Maybe I’m just naive. Maybe it’s that based on earlier actions, I believed Ruben Amaro Jr. had finally, finally seen the light. This Phillies squad wasn’t going anywhere, and after years of denial, Ruben finally knew it. He made it known to the press and rival executives that the Phillies were preparing to sell at the non-waiver trade deadline, and by God, we were all so excited that we believed that something good was going to happen in the City of Brotherly Love. Especially when he said that ace Cole Hamels was available, in addition to sought-after pieces like Marlon Byrd, Antonio Bastardo, and Carlos Ruiz.

How could we have been so stupid? How could we have believed that the man often derided as one of the worst executives in all of baseball would actually swallow his pride? Perhaps it was a matter of hype. Hype can raise expectations to unfathomable levels, which in this case was one of competency. We heard the words from Amaro himself, and we all went bananas. It’s like when those amazing trailers for Man of Steel came out. The movie looked gorgeous, and had a heck of a cast. Zack Synder had made some great films in the past, and sure, he had his fair share of duds. But those trailers were remarkable! And then we got, well, Man of Steel. We forgot to remember that the writer of the screenplay involved wasn’t any good, and that Warner Brothers and DC were scrambling to shove something, anything, out the door so that they could start catching up with the runaway train that is Marvel Studios.

What I’m trying to get at with my extended superhero film metaphor is that we forgot to look at the architect of Philadelphia’s plan when we got caught up in the hype. Ruben Amaro Jr. said he was going to sell, and we got so excited that we believed it. We (unless you’re a fan of an NL East team and like watching the Phillies suffer, that is) then got a very rude awakening at 4:01 PM, EST last Thursday. The deadline had come and gone, and the Phillies, minus Cliff Lee’s elbow, were still perfectly intact. Nothing had happened. Absolutely nothing.

Once the initial shock of the whole day (David Price! Jon Lester!) dissipated, the first question on everyone’s mind was most likely “What the heck?” That’s an entirely valid question. So, what the heck didn’t happen?

Well, easily the most movable of Ruben Amaro’s pieces was Marlon Byrd. The righty outfielder has reinvented himself as a slugging power bat after nearly falling out of baseball in 2012. Everyone remembers his renaissance with the Mets and Pirates last year, and looking to put a bit more thump in what he saw as a contending lineup, Amaro signed him to a multi-year contract. It was a risk to devote two years of $16 million and a vesting option into a 36 year-old comeback player, but it’s paid off. Coming into Thursday’s action, Byrd has hit .269/.320/.473. He’s also struck out a ton, but you take that when it also comes with 21 homers in early August. That’s the kind of righty power that can help a team looking for some pop at the deadline. It’s perfect for a team like the Yankees, who desperately needed a right fielder and right-handed power when Alfonso Soriano finally ran out of pixie dust. Indeed, Brian Cashman was on the phone with Amaro last week, and tried to go after Byrd. Amaro’s asking price? Outfield prospect Aaron Judge.

For those of you unfamiliar with Judge, here’s a brief rundown. Judge was one of New York’s three (three!) first round picks last year, coming in at 32nd overall. Judge is a monster of a man. The 22-year old is listed at 6’7”, 230 lbs. And he’s got as much power as you’d expect an Adam Dunn-sized mountain to have. There were concerns Judge would strike out way too much, but still generate a lot of long balls and play some good defense. Well Judge has exceeded those expectations. In fact, he’s shown remarkable plate discipline thus far. Between Low-A Charleston and High-A Tampa, Judge has walked 74 times and struck out 94 times, which isn’t bad at all for what many expected to be an all-or-nothing slugger (oh, and he’s hit 15 bombs between the two levels). Right now in Tampa, he’s hitting a strong .294/.426/.471 after hitting .333 in Charleston.

That’s what Ruben Amaro wanted for his 36-year old with a bad contract. When this deal obviously didn’t materialize, Amaro explained to reporters who asked him why nothing had gotten done that potential buyers “weren’t being aggressive enough.” It’s not as if there haven’t been aggressive trades done by teams who want to win this year. Billy Beane has traded away both super prospect Addison Russell and star Yoenis Cespedes this year in his quest to strengthen his pitching staff and win the World Series. Ben Cherington sold off any pitcher that wasn’t nailed down, and landed Cespedes, Allen Craig and Joe Kelly as part of his rebuilding effort. Milwaukee traded away two pretty decent prospects for a declining Gerardo Parra. And St. Louis’ John Mozeliak traded away the aforementioned Craig and Kelly for John Lackey, as well as a good outfield prospect for less than half a season of an injured Justin Masterson. (Full trade deadline coverage here).

The trades that went down this year were nothing but aggressive. To accuse prospective buyers of not being aggressive enough in trade negotiations is not only incredibly laughable on Amaro’s part, it also displays that despite the fact the team has finally been truly awful enough to him to finally realize that the current business model isn’t working, Amaro still overvalues his aging and declining core, many of whom are attached to bloated contracts that even further drag down their value.

It stands to reason that Byrd was the most sought-after player last Thursday. Despite the excellence of Hamels, he is more likely an August waiver wire deal due to his contract (indeed, news broke on Wednesday that a team has claimed Hamels off waivers. It remains to be seen if a deal will be brokered). Chase Utley, despite his excellent performance this year, has a full no-trade clause. It was speculated that either San Francisco or Oakland could snatch him up, as they both need second base help, and Utley makes his home in the Bay Area. But again, he is more of an August trade candidate. Yes, Byrd was definitely the flavor of the week.

As mentioned earlier, Amaro had the perfect suitors for Byrd on the phone. He demanded Judge, and that was the end of it. While Judge is a laughably high price, it’s almost customary to demand high-end prospects when the buyer is in a position of desperate need and all the chips are on your end of the table. And does Brian Cashman not have the reputation of selling off prospects? Austin Jackson, Ian Kennedy, Danny Farquhar, and to a much lesser extent Jesus Montero have all made names for themselves elsewhere.

You’ve just made the same mistake as Ruben Amaro. And that’s fine; as the odds are extremely high you’re not currently a major league GM. Ruben Amaro is a major league GM, though. He’s also not doing his job by himself, one would hope. Major league front offices are usually just that, offices. There’s plenty of analysts and scouts running about in there, all of them reporting to the GM. The choice on whom to pursue and for what cost are, of course, is the GM’s to make in the end. What apparently the entire front office failed to realize, or what Amaro may have not cared to think and/or care about, is that Cashman has not traded away a single blue chip prospect this season. Yes, the Yankees received Brandon McCarthy, Chase Headley, Stephen Drew, and Martin Prado for basically nothing.

For McCarthy, the Yankees gave the Diamondbacks an incredibly below average starter in Vidal Nuno. For Headley, they sent over two-month sensation Yangervis Solarte and a fringe pitching prospect. For Drew, they gave the Red Sox injured utility man Kelly Johnson, who has been awful this year. And for Prado, they gave up catching prospect Peter O’Brien, who despite hitting heaps of home runs has no real defensive home and probably has the celling of being the next Mark Reynolds. Cashman has been brilliant about preserving what has the potential to be the next great swath of Yankee prospects, while still making the big team better. You can imagine how the conversation went when Amaro asked for Judge.

It’s that kind of demand that makes Amaro hilariously out of touch with not only the way the market is functioning, but reality itself. Only after not moving a single piece and placing the entire team on waivers did he admit in an interview that the team “may not contend in 2015 or 2016.” In other news, water was reported to, in fact, be wet. Breakthrough stuff, really.

Oh, and Philadelphia’s farm system? It isn’t particularly pretty. There are only four prospects of real note in the system, one of which (Aaron Nola, a young pitcher whom I actually like quite a bit) was only just drafted this year. They’re lucky he’s already reached AA, because they’re going to need pitching help desperately. They’re going to need everything desperately, which is yet another reason for the Phillies to have sold everything that wasn’t nailed down. If you eat some of the owed salary, a player like Hamels can bring huge dividends. That’s especially the case at the trade deadline, when teams can get desperate in their attempts to outbid contenders. Who can forget the Matt Garza trade?

This doesn’t surprise Phillies fans, and frankly the rest of the world shouldn’t be surprised either. Could Amaro redeem himself with some waiver trades? Of course. He’s already made one, sending starter Roberto Hernandez (formerly known as Fausto Carmona) to the Dodgers for… two players to be named later. Hernandez isn’t worth a whole lot, but that’s still a disappointing return for a team whose farm is starving for talent. And honestly, the return on these trades probably won’t be near what he could have gotten at the trade deadline, as the outbidding factor likely won’t be a factor. It’s a pity that a once great franchise is subject to this kind of neglect. I’ll admit, I drank what I thought was the cool Kool-Aid. But in the end, that drink has just given us a nasty hangover.

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