Ruben Coaching for Hi$ Future
Who does Ruben Amaro have pictures of? It’s either that or he’s the nicest, most beloved individual in MLB history.
Everything has come up Ruben since he stopped playing baseball. This guy was a below-average baseball player who walked into an Assistant General Manager position without any front office experience whatsoever–no scouting, no nothing.
Then, after turning a World Series contender into the worst team in baseball, he lands a coaching job without any coaching experience whatsoever. He’ll be coaching first base for the Boston Red Sox. Maybe he walked into the gig because he was a master of base-stealing as a player and can help the Red Sox steal second base with a high rate of success. That’s not the case. He only stole 15 bases in 8 seasons and was caught 10 times so he had a success rate of 60%. That’s fairly ordinary. I mean Chase Utley steals at a 88% success rate. Tim Raines & Mike Trout 84%. There’s no good reason why he should be coaching first.
Today, he tells writers that one of his responsibilities will be pitching during batting practice and that he’s ambidextrous. So, he’ll be tossing balls both left-handed and right-handed during BP.
NOTHING MAKES SENSE.
Why the hell would Ruben want to get into coaching after being in the front office? My buddy Sam had a theory and the more he talked about it, the more it made sense.
MLB pensions are different for uniformed and non-uniformed individuals. Let’s just say, a fully vested uniformed individual is well taken care of in Major League Baseball. I’m not sure if his 17 years in the Phillies front office entitles him to a Phillies pension, maybe if you include his bat-boy years.
I do know that if a uniformed individual (player, coach, trainer) gets 10 years of service in the MLB, that individual is entitled to $200,000/year for life. That $200,000 is also transferable to the spouse should the retired individual pass away. Ruben has 8 years of service as a player. If he can squeeze out two years of coaching, he’ll be fully vested for that $200K for life once he turns 62. That’s a pretty sweet annuity.
That theory, proposed by Sam, is the one thing about Ruben Amaro’s career that makes perfect sense. Somehow he pulled a favor and landed a coaching gig. He may be coaching for the Red Sox, but deep down he’s got to be coaching for that MLB pension. He’s coaching for his future. This may be Ruben’s best move yet!