Seattle Mariners in various capacities at the Major and Minor League levels, including most recently vice president of player personnel (2006-08), VP of player development & scouting (2003-06) and VP of player development (2002-03). Looper spent five seasons as a player in the St. Louis Cardinals’ Minor League system. He is the uncle of Major League pitcher Braden Looper.
Chuck LaMar was promoted to assistant general manager, player development & scouting. While his main duty will be to manage the player development department, he will also cross-check at the amateur and professional levels. LaMar, 52, joined the Phillies in October of 2007 and spent the past year as the director of professional scouting. Prior to joining the Phillies, LaMar spent a year with the Washington Nationals as special assistant to the general manager and national cross-checker (2007) and 10 years as the general manager of the Tampa Bay Rays (1995-2006).
Mike Ondo has been promoted to pro scouting coordinator. Since joining the Phillies in 1998, Ondo, 33, has worked in the Baseball Operations department, primarily in scouting & player development. He spent the last two years as assistant director, Minor Leagues, while also assisting the Major League coaching staff on scouting reports and statistical analysis.
Dallas Green (senior advisor to the GM), Charley Kerfeld (special assistant to the GM), Gordon Lakey (director, Major League scouting), Steve Noworyta (director, Minor League operations) and Marti Wolever (director, scouting) are all remaining with the organization.
As previously announced, former GM Pat Gillick will also remain with the club as an advisor to Amaro and club president David Montgomery.
So besides Looper, everyone stays in house. Looper looks to be swarming with Gillick’s influence, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Gillick made the pick himself for Amaro. I can’t say I’m really excited about Looper, considering the Mariners haven’t really been juggernauts with player development. But he’s a Gillick guy, and Gillick did us right in the end.
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