So Far, So Good for Ruben Amaro, Jr.

After the Philadelphia Phillies won the 2008 World Series championship, highly respected general manager Pat Gillick decided to step down. A few days later, the reins of the franchise were handed to rookie general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., who had been serving as Gillick's right-hand man for the past three seasons.

Needless to say, Amaro wasn't exactly heading into an easy gig. He was taking over a team that had nowhere to go but down, he was succeeding someone considered one of the best in the business and he was doing it in the unforgiving city of Philadelphia. The deck was already stacked against him, but Amaro appeared to make matters worse when his first big move drew the skepticism of many: he signed Raul Ibanez instead of retaining the services of Pat Burrell.

Not only was Burrell about four years younger than Ibanez, but he was also right-handed. The Phillies already had two left-handed hitters in the middle of their order -- Ryan Howard and Chase Utley -- so adding another lefty would appear to make it easier on the late-inning relievers, cried the masses. And, while they were at it, questions were asked about why the Phillies would give a three-year contract to a guy who would be 39 when the contract expired.

The move has proved to be a brilliant one so far, as Ibanez benefited greatly from the league change and a stronger supporting cast. He stormed out of the gates and made his first All-Star team. Even after injuries and a slump caused a huge dip in production in the second half, Ibanez finished with career highs in home runs, slugging percentage and OPS. Meanwhile, Burrell was a complete disaster in Tampa Bay to the point that the Rays seem desperate to unload him this offseason, despite only having him signed for one more season.

Next, the Phillies were rumored to be without Utley for the early part of the season, and many speculated they would swing a deal for a temporary replacement like Mark DeRosa. Instead, Amaro was patient and ended up with prospects to spare for the trade deadline. Utley was ready to go for Opening Day.

A few months into the season, the Phillies found themselves in need of starting pitching help, and those leftover prospects came in handy -- but not for the man most people were targeting. Roy Halladay was available for a very steep price. Instead of entering an all-out bidding war and sending the farm to Toronto for Halladay, Amaro decided to swing a much cheaper deal with the Cleveland Indians for the 2008 Cy Young Award winner, Cliff Lee (also landing valuable bench player Ben Francisco in the same deal).

To say Lee has been a difference-maker for the Phillies this year would be an incredible understatement. He provided a shot in the arm immediately upon coming over, winning his first five starts and compiling a 0.68 ERA in those outings. He faltered a bit down the stretch, but the division title was never in doubt an he's been the ace they traded for in the playoffs.

In three starts, Lee has worked 24 1/3 innings, allowing just 14 hits, two earned runs (0.74 ERA) and three walks. He's struck out a whopping 20 batters. In large part due to his work, the Phillies are two wins away from heading back to the World Series. It's hard to say how Halladay would have worked out for the Phillies, but he certainly couldn't have been better in the postseason than Lee has been.

Another gem for Amaro was the Pedro Martinez signing. No one wanted Pedro for several months as he pursued work following a bad 2008 campaign where he posted a 5.61 ERA and 1.57 WHIP (both by far the worst of his career). Needing the starting depth, though, Amaro gave him a shot.

Martinez took the ball nine times for the Phillies, working 44 2/3 innings, striking out 37 and walking just eight. He compiled a 5-1 record and 3.63 ERA. Better yet, the 37-year-old future Hall of Famer stymied the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLCS, hurling seven innings of shutout baseball. He allowed just two hits and walked no one.

Signing Ibanez instead of Burrell, not pursuing temporary help at second base, trading for Lee instead of Halladay and signing Martinez were four moves that greatly contributed to the Phillies being the position they are. To a certain extent, each of these decisions was questioned or doubted at the time. As a rookie GM Amaro made these tough decisions, and we can't be sure his predecessor would have done the same.

It hasn't even been one full calendar year since he took the job, but it's pretty easy to say that Amaro is definitely the right man for the job in Philly, even if his Phillies don't repeat as world champions.