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Ruben Amaro Jr. answers questions with recently-signed pitcher A.J. Burnett.

(Associated Press Photo)

Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has come under quite the bit of criticism lately.

And most of it, perhaps he would even admit, is warranted.

After all he is the general manager of a team that just three years ago won 102 games and was the dominant team in baseball before being upset in the divisional round by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Since that year, the Phillies haven’t posted a winning season, fired Charlie Manuel and have several long-term, unnecessary, untradeable contracts on their roster.

Because of the recent struggles, there has been a strong sentiment for the Phillies to go young and rebuild.

But considering their plight with first baseman Ryan Howard under contract for three more years, closer Jonathan Papelbon for two and a vesting option, shortstop Jimmy Rollins for one and a vesting option and pitcher Cliff Lee — who is actually earning his money — for two, rebuilding didn't make a lot of sense.

It’s hard to rebuild when you have big, long-term money tied up in four veterans, who with the exception of Lee can’t be moved. div class="inline-sidebar" style="border: 1px solid rgb(205, 200, 177); padding: 10px; width: 160px; margin-bottom: 10px; float: right; margin-left: 10px;">

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So the Phillies re-signed 35-year-old franchise second baseman Chase Utley last August for two guaranteed years. It was the right move as he was far better than any second baseman on the market or young players Cesar Hernandez and Freddy Galvis, who are in the Phillies' system.

They re-signed 35-year-old catcher Carlos Ruiz for three years — Amaro even admitted it was a year longer than he wanted to go. Again, it was the right move because the best option on the market was John Buck and the best option in the system was Cameron Rupp.

They signed 37-year-old pitcher A.J. Burnett to a one-year contract, giving the Phillies a top three of Lee, Burnett and Cole Hamels that rivals any rotation in baseball.

They signed 36-year-old Marlon Byrd to a two-year deal, and while it takes some at-bats away from Darin Ruf, it gives the Phillies a solid defensive outfielder which they lacked and depth. Ruf, if used properly, can still receive 400 at-bats playing first, left and right.

Last season, the Phillies were forced to turn to Laynce Nix and John Mayberry Jr. when they were hit with injuries.

Now they have better options.

Amaro signed pitcher Roberto Hernandez to a one-year deal. OK, this was a bad move because for all the spin control of his AL/NL splits and ground ball to fly ball ratio, the guy hasn't had a good season since 2010.

But with the signing of Burnett, if Hernandez doesn’t pan out, all they’ve cost themselves is some short-term money.

Amaro hasn’t reasonably addressed the bullpen — Chad Gaudin failing his physical was a blow — so his work this offseason wasn’t an overwhelming success.

But there just weren’t many young free agents on the market who were worth committing long-term dollars to, and anyone who suggests going young wasn’t paying attention at the end of last season.

When injuries piled up, the Phillies weren’t calling up top prospects. They were slotting Zach Miner and Tyler Cloyd in the rotation, claiming Casper Wells off waivers and cycling through IronPigs relievers like they were pulling the lever on a slot machine.

There isnt an influx of top minor-league talent in the Phillies’ farm system. Tommy Joseph, off a year marred by concussions, isn’t ready to be an everyday catcher. Jesse Biddle has to command his pitches and throw strikes at Double-A and Triple-A before trying to do so at the major-league level.

Cody Asche was ready to make the step last year and the Phillies cleared the way for him to be their everyday third baseman. Unfortunately the next ready player might be Mikael Franco, who also plays third.

So the best-case scenario this offseason was to go with the two-year plan.

Re-sign Utley and Ruiz.

Add Byrd for defense, right-hand power and depth.

Pick up Burnett to give yourself a Big Three that can sweep a three-game series by itself.

Believe that a full season of Howard and Ben Revere — neither who played a game after the All-Star Break — will give the lineup a boost.

And whatever you do, don’t bog yourself down with long-term contracts to aging players past 2015.

It makes sense, really it does. It makes a lor more sense than signing Papelbon for four years and $52 million, but the result of previous failures is adjusting your current thinking.

Criticize Amaro for a lot of his previous moves, but his conservative, short-term approach this season really was the only way to go.