Phillies

Are The Phillies Serious Right Now?

By Kyle Scott

Published: Jun 11th, 2015 · 8:45 AM EDT

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I step away from the computer for one goddamn afternoon yesterday – to talk shop with Jim Cramer, perhaps the only person on Earth to whom I’ll ever speak who will casually mention that he got a call from Bob Iger (Disney CEO) in the same way I might say my aunt called to wish me a happy birthday – and the whole world blows up. RADIO WARS officially moved to DEFCON 2 with crazy and dangerous on-air and Twitter brinkmanship (more on that shortly), the Sixers admit that they won’t say the name of their home arena (me thinks Joshua Harris and Wells Fargo have butted heads at some point in the past), and then I check the site and see that Jim has pivoted, without consulting me, to satire by writing a post about how Ruben Amaro just drafted family members of people he knows in the later rounds of the MLB draft.

HAHA. Funny, Jim. But seriously, next time tell me when you’re going to turn the site into The Onion. It’s jarring for readers. I’ll put up a disclaimer or something.

No they actually drafted those people. 

Que es? 

Todd Zolecki:

The Phillies selected four players with family ties to the organization: 35th-round pick Andrew Amaro (nephew of Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.), 38th-round pick Beau Brundage (son of Triple-A Lehigh Valley manager Dave Brundage), 39th-round pick Griffin Morandini (son of former Phillies second baseman Mickey Morandini) and 40th-round pick Thomas McCarthy (son of Phillies broadcaster Tom McCarthy).

“We know that they’re going to go to school,” Almaraz said. “It’s always a good gesture, but they do have ability.”

And Ken Koplove— a closer from Duke… who played with Amaro’s nephew at Penn Charter.

The nerve. Yeah, I know, the late rounds of the MLB draft are mostly a waste (even though a few stars have come out of them— most famously Mike Piazza) and are often reserved for a favor or thrill-pick or two. But in the span of five picks, the Phillies took the nephew of the hated GM (for the second time!!!!), the son of the AAA manager, the son of org-favorite Mickey Morandini, and, most offensive of all – I’M OFFENDED BY THE MCCARTHY FAMILY – T-Mac’s kid?!?!?!

UPDATE: Before the inevitable comments about how this always happens in the draft– yeah, it does. But drafting four family favors is such a tone-deaf move by the Phils. They are have zero goodwill with the fan base right now. And seeing “Ruben Amaro drafted his nephew and T-Mac’s kid” is just the worst possible headline for them. Like, you know, maybe don’t overdo it with the family members this year. Maybe just draft one or two of these guys. Maybe show some signs that you’re becoming self-aware. That sort of thing.