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Ruben Amaro’s first bonehead move as GM came in December of 2009, when he traded Cliff Lee to the Mariners for prospects just so he could feel better about trading prospects to the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay. It was the subject of my first-ever blog post on this site. The Phillies, who wound up well below the luxury tax threshold in 2010 and went on to sign Lee that December anyway, could’ve afforded both Lee and Halladay and had Halladay-Lee-Hamels in the rotation for the entirety of the 2010 season. Would things have ended differently that year? Probably not. They finished with the best record in baseball and lost in NLCS to the Giants, who had no problem with Lee, a Ranger, in the World Series. But the point is that Amaro made the team worse before a season in which they would undoubtedly be contenders.

So, about the prospects the Phillies got in return.

J.C. Ramirez is somewhere in the Indians organization. He pitched 24 innings for the Phillies last year and had an ERA of 7.50.

Phillippe Aumont, supposedly the best of the bunch, is an absolute disaster. He was sent down this week after giving up four earned runs in 1 2/3 innings.

And last night, the Phillies reportedly DFA’d coke user Tyson Gillies, effectively ending his chance to ever contribute to the Phils at the Major League level.

Only Ruben Amaro can manage to piss you off four and a half years after doing something dumb.