During this challenging offseason, Ruben Amaro Jr. can't help but recall his indoctrination as general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, when the Citizens Bank Park seats were always full and the future beckoned with unlimited promise. He had barely rinsed the champagne from his hair after the 2008 World Series celebration when a family member offered a reality check on the hazards of replacing Pat Gillick at the franchise's absolute peak.

"I'll never forget the words my brother, David, told me: 'Could you take [the job] at a worse time? You have nowhere to go but down,'" Amaro recalled. "It was funny. I told him, 'It's my job to keep it up as long as I can.'"

Marlon Byrd, who played a key role in Pittsburgh's run to the playoffs in 2013, signed a two-year, $16M deal with Philadelphia this winter. Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports

By the historical standards of an organization that was the first in Major League Baseball to reach 10,000 losses, the Phillies have enjoyed a sustained and gratifying run. They made the playoffs five straight years from 2007 through 2011 while increasing their win total every year (from 89 to 92 to 93 to 97 to 102). They put together a National League-record 257-game sellout streak and have surpassed 3 million in attendance for seven straight seasons.

But they're giving off a bit of an "all good things must come to an end" vibe this winter. Fresh off a 73-win season in which attendance dropped by more than 500,000, the Phillies made several moves that have been greeted with yawns or skepticism by the fan base. And even Amaro's closest friends and relatives might be hard-pressed to pick them to finish ahead of Atlanta or Washington in the National League East.

Barring a turnaround, the obligatory "general manager on the hot seat" references are only going to increase. Someone will have to answer the tough questions, and it won't be the Phillie Phanatic.

"I understand that," Amaro said. "I'm from Philadelphia and I get it. When we win, we're loved. When we lose, we're not.

"People say, 'Don't you think you feel like you've built up equity? You guys had so many years of success.' I'm like, 'Not here in Philadelphia, my friend.' It doesn't work like that here. We may have had one year of a pass, but our job is to try to get ourselves to the point where we're back again contending. Quickly."

Strangely eventful winter

It's been an intriguing offseason for the Phillies, even if they've been relatively restrained with their spending. At various points this winter, reports have surfaced that Amaro was weighing trade offers for All-Star outfielder Domonic Brown and actively shopping closer Jonathan Papelbon. At MLB's winter meetings, Roy Halladay made a splash by announcing his plans to retire -- as a Toronto Blue Jay. Three weeks ago, the Phillies landed a 25-year, $2.5 billion TV deal with Comcast SportsNet that's scheduled to begin after the 2015 season. Several days later, they made news by announcing that long-time broadcasters Chris Wheeler and Gary Matthews will be replaced in the booth in 2014.

The team's roster moves have been less compelling. The Phillies signed free-agent outfielder Marlon Byrd to a two-year, $16 million contract in November, re-signed catcher Carlos Ruiz to a three-year, $26 million deal and picked up starting pitcher Roberto Hernandez (the artist formerly known as Fausto Carmona), who will compete with Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, Jonathan Pettibone and Ethan Martin for one of the final two spots in the rotation in spring training. And now they're bringing back outfielder Bobby Abreu, another familiar face, on a minor league deal after he took a yearlong sabbatical from the game.

As the Feb. 13 reporting date for pitchers and catchers approaches, the Phillies are immersed in the obligatory fan outreach and promotion. Pitcher Jesse Biddle, third baseman Maikel Franco, outfielder Kelly Dugan and several other prospects recently came to Citizens Bank Park for an orientation program that included media training, a primer on team operations and a trip across the street to a 76ers game. Manager Ryne Sandberg spent some time with the prospects, then hit the road for several minor league-affiliate dinners.

When Sandberg mingles with the folks in Lehigh Valley, or Amaro succumbs to the temptation to monitor reaction to the team's moves as a way of gauging public sentiment, certain concerns and complaints about the Phillies are ever-present. Among them:

• This team is too old

According to Baseball-reference.com, the Phillies had the third-oldest contingent of position players in the majors last year (at an average age of 30.0), behind the Yankees and the Dodgers. And they didn't get any younger with the addition of the 36-year-old Byrd. Of the projected 2014 position-player starters, center fielder Ben Revere, third baseman Cody Asche and Brown are the only ones who weren't born during the 1970s.