New Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. wasted no time acknowledging what Francisco Rodriguez will add to the rivalry with the Mets.
Or, what he won’t add.
“I don’t think it affects us much,” Amaro Jr. told the Philadelphia Daily News at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas. “They’ve had Billy Wagner, and we still beat them the last two years in our division.”
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With Wagner in 2007, the Mets blew a seven game lead in the final 17 games as the Phillies won the NL East.
Without Wagner, sidelined by elbow surgery, in 2008, the Mets gave away a 3 ½ game lead in the final month to the Phillies, who went on to win the World Series.
Mets manager Jerry Manuel told Philly.com that his team likely would have prevailed if it had Wagner or Rodriguez last season.
“Our chances would have been much greater,” he said. “To have a guy of that sort at the end of a ballgame is very important, very critical for us. Or for anybody.”
The Phillies have tired sepcifically of Jose Reyes celebratory antics, so who knows how they will react to Rodriguez’s over-the-top game-closing celebrations.
“He’s going to be a fine addition to their club if, in fact, the deal is finalized [pending a physical],” Amaro told the paper. “But those sorts of things don’t affect our manager and doesn’t affect our players. They just go out and play and I think that they like those challenges.
“This organization does not operate on a reactive basis. We try to do what’s necessary to improve our club. And we can’t worry about what the Mets or Marlins or Atlanta Braves are doing out there. We have a tough enough time worrying about the Philadelphia Phillies.”