Thanks to Ruben Amaro, Phillies Could Be Baseball’s Next Dynasty

Major League Baseball hasn’t had a repeat champion since the Yankees won three World Series from 1998 to 2000. That could change this year.

After taking Game 1 — and stealing home-field advantage from the pinstripes — the Phillies are three wins away from giving the Red Sox a run for the mythical title of team of the decade. If Philadelphia goes on to close the deal, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. might be the first front office executive to take home MVP honors in the Fall Classic.

OK, maybe there’s a better chance of seeing Bud Selig beat Kobayashi in a hot dog-eating contest than breaking from tradition and handing a suit any postseason hardware, but Amaro deserves a lot of credit for the job he’s done in his first year in the position.

Promoted from assistant GM last November, Amaro replaced Pat Gillick just a week after the Phillies won the World Series for the first time in 28 years. Gillick had over 30 years of GM experience and was the architect of championship clubs in Toronto (1992, 1993) and Philadelphia (2008). This was like following Frank Sinatra on stage.

Amaro knew he had big shoes to fill. He didn’t waste any time getting to work.

He locked up manager Charlie Manuel through 2011 with a new deal. Manuel might resemble somebody’s great-grandfather and give off the impression of a good old country boy, but this is a man who once gave hitting advice to Ted Williams and has become one of the best skippers in the business.

Amaro then signed free agent Raul Ibanez to a three-year, $31.5 million deal to replace Pat Burrell in left field. Ibanez was coming off a big season in Seattle, but signing 36-year-olds to multiyear deals isn’t in the first chapter of How to Become the Next Branch Rickey. The risky move paid dividends — Ibanez hit a career-high 34 home runs and posted 93 RBIs during the regular season.

This was only the beginning for Amaro, who graduated from Stanford with a degree in human biology but has shown the financial sense of Warren Buffett.

Amaro avoided arbitration with Ryan Howard and signed the slugger to a three-year, $54 million deal. Howard is inked through 2011, and now the Phillies’ GM doesn’t have to worry about a disgruntled slugger or protracted contract battle.

He signed Cole Hamels to a three-year extension worth $20.5 million — $4.35 million in ’09, $6.65 million in ’10 and $9.5 million in ’11.

He avoided arbitration with Shane Victorino and re-signed the speedy center fielder to a one-year, $3.125 million deal. Victorino has three home runs and a 1.110 OPS this postseason.

He avoided arbitration with Jayson Werth and re-signed him to a two-year, $10 million deal. Werth hit a career-high 36 home runs (12 more than his previous career high) during the regular season and leads the team with five home runs this October.

He re-signed Ryan Madson to a three-year, $12 million deal. The reliever posted 78 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings and recorded 26 holds.

He re-signed Joe Blanton to a one-year, $5.475 million deal, and the right-hander went 12-8 with a 4.05 ERA.

He signed Chan Ho Park to one-year, $2.5 million deal.

He re-signed Scott Eyre to a one-year, $2 million deal.

He re-signed Chad Durbin to one-year, $1.635 million deal.

He signed Chad Dobbs to a two-year, $2.5 million extension.

He re-signed Eric Bruntlett to a one-year, $800,000 deal.

He re-signed Carlos Ruiz to a one-year, $475,000 deal. The catcher might be biggest bargain in baseball.

He re-signed J.A. Happ to a one-year, $405,000 deal.

Not a bad list of contracts. And that’s just what Amaro did in the offseason. Once the season began, he continued to hunt.

He signed Paul Bako to a minor league deal on May 18 and added him to the roster June 9 as the backup backstop.

He rolled the dice on Pedro Martinez, signing the veteran free agent to a one-year, $2 million deal on July 14, prorated for the final 82 days of the season. Pedro went 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA during the regular season, and his ERA this October is the same as Bluto Blutarsky’s GPA. Now the former Red Sox ace gets to show the Bronx he still knows how to pitch.

But Amaro’s biggest and best move was acquiring Cliff Lee at the trade deadline for four prospects. After going 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 12 regular-season starts, Lee has been close to unhittable in the playoffs, going 3-0 with a 0.54 ERA. The Arkansas native mystified the Yankees in the World Series opener and could be the difference between winning the NL pennant and repeating as world champs.

The Phillies were underdogs to open the Fall Classic. Now they are front-runners to become a dynasty.

The core of this Phillies team isn’t going anywhere. Chase Utley is signed through 2013. Jimmy Rollins is signed through 2010 with a club option for 2011. Lee could turn out to be to the player that puts Philly over the top for years to come.

Only five Phillies players made over $5.5 million dollars this season, and the team ranked eighth in the majors with a payroll of $111,209,046.

That’s money well spent.

Anyone aspiring to build a championship club could learn from Amaro’s rookie season as GM and follow his formula for success:

1. Lock up key pieces of the puzzle.

2. Add the necessary complementary parts at reasonable prices with short-term deals.

3. Don’t overpay or underpay.

4. Take a risk on proven talent.

Amaro has done more than not mess with a good thing. He’s helped make a good thing great.

His dad wanted him to be a doctor or soccer player, but it looks like Ruben Amaro Jr. chose the right profession.