“It’s always difficult, and I think it becomes even more difficult as we move forward,” Amaro said. “You have to have that balance of who the fans identify with and what the expectation of excellence is, and the understanding that the skill level may not be there all that long. Sometimes, the popularity outlives the talent and production.”

Last summer, Amaro shipped outfielder Shane Victorino to the Los Angeles Dodgers for starter Ethan Martin, who is receiving an extended look. Amaro got a catching prospect, Tommy Joseph, from the Giants for outfielder Hunter Pence, but Joseph has lost nearly the entire season to a concussion.

Amaro made no trades in July, earning more criticism, but he said he was open to change.

The Phillies have been slow to adapt to the analytics revolution in baseball, seeming to overvalue statistics like saves and runs batted in. Now is the time to learn.

“We may be looking to fortify some of our information with some more statistical analysis,” Amaro said. “We have to look at the way we do things and try to improve. That’s our job, to try to get better every year. I’m not so stubborn that we can’t try to do things a little bit different, or think that we can’t make better decisions. That’s what I’ll challenge our people to do, and I think they understand that. That’s part of what I expect of my staff, and of myself.”

The backbone of the organization, Amaro said, would continue to be scouting and player development. The Phillies, somewhat subtly, were one of the best at that for more than a decade, reaping the benefits of drafting Rollins, Utley, Howard, Hamels and the prospects traded for Lee, Pence, Brad Lidge, Roy Halladay and others.

In March, Baseball America ranked the Phillies’ farm system 24th of the 30 teams. But Amaro insisted the team had better prospects than people realize, and, he said, he continues to negotiate with a top Cuban pitcher, Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez.