Howard_final_out
Ruben Amaro met with the media today to further remind us that the season really is over.  He discussed Jayson Werth, the Phillies' age, the top of the lineup, and Domonic Brown.  Let's break it down:

Amaro said the Phillies could have the money to re-sign Werth, but:

"Do we have enough money and would we like to bring him back? The answer to both of those questions is yes.That will depend on what the ask is and how that would affect us with other possible moves.  What is going to drive the bus is Jayson and Scott…typically these things don’t move particularly quickly.  I suspect that this will drift deep into the off-season."

 

I wouldn't hold your breath, folks.  The Phillies have the money if Werth doesn't command $15 million a year, which Rub, obviously, wouldn't confirm as his market value.  But he did leave the door more open than most of us would have expected.

If Werth does leave, who will be his replacement?  Well, the job wasn't given to Domonic Brown. Not at all.

"We have not given the job to Domonic Brown and he’s been told that.  He’s going to have to earn a spot on our club next year.  A lot of that will depend on what the status is with Jayson.”

 

Brown, who will play winter ball, suffered by getting very few at-bats after Shane Victorino returned from the DL.  Even when he did play, it was clear that his plate discipline needed a lot of work.  If he would have impressed the team more, it would have made the Werth decision much easier.

All of those comments were to be expected from Amaro, but what was really striking were his comments about the Phillies age, and more specifically, Victorino and Rollins.

Keep reading after the jump.

Age:

“Think we have to start dealing with our age.  We’re starting to move past the prime years of production."

 

About the approach at the plate.

"Talent wise, we’re a better club than what we performed during the season and postseason.”  

“[Players] Look in the mirror, think that they have to have a different approach”  

“We have a lot of swing and miss guys.  It’s hard for him [Charlie] to put on some of those things [hit and run].”

 

Rollins and Victorino:

“Shane and Jimmy are better players than they’ve performed the last couple years.  We know Jimmy can do it, Shane is not as proven.”  

“There’s some concern about his [Rollins] production the last couple of years.  He’s a better player than how he’s played.” 

 

It's a point he kept coming back to.  The Phillies' approach at the plate and the decreased performance of Victorino and Rollins at the top of the lineup, clearly didn't sit well with Rub.

Despite all of these issues, the Phillies were still in position to win the series, and Amaro hit the nail on the head.

“We didn’t have one player who was hot.  Cody Ross was very hot for the Giants.”

 

He's 100% right.  If the Phillies had one guy who was hot, someone with a good approach who could have driven home some of those runners in scoring position, we would probably be preparing for a World Series right now.  It all comes back to plate discipline.