Rubén Amaro Jr Biography
Rubén Amaro Jr is an American Analyst, Baseball Coach, and former Pro Baseball Outfielder working for MLB Network and WIP-FM. He is well-known for having played for the California Angels, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the Cleveland Indians. Also, he is famously known for coaching the New York Mets and the Boston Red Sox.
Rubén Amaro Jr Age
Amaro was born on February 12, 1965, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. He is therefore 58 years old as of 2023. He celebrates his birthday on the 12th of February every year.
Rubén Amaro Jr Height
Amaro stands at an approximate height of 5 feet and 10 inches.
Rubén Amaro Jr Parents
Amaro was born to Rubén Amaro Sr. (late father) and Judy Amaro-Perez (mother). He grew up in Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and he is Jewish. His dad was a Catholic Mexican-Cuban and his mom is of Russian-Jewish heritage.
Rubén Amaro Jr Father
Amaro’s father, Rubén Amaro Sr., was a famous Mexican baseball player, who played for MLB as a first baseman and shortstop, from 1958 to 1969. When his son Amaro was playing for the Phillies’ batboy from 1980 to 1983, he was their first base coach. He died on March 31, 2017, at the age of 81. His Wikipedia page states that he died of natural causes.
Rubén Amaro Jr Siblings
Amaro was raised alongside his 3 half-siblings; 2 brothers Luis and David, and a sister Alayna Amaro. Both of his brothers are baseball players; David has played 1 minor-league season (1984) with the Chicago Cubs, and Luis has also played for the Philadelphia Phillies for a short stint (minor league). Luis works as the Aguilas del Zulia baseball team’s General Manager. Amaro also has nephews and 2 of them were drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies.
Rubén Amaro Jr Wife / Children
Amaro is a married man and his spouse is Jami Schnell. They tied the knot in the year 2014. The couple takes great pride in being dad and mom to their 2 daughters, Andrea Amaro and Sophia Amaro.
Rubén Amaro Jr Net Worth
Amaro has an estimated net worth of between $1 Million-$5 Million which he has earned through his successful career as an Analyst, Baseball Coach, and Baseball Outfielder.
Rubén Amaro Jr Salary
As an MLB commentator and host, Amaro earns an annual salary ranging from $ 45,000 – $ 110,500.
Rubén Amaro Jr Career | Contracts
Rubén Amaro Jr College Career | Education
Amaro is a proud alumnus of Stanford University (1987) and William Penn Charter School (1983). During his stint in high school, he was part of the soccer and baseball teams. When he was in college (in the years 1986 and 1985) Amaro was part of summer baseball, where he played with the Cotuit Kettleers in the Cape Cod Baseball League. He did so well that they called him an all-star in both of those years. He was also on the Stanford team that won the NCAA College World Series of the year 1987. In that season, he was the leader in runs with 77, had the most triples with 6, and stole the most bases with 38.
Rubén Amaro Jr Media Career
Amaro serves at MLB Network as a color commentator for the Philadelphia Phillies TV broadcasts. He has been working as a TV analyst for NBC Sports Philadelphia since the year 2020, covering the post and pre-games for the Phillies. He also serves at 94.1 WIP-FM in Philadelphia as a contributor, appearing in the morning hours.
Rubén Amaro Jr Major and Major Leagues
Amaro played in MLB (Major League Baseball) for 7 years (June 8, 1991 – September 27, 1998). He was first chosen by the California Angels in the 11th round of the amateur draft in the year 1987, and he officially signed on June 16, 1987. In the year 1989, Amaro started the season batting .360 for Quad Cities in the Midwest League and ended it with a .382 average for Midland in the Texas League. Then, in the subsequent year, he hit .317 while playing in both AAA and AA. In the year 1991, Amaro continued his success by batting .326 in AAA. During his time in the minor leagues, he had 3,117 at-bats and maintained a .301 batting average with a .399 on-base percentage, stealing 235 bases.
On June 8, 1991, Amaro started playing in the big leagues. Then the Angels traded him with Kyle Abbott, to the Philadelphia Phillies for Von Hayes, on December 8, 1991. In the following year, Amaro ranked 3rd in the National League for getting hit by pitches, with 9. But on November 2, 1993, he was traded again, this time from the Phillies to the Cleveland Indians for Heathcliff Slocumb. He even made it to the Cleveland Indians’ World Series team in the year 1995, beating out Dave Winfield. However, Amaro was released by the Indians on November 9, 1995.
On January 24, 1996, Amaro joined the Toronto Blue Jays as a free agent, but his time there was short. The Blue Jays released him on May 5, 1996, and the very next day, he signed up as a free agent with the Phillies. During that year with the Phillies, Amaro had a good season, hitting .313 with a .380 percentage on base. In his 8 seasons in the major leagues, he played in 485 games and had a batting average of .235. He also hit 100 RBIs and 16 home runs. Amaro was also part of the 1995 AL champion Indians and the 1993 NL champion Phillies.
Rubén Amaro Jr Office Works (Executive)
On November 3, 2008, he became the GM of the Philadelphia Phillies, taking over from Pat Gillick. He held this role until September 10, 2015. Amaro started working for the Phillies right after he finished playing in the year 1998. Ed Wade, who was the GM at the time, hired him. For 10 seasons, he was the assistant GM for the Phillies. He spent his first 7 seasons under Wade and the next 3 under Gillick. Then, on November 1, 2008, the day after the Phillies’ second-ever Broad Street Parade, they officially gave Amaro a 3-year contract to be the new Phillies GM. He also became the senior vice president.
During Amaro’s first 3 years as the Phillies’ GM, the team did really well. They won the National League East divisional title in each of those years. They even made it to the 2009 World Series. In both the 2011 and 2010 regular seasons, they had the best record in all of baseball. In the year 2011, they won 102 games, which was the most in their history.
Before the 2011 season, Amaro did something great. He persuaded Lee, who was a free agent and had offers from the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers, to come back and play for the Phillies. This made their pitching rotation amazing, with Joe Blanton, Oswalt, Halladay, and Cole Hamels. Sports commentators said this was among the best rotations ever put together.
Later in his time as GM, things didn’t go well for the Phillies. They didn’t make it to the playoffs in the year 2012 and the following years. Howard’s playing got much worse than people thought it would, and by the year 2014, Amaro was really trying to trade Howard and was willing to pay a lot of his salary to make it happen.
Amaro’s job with the Phillies was quite different from the person who had the job before him. In May 2014, Sporting News said he was the worst general manager in all of MLB. They pointed out that he often signed older players who didn’t play as well as they should for the money they were getting. It was clear for a while that things weren’t going well, and on September 10, 2015, the Phillies let Amaro go. After the 2018 season, the New York Mets moved Amaro from being a coach to working in the front office, advising the new GM, Brodie Van Wagenen.
Rubén Amaro Jr Coaching Career
From the year 2016 to 2017, Amaro had a job as the 1st base coach for the Red Sox. This was the 1st time he was back on the field since he stopped playing as a player. In the 2008 season, he became the 1st base coach for the New York Mets, working with the new manager, Mickey Callaway. Later on, he became a special assistant to Brodie Van Wagenen (a general manager).
Rubén Amaro Jr Stats (Overall)
Below is an average statistic analyzed from Amaro’s career as a baseball player.
- Batting average .235
- Home runs 16
- Runs batted in 100
Rubén Amaro Jr Awards and Honors
Amaro has won several honors over the years of his baseball career. In the year 2008, he was among the 3 individuals added to the All-American Amateur Baseball Association Hall of Fame. In the following year, Amaro became a part of the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Also in the year 2009, he was chosen by baseball fans from all over the country as the MLB “This Year in Baseball Awards” 2009 Executive of the Year. Again, in that same year, Amaro was named ‘Executive of the Year by PSWA – the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association.
Rubén Amaro Jr The Goldbergs
Apart from working in baseball fields, Amaro has also appeared on a TV show. As a teenager, he was a character on the TV show “The Goldbergs,” where he was played by Niko Guardado, who is the son of Major League baseball player Eddie Guardado. It’s interesting that Amaro and the show’s creator, Adam F. Goldberg, went to the same school. The show was set in the ’80s and is based on Goldberg’s own teenage years. In one episode of the show (Season 5, Episode 11), Amaro played his own father and he came back to reprise the role in episode 6 of season 6.
Rubén Amaro Jr Volunteer Work
In his free time, Amaro enjoys doing volunteer work. He helped start the Richie Ashburn Harry Kalas Foundation, which gives baseball camps to kids who need it in the Delaware Valley. He’s also a part of the local YMCA board in Philadelphia.
Rubén Amaro Jr MLB Network
Amaro is working at MLB Network alongside other famous MLB analysts, hosts, and commentators such as;
- Yonder Alonso
- Greg Amsinger
- A.J. Andrews
- Alex Avila
- Bob Costas
- Ron Darling
- Ryan Dempster
- Mark DeRosa
- Robert Flores
- Cliff Floyd
- Peter Gammons
- Lauren Gardner
- Jon Heyman
- Brian Kenny
Rubén Amaro Jr Social Media Platforms
He is active on his social media accounts and often posts on his Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. He has over 1K followers on Instagram.