That's a pretty nice grab for the Royals. Why isn't Arbuckle in a GM job by now?

His only club passed him up for Amaro, so there must be some sort of reason. (It can be that Ruben is that good.)

Arbuckle has lived in KC in the off-season for sometime and is a local boy. Good to see we picked him up. He provides an obvious heir apparent when Dayton gets fired.

That's a pretty nice grab for the Royals. Why isn't Arbuckle in a GM job by now?

Arbuckle was once considered a reasonable GM candidate ten years ago, but never got that job. He has some characteristics which may or may not fit an organization. For example, he's totally old school, so he did not get the job in Boston, which he did interview for. (As is the whole Phillies org.)

His philosophy is high on athleticism vs. established baseball performance. Also he never seemed big on "makeup" with the Phillies.

He had some disasters. For example, he was the one guy in Philadelphia who insisted on drafting J. D. Drew even though the Phillies were not going to pay the Boras premium. Gavin Floyd was a fiasco, and it says something about the Phillies that the W. Sox were able to rehabilitate Floyd.

Despite this year's success, I'm pretty sure most clubs in MLB look on the Phillies organization as having been underachievers. Until the 2007 season, they'd been in the playoffs once in 21 years. That aura has rubbed off on many. And teams are aware that the Phillies farm system has been particularly dry recently.

Finally, despite working for the Phillies, he insisted on residing near Kansas City.

He should have seen the handwriting on the wall three years ago with a Hispanic Stanford grad in the front office, and the Phillies brought in Gillick when Ed Wade was fired.

I notice the article says he was living in Philadelphia, however reluctantly. I stand corrected. What I always read in the PA papers referred to him as living in KC.

His philosophy is high on athleticism vs. established baseball performance. Also he never seemed big on "makeup" with the Phillies.

Which has landed him how many all-stars and MVPs?

From what I understand, this was a pure target of opportunity hire by Moore. As in, the position was created just so they would have a spot for Arbuckle to fill. I don't know anything about Arbuckle, but that's a pretty nice endorsement.

And sure enough, the last job I had, a guy created a new management position to hire a guy he wanted. And then a few months later the company fired the creator because they couldn't afford him anymore. I thought it funny. I wonder if Dayton will.

Although it turns out the company was just effed all over because of the credit crunch and is no longer operating at all, so I guess the hire of the one guy wasn't really what got him canned.

Which has landed him how many all-stars and MVPs?

I made no comment in favor of, or against this philosophy. I simply said it might or might not fit with the philosophy that another club was looking for in a GM. And when it comes to makeup, Rollins, Utley, and even Howard have it in spades. But he also drafted Floyd, Kyle Drabek, Golson, etc. A higher risk approach. And I'd be interested in the answer to the question you raised about all-stars.

Whatever happened to Garth and Royal Ingenuity?

I don't know what happened to Garth, AG#1 and I exchanged emails about getting Royal Ingenuity going again last spring but Jim Furtado said there would be some new stuff happening soon with the site so we didn't. I guess we should have.

And I'd be interested in the answer to the question you raised about all-stars.

Howard, Rolen, Rollins, Hamels, Utley, Burrell (not actually an "all-star" somehow, but you get the deal), Brett Myers plus lesser guys like Ryan Madson

And that is before looking into whether he deserves any credit for clutch scouting pickups from the scrap heap like Bobby Abreu or Victorino.

Hopefully, he left his champagne bottle at the party…

That's gotta hurt...!

And I'd be interested in the answer to the question you raised about all-stars.

Howard, Rolen, Rollins, Hamels, Utley, Burrell (not actually an "all-star" somehow, but you get the deal

You've really had to stretch here. What I meant was, how has the Phillies numerical representation at All-Star games compared with other similar markets? Every team gets at least one.

Madson and Bret Myers, not All-Stars. Madson has only blossomed this year. While Myers has been an opening day starter (somebody has to do it) few would consider him an All-Star.

Burrell is an interesting case, especially in the "makeup" department. He was the "consolation" pick from the J. D. Drew debacle. He had been a spoiled guy who had experienced various difficulties. In the last three years he has grown up and become one of their best teammates.

Abreu only made the team by a vote of the fans. And, as you point out, credit for Abreu is open to question. That was in the Lee Thomas era by the way. Victorino was a good get, but that's pro scouting. And the Phillies offered him back to the Dodgers, but they refused to take him.

I'm not saying Arbuckle is worthless, but he's going to hang his reputation on the MVPs. Any organization can use an experienced guy in scouting and player development. Scouting being the networking activity that it is, possibly KC can expect to have a number of people loyal to Arbuckle come over. I was proposing a number of hypotheses why Arbuckle never got the top job. An advisor to Moore seems a good job for him.

Let me tell another tale of the mixed nature of Arbuckle. Four years ago Arbuckle seemingly "woke up" to the fact that the Phillies had almost no catching prospects in the minor leagues -- so they thought. (For some reason Carlos Ruiz was lightly regarded. God bless you, Chucho, for what you did in the playoffs and WS! By the way, Latin scouting is Amaro's baby.) They'd figured out that Mike Lieberthal was done. (Should have realized that a few years before.) Arbuckle decided to personally review the amateur free agent catchers before the draft. He ended up taking Jason Jaramillo in the 2nd round. The Phillies, I think, didn't have a first rounder. The thing is, he'd also drafted Jaramillo three years earlier, but couldn't sign him. Why is it that some GM types fixate on certain players?

Jaramillo is now in AAA, but not considered much of a prospect. Arbuckle passed on Kurt Suzuki now catching for the A's. Catcher of the NCAA champions. Thank goodness he also got Lou Marson who does have a future. You see the good and bad.