MINNEAPOLIS -- In January, when nearly the entire Boston Red Sox roster came together for a three-day fan festival at a Connecticut casino, several of the team's best young players peppered new first base coach Ruben Amaro Jr. with questions.
"A few of them actually asked me, 'Who did you want? Who did you like?'" Amaro recalled recently. "I said, 'I liked all you guys.'"
Indeed, as general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, Amaro was linked for years to the Red Sox's top prospects, usually in trade talk involving ace Cole Hamels.