Phillies front office: Spiteful shits

[Caligula]

Several sources have confirmed to Baseball America that the Phillies, who drafted Wetzler in the fifth round last June but did not sign him, told the NCAA in November that Wetzler violated the NCAA’s “no agent” rule. That rule is widely disregarded by baseball prospects, whose advisers routinely negotiate with teams on players’ behalf, against NCAA rules—because that is the industry norm. As an American League scouting director told Baseball America in 2008, “Every single player that we deal with—I don’t care what round you’re talking about—has representation, has an agent.”

Phillies Accused Ben Wetzler Of NCAA Rules Violations - BaseballAmerica.com

#Phillies also attempted to turn in #Wazzu's Jason Monda, their 6th-rounder last year. He was cleared to play by #NCAA just this Thursday.

https://twitter.com/aaronfitt/statuses/436336469381513216

 

[jvett77]

That's really dumb. Prospects obviously can't go it alone when dealing with the big time and it's widely accepted.. Someone in the front office must be bored. Those guys, if they make it, will never sign with the Phillies.

 

[Cedrique]

Sounds like a dick move on Amaro's part. Plus its hard to believe Wetzler really had an agent-If he did he would be making 18 million a year for the next 10 years, with player options for 10 more.

 

[Cedrique]

That's really dumb. Prospects obviously can't go it alone when dealing with the big time and it's widely accepted.. Someone in the front office must be bored. Those guys, if they make it, will never sign with the Phillies.

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Plus I'm sure a lot of the Phillies players are disgusted with the front office as well. A lot of them have kids Wetzler's age.

 

[Omar 382]

Really, Amaro?
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GF5ET2oxy0]GANGSTERS DON'T SNITCH - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Progeriakid]

The shitty farm system will only get worse now that they basically blackballed themselves from signing any self respecting prospect!

 

[Retroram52]

More trouble head at the hands of the best dog and pony show operator on the planet!

 

[Cedrique]

After reading a little about this I have to say Aaron Fitt has a lot of questions that he should answer. His article and subsequent tweets about it are incredibly vague. I'm not saying someone from the Phillies didn't notify the NCAA about something regarding Wetzel but I need more information before I throw "the Phillies" under the bus. As a Phillies fan I'm not happy that someone might have done what he alleges but I need to know who to be pissed off at. The more I read it the more I question Aaron Fitt's motives or at least his irresponsibility by writing an article that says "several sources confirmed" that "the Phillies" ........ I don't need names but I need a little more detail on the "several sources". Were they people that worked for the NCAA, Wetzel's roommate, friends or relatives of his who may have been speculating, Wetzel himself who was told by the NCAA...? And what the fuck does Fitt mean by "the Phillies" ??? Was it the owner, the GM, a scout, was it a consensus of the entire organization??? And what about the tweet that "the Phillies" "attempted" to turn another guy in. What does that even mean? Did "the Phillies" make up something about him that turned out to be a lie?
I'm sure there is some truth to his allegations in there somewhere, but to me the way Fitt wrote his article comes across as someone who is secretly happy to report "the Phillies" breaking of the unwritten rules.

 

[Omar 382]

After reading a little about this I have to say Aaron Fitt has a lot of questions that he should answer. His article and subsequent tweets about it are incredibly vague. I'm not saying someone from the Phillies didn't notify the NCAA about something regarding Wetzel but I need more information before I throw "the Phillies" under the bus. As a Phillies fan I'm not happy that someone might have done what he alleges but I need to know who to be pissed off at. The more I read it the more I question Aaron Fitt's motives or at least his irresponsibility by writing an article that says "several sources confirmed" that "the Phillies" ........ I don't need names but I need a little more detail on the "several sources". Were they people that worked for the NCAA, Wetzel's roommate, friends or relatives of his who may have been speculating, Wetzel himself who was told by the NCAA...? And what the fuck does Fitt mean by "the Phillies" ??? Was it the owner, the GM, a scout, was it a consensus of the entire organization??? And what about the tweet that "the Phillies" "attempted" to turn another guy in. What does that even mean? Did "the Phillies" make up something about him that turned out to be a lie?
I'm sure there is some truth to his allegations in there somewhere, but to me the way Fitt wrote his article comes across as someone who is secretly happy to report "the Phillies" breaking of the unwritten rules.

Shit like this must be deemed at the very least "acceptable" behavior. If it wasn't Amaro, then the person should be fired or at least fined. But he will probably just get his shit chewed out and things will go on like normal. This shit just makes us look like a fucking joke. No one abides by these rules, but when the Phillies can't sign their players, they whine and tattle on the players. Just imagine missing a full season in your senior year at the college level.

Regardless of the amount of truth that was actually told in this report, college/high school players will be wary when thinking about, or actually negotiating with the Phillies.

 

[Caligula]

Another auther from a different news outlet has an article about it.

One agent advisor, however, had a more pragmatic response:

It definitely will not help [the Phillies] for the draft, and I think the trust level has gone down to zero. I think they will see some backlash, and they may have to alter their draft board a little, but in the end money still talks…they will still draft and sign quality players. I have seen quotes today from agents stating that the ‘Phillies are not getting into any more of our households’ and I have to laugh. I thought the advisor/agent works for the client and the client determines who he does and does not talk to?

Baseball Prospectus | The Phillies, Ben Wetzler, and the NCAA

 

[Caligula]

From the same article:

What Were the Phillies Thinking?
As noted earlier, the actions of the Philadelphia Phillies regarding Wetzler, Monda, and the NCAA are irrational as well as petty and spiteful. If Wetzler is ruled ineligible, the Phillies will not benefit in any way. It would not dissuade future players from returning to school, and in fact might lead to additional hurdles for the organization’s evaluators to overcome in the draft arena.

 

[Cedrique]

Yeah I read a bunch of articles about this and as far as I can tell every one of them is getting their information from the Aaron Fitt article and his tweets. No one says anything regarding the source of the information or how the NCAA was notified about Wetzler. It all comes back to the "several sources" that Fitt says "confirmed" it. My problem is still the chickenshit way Fitt wrote his article and made his tweets. I don't doubt that someone from the Phillies may have told the NCAA and I believe it can damage their reputation. I just need to know who to be pissed off at as a fan. When Fitt and everyone who retweets or quotes his stuff keeps saying "the Phillies" he sounds like the whole organization is on board with screwing up some kids college baseball season. Hopefully Amaro saying he doesn't want to talk about it because of an investigation he means he is investigating to find out which idiot from his team did something like this. They at least need to get it out in the open and maybe fire the guy. If it stays the way it is and people just think "the Phillies" like to turn kids in then it will continue to hurt their reputation.

The reason I said "maybe" fire him is because if the guy that did it is some scout that was so spiteful that he ruined the kid's season then if they fired him he'd probably hire a lawyer and say they couldn't fire him for doing what he thought was right and upholding the "integrity" of the NCAA rules. (it's hard to type that without laughing)

 

[northeastphillyguy]

Jeff Todd reports that Ben Wetzler has been suspended for 11 games to start the college season. Seems he violated NCAA rules during the fiasco with the Phillies. Seems as though Wetzler did have a rep during the meeting.

 

[Retroram52]

Personally, I have grown weary of all the Phillies have become under you know who.

 

[Caligula]

Jeff Todd reports that Ben Wetzler has been suspended for 11 games to start the college season. Seems he violated NCAA rules during the fiasco with the Phillies. Seems as though Wetzler did have a rep during the meeting.

Which only highlights how shitty the Phillies front office acted.

 

[Cedrique]

This is what I was looking for
Why The Philadelphia Phillies And NCAA Deserve Your Scorn - Forbes

"Amaro admitted that he was aware when his club decided to report Wetzler to the NCAA."

Fucking Amaro.......