Ruben Amaro Reject Brandon Moss' 100th Home Run Ball Took Center Stage at Apple's Keynote Yesterday

The Brandon Moss can’t hit a Major League fastball judgement might be my favorite Ruben Amaro blunder ever.

I’ll briefly summarize for those who haven’t read my first six posts on it: Moss played in just a handful of games with the Phillies in 2011. He went 0-for-6. Last year, he talked to the bow tie man himself, small fry Ken Rosenthal, and recounted the story of his departure from Philly. Moss said that the Phillies, in search of left-handed power, favored John Bowker (who didn’t fare much better and went 4-for-30 that season and never played in the majors again) because Amaro didn’t believe that Moss could hit a Major League fastball. Moss was upset, and though he seemingly had an offer to re-sign with the Phils in 2012, he opted for the more progressive Athletics, who valued the things he did as a hitter. In the more than three years since, Moss, now with the Indians, has hit 86 home runs – good for 19th most in baseball over that span – and last week notched his 100th career homer. The ball was caught by his teammates in the bullpen and held for ransom demands of Apple products and lube.* Cue Apple CEO Tim Cook:

“Now, Brandon would’ve had to raid an Apple store to  get that ball back. That didn’t seem quite right to us. So what we’re gonna do is pay the ransom. And I have the ball right here [holds up Moss’s 100th home run ball], we’re giving the ball to Brandon and we’re going to give everything his teammates asked for to them so everybody’s happy. So congratulations, Brandon, on 100 home runs, and good luck on the next hundred.”

Derp.

The cruel, cruel irony in all of this is that not only did Amaro and Phillies scouts, in their complete failure to identify talent, whiff on Moss, who was an All-Star last year, but they also made their mistake on a guy who is exactly the sort of player they could’ve used these last few years. Moss’ .799 OPS this season would be the highest on the Phillies, and his 10 home runs would be second to only Ryan Howard (11). Moss would’ve gone great in a Phillies’ outfield that is shaping up to be one of the worst and weakest in the last 40 years. In fact, putting aside positional needs, Moss, despite his lackluster batting average, would’ve led the Phillies in OPS every year since 2012. HE WOULD’VE BEEN THEIR BEST HITTER FOR THE LAST 3+ SEASONS, and he would’ve been a downright steal– making no more than $4.1 million per year through 2014. Instead, we have dopey Ben Revere. THANKS, RUBE!

*Apple Photoshopped out the “lube” from the image. That’s no fun.