As 10 days remain until the MLB Trade Deadline, I'll be taking a look at the names swirling around for the Phillies and their hunt for a right handed bat.
Hunter Pence - While he may be a longshot, you'd be an idiot to not want his .316 average and 61 RBI's in the Phillies lineup. He's a career .290 hitter, and would be the perfect fit on this team. As with anything however, the cost for him would be pretty substantial. The rumor swirl is a deal along the lines of Domonic Brown and Vance Worley for Hunter.
If the Phillies were to snag Pence, it would be taking a gamble knowing he's eligible for salary arbitration in 2012, and a free agent for the 2013 season. As we have been shown in the Phillies past, contracts can and will be agreed upon. Where will the 10-15 million a player like Pence come from??? Well the Phillies have three options on Roy Oswalt... 1. He retires, no salary owed. 2. Pay him 16 million for his services, or 3. Buy out his contract for under 3 million, and release him as a free agent. I think Oswalt would still be nice to have in the roster, but he hasn't done anything to prove he is worth that much money.
While I think it's incredibly likley the Phils will release Oswalt, I doubt the Phillies will land Pence. You must realize the impact that would have on Houston as well. He is the face of the Astros, and that would be parallel to the Phillies releasing Howard in 06-07 when he was still young and his talent was on the way up. Unless there is something going on behind the scenes and Pence wants out of Houston, he will be there for a long time and rewarded financially.
Now that I am removing Pence from the picture, here's some of the other names and some info on the players....
Carlos Beltran -The 34 year old looks like the leading candidate for the Phils, and I am okay with that. He's putting up good numbers this year (.293, 15HR, 61RBI), and did hit .323 in 2009. With his contract ending, and if he performs; he could end up in this organization for a couple years with the Oswalt money.
Just incase you want more convincing. If he was on the Phils, he would be 2nd in batting average (a mere .002 away from Victorino), 2nd in HR, and 2nd in RBI's. What a 5 hole hitter he would be.
Melky Cabrerra - Another player I would love to land in Philly. At only 26 (and more of a long-run solution), his .294 average and 12 home runs would fit in fine in this lineup. At such a young age, he would be worth offering an extension too after the season if things work out.
There's a dozen other right handed bats out there, but none stand out like these three guys. Lets hope the Phillies can land one of these guys.
Showing posts with label Phillies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phillies. Show all posts
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Phillies win the series, and now we have to cheer for our enemies.
Before I even say a word, I hate the all star game. I hate the fact that something so important as home field advantage is determined by players on sub .500 teams and pitchers who aren't throwing half as hard as they would be in a real game. It's awful.
But, Tuesday Night, I'll be cheering for Scott Rolen, Brian McCann, Chipper Jones, Carlos Beltran, and Jair Jurgens. And when the clock strikes midnight Tuesday night, I'm back to despising them.
Regardless, having a good series going into a break is crucial, and something the Phillies stepped up and did today and this whole weekend series.
Friday night was one of those weird-odd games for the first 9 innings. From the double rain-delay to Carlos Ruiz hitting one of those homeruns that may not of traveled 335'. But then Juan Perez comes out of the pen and fires 3 strikeouts on 9 pitches, and then Raul hits a walk off moonshot, and the Phillies win. Always great to see walk-off wins, and despite appearing a little shaky at times, Roy took care of business.
Saturday saw Cliff Lee be the only player offensively and defensively show up, as his home-run accounted for all the Phillies offense, and despite him throwing a magnificent 8 innings of 3 hit 1 run ball; Phils lost. Again, you can't hang you heads too low on games like this since you wont go 162-0, but it's brutal spoiling a pitching performance like that. If it's any consolation however, Cliff Lee looked as good as he has all year throwing...once again.
As Charlie Manuel likes to call it "hittin' season", I guess the 95 degree afternoon in Philly accounts for that. The Phillies 20 hits on Sunday were a season high, and the crooked 14 runs on the board looked great. The Phillies outfield accounted for 12 RBI's, and Michael Martinez put up a 4 hit game. Just one of those fun games to watch, and being against the Braves, it's even better since the game was of utmost July-baseball importance.
Phils enter the all star break 57-34. 3.5 game lead. Best record in baseball. On pace to finish with 101 wins, if you were counting.
But, Tuesday Night, I'll be cheering for Scott Rolen, Brian McCann, Chipper Jones, Carlos Beltran, and Jair Jurgens. And when the clock strikes midnight Tuesday night, I'm back to despising them.
Regardless, having a good series going into a break is crucial, and something the Phillies stepped up and did today and this whole weekend series.
Friday night was one of those weird-odd games for the first 9 innings. From the double rain-delay to Carlos Ruiz hitting one of those homeruns that may not of traveled 335'. But then Juan Perez comes out of the pen and fires 3 strikeouts on 9 pitches, and then Raul hits a walk off moonshot, and the Phillies win. Always great to see walk-off wins, and despite appearing a little shaky at times, Roy took care of business.
Saturday saw Cliff Lee be the only player offensively and defensively show up, as his home-run accounted for all the Phillies offense, and despite him throwing a magnificent 8 innings of 3 hit 1 run ball; Phils lost. Again, you can't hang you heads too low on games like this since you wont go 162-0, but it's brutal spoiling a pitching performance like that. If it's any consolation however, Cliff Lee looked as good as he has all year throwing...once again.
As Charlie Manuel likes to call it "hittin' season", I guess the 95 degree afternoon in Philly accounts for that. The Phillies 20 hits on Sunday were a season high, and the crooked 14 runs on the board looked great. The Phillies outfield accounted for 12 RBI's, and Michael Martinez put up a 4 hit game. Just one of those fun games to watch, and being against the Braves, it's even better since the game was of utmost July-baseball importance.
Phils enter the all star break 57-34. 3.5 game lead. Best record in baseball. On pace to finish with 101 wins, if you were counting.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Phils Dominate the Game I Thought They'd Lose and Squeak Out the Game I Thought They'd Win + Boston Edition.
First and foremost, absolute congratulations to one of my favorites off all time; Mark Recchi, on getting his name etched onto the holy grail of hockey for the 3rd time. It's a shame it never happened in Philly, but I still have the utmost respect for him over every player in the game today. Congratulations to the Boston Bruins, who outright deserved and outworked the rest of the NHL on their way to the Stanley Cup Championship.
It hurts knowing that the 0-3 comeback doesn't quite have the luster that it did 2 hours ago, but you can't take anything away from how well this team played top to bottom.
It's worth noting, some of Philadelphia's last playoff runs;
Flyers - Lost to Boston (Champions)
Sixers - Lost to Heat (East Champions)
Eagles - Lost to Packers (Champions)
Phillies - Lost to Giants (Champions)
Flyers - Lost to Chicago (Champions)
Eagles - Lost to Dallas (sucks)
Phillies - Lost to New York (Champions)
All that put aside, I will not sleep easy knowing Boston has won 7 championships this decade.
But now onto the Phillies. What a day for this team. First game was of utmost dominance, and quite an impressive start by Kyle Kendrick. Time to stop making jokes about this kid until he blows up again, cause he's putting together some good numbers this year. And it's about time he does so.
The offense is finally clicking. Halladay has one of his "bad" starts (7ip, 4 runs on 6 hits, 8k's), but the team went out and got the job done when it counted. Timely hits has finally entered this teams vocabulary, and they are finally playing with some swag (not to be cliche)
Not much more can be said. When everything is going right for this team, you got to just sit back, relax, and watch every at bat this team has, because something special could happen the very next pitch.
It hurts knowing that the 0-3 comeback doesn't quite have the luster that it did 2 hours ago, but you can't take anything away from how well this team played top to bottom.
It's worth noting, some of Philadelphia's last playoff runs;
Flyers - Lost to Boston (Champions)
Sixers - Lost to Heat (East Champions)
Eagles - Lost to Packers (Champions)
Phillies - Lost to Giants (Champions)
Flyers - Lost to Chicago (Champions)
Eagles - Lost to Dallas (sucks)
Phillies - Lost to New York (Champions)
All that put aside, I will not sleep easy knowing Boston has won 7 championships this decade.
But now onto the Phillies. What a day for this team. First game was of utmost dominance, and quite an impressive start by Kyle Kendrick. Time to stop making jokes about this kid until he blows up again, cause he's putting together some good numbers this year. And it's about time he does so.
The offense is finally clicking. Halladay has one of his "bad" starts (7ip, 4 runs on 6 hits, 8k's), but the team went out and got the job done when it counted. Timely hits has finally entered this teams vocabulary, and they are finally playing with some swag (not to be cliche)
Not much more can be said. When everything is going right for this team, you got to just sit back, relax, and watch every at bat this team has, because something special could happen the very next pitch.
Chase Utley looks like he's back, Domonic Brown looks like he's a starter.
Coming off a quality offensive outing (first 5 HR game this year) and Cole Hamels battling Roy Halladay for the starter in the all star game; tonight was one of those Phillies games that we just love to watch. The team that "relied on the Home Run" too much or the "homeruns only get you so far" hoopla we heard night in and out over the last couple years; had one of those games.
Hamels was pulled from the game, from what appears to just be his back tightening up. When asked in the postgame interview if he will make his next start, he emphatically responded "oh yeah."
Chase Utley had a great weekend, and including his bomb tonight, it's almost safe to say he's back. I still cringe and hold my breath every-time he's up to bat or gets a ball hit hard at him, but I think he's getting back to the Chase Utley form we love. Which has certainly been a spark for this team.
Domonic Brown is your RF from here on out. I don't care what can be said about another lefty in the lineup, the kid is ready to be a major league ballplayer. And his 2nd HR was Howard/Thome esque landing easily in the 2nd deck. Hopefully he stays around in Philly and doesn't become another great young OF shipped off (Byrd/Bourn), because this kid will be an exciting player.
Big day tomorrow for the Phils, as Kyle Kendrick takes on someone making his first MLB start for Florida in the 1:05 game, and then a great pitching matchup between 6-1 3.06ERA Anibal Sanchez takes on Doc, sitting at 9-3 with a 2.39ERA. Taking these two games would be huge.
Hamels was pulled from the game, from what appears to just be his back tightening up. When asked in the postgame interview if he will make his next start, he emphatically responded "oh yeah."
Chase Utley had a great weekend, and including his bomb tonight, it's almost safe to say he's back. I still cringe and hold my breath every-time he's up to bat or gets a ball hit hard at him, but I think he's getting back to the Chase Utley form we love. Which has certainly been a spark for this team.
Domonic Brown is your RF from here on out. I don't care what can be said about another lefty in the lineup, the kid is ready to be a major league ballplayer. And his 2nd HR was Howard/Thome esque landing easily in the 2nd deck. Hopefully he stays around in Philly and doesn't become another great young OF shipped off (Byrd/Bourn), because this kid will be an exciting player.
Big day tomorrow for the Phils, as Kyle Kendrick takes on someone making his first MLB start for Florida in the 1:05 game, and then a great pitching matchup between 6-1 3.06ERA Anibal Sanchez takes on Doc, sitting at 9-3 with a 2.39ERA. Taking these two games would be huge.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
This series is more important than you think. Phillies vs Marlins
Why is this series important, against a .500 team that's 3rd in the division?
1. The Braves start a 3 game home series against the Mets. And we only have a 2.5 game lead on the underrated Braves. And after the Mets, they have home series against the Rangers and Blue Jays. Despite those two teams being good, they are still home games for Atlanta.
2. Hanley Ramirez is returning to the lineup for the Marlins tonight. While he might do nothing , he might spark the team out of the slide they've been on recently.
3. The next couple series are going to be tough. This weekend is one of the worst weekends in sports, where the Phillies have 10:05 starts Friday and Saturday in Seattle. No teams from Philadelphia are ever successful on the west coast, and it's just a weird 3 game interleague series out west. Then the Phillies have a travel day, but things wont get any easier against the Cardinals in St. Louis (Please Charlie, if Pujols is up with the game on the line, walk him.) Then were looking at the throwback series as the Oakland A's come to town and then the awfully-scheduled mid week series with Boston in town.
So the Phillies need to win this sereis. It's not your typical Phillies-Marlins series. If the Phillies put together a bad series, it's hard to get out of slumps on the road, especially against two quality teams.
Tonight we'll see Chris Volstad with a 2-6 record and a 5.5 ERA, taking on Kid Cole Hamels. Lets get this started off right.
Don't forget to mark your calendars, July 8-10 the Braves come to town. Huge early-July series for the Phils. And I'm excited to make a post about just how wrong those people who want to bring the Oakland A's back to Philadelphia, and just how bad that would flop. Expect to see that when the A's series starts.
Cheers
1. The Braves start a 3 game home series against the Mets. And we only have a 2.5 game lead on the underrated Braves. And after the Mets, they have home series against the Rangers and Blue Jays. Despite those two teams being good, they are still home games for Atlanta.
2. Hanley Ramirez is returning to the lineup for the Marlins tonight. While he might do nothing , he might spark the team out of the slide they've been on recently.
3. The next couple series are going to be tough. This weekend is one of the worst weekends in sports, where the Phillies have 10:05 starts Friday and Saturday in Seattle. No teams from Philadelphia are ever successful on the west coast, and it's just a weird 3 game interleague series out west. Then the Phillies have a travel day, but things wont get any easier against the Cardinals in St. Louis (Please Charlie, if Pujols is up with the game on the line, walk him.) Then were looking at the throwback series as the Oakland A's come to town and then the awfully-scheduled mid week series with Boston in town.
So the Phillies need to win this sereis. It's not your typical Phillies-Marlins series. If the Phillies put together a bad series, it's hard to get out of slumps on the road, especially against two quality teams.
Tonight we'll see Chris Volstad with a 2-6 record and a 5.5 ERA, taking on Kid Cole Hamels. Lets get this started off right.
Don't forget to mark your calendars, July 8-10 the Braves come to town. Huge early-July series for the Phils. And I'm excited to make a post about just how wrong those people who want to bring the Oakland A's back to Philadelphia, and just how bad that would flop. Expect to see that when the A's series starts.
Cheers
49 Days Until the Trade Deadline? Let's talk about it!
We all know a lot can happen to a baseball team over the course of a week for a baseball club, so talking about a day that's a month and a half away seems foolish. While it may be, it's one of those days that can win and lose World Series titles.
Remember the 2008 trade deadline? Probably not. But the Phillies picked up this guy named Joe Blanton. What did he do after the trade deadline? Go 4-0 in the regular season. Then ended up 2-0 in the postseason, including 1-0 in the World Series. Players like him were underestimated and under-credited toward the World Series that we will never forget.
Everyone in Philly wanted us to bring in C.C, but He ended up 0-1 in the postseason, thanks to Mr. Victorino and Brett Myers. Everyone wanted the Phillies to bring in Manny Ramirez. Had we got Manny, we wouldn't of been guaranteed those game 5 hits Geoff Jenkins and Pat Burrell put up that ultimately led to that swing and a miss from Hinske.
But these days leading up to the trade deadline often determine champions. Will the Phillies pull the trigger, and if so who? Here's my thoughts.
First I take a look within the Phillies organization. I dont see JC Romero and Danny Baez having guaranteed playoff spots. I wouldn't be surprised to see either of these guys go with just how well Stutes has pitched. With their play recently tho, there isn't too much that can be said about the bullpen in the negative light we got so used to talking about in the past. I assume the Phillies will turn to a 4 man rotation come playoffs, and it's likley that Joe Blanton or Kyle Kendrick could be dropped for a guy like Vance Worley who has a little more experience coming out of the bullpen.
Don't get me wrong, I do not want to see Vance Worley make an appearance on the Phillies for the rest of the year unless one of our starters goes on an extended DL stint. He needs to start in a consistent rotation, since I fully believe he will be on the Phillies staff next year.
The use of position players in the Phillies organization isn't what it used to be. Along with success comes a standard lineup, and we haven't seen the integration of players from AAA into games like we used to just 6 or 7 years ago. Scott Posednik, Ronnie Belliard, Delwyn Young are three household names in our minor league system, but none of them have had a season this year good enough to mention. In reality, there aren't many position players in our minor league system that could help us out.
So in reality, the Phillies could very well reach out to pick up another bat. Speculation about the return of Jim Thome to be that big pinch hitter came and left without anything happening, but in reality, it still makes sense. Ross Gload has had that persistent injury, and I don't know how reliable he can be down the stretch. I say the Phillies trade something for Thome, and then god forbid something happens to Howard, we have Thome backing him up. Then Gload can finally go on the DL instead of sitting in the dugout every game doing nothing. Thome and Manuel have a great relationship, and Thome and the city of Philadelphia have just as great of a relationship. And wouldn't we all love to see Thome hit the 2nd deck in right once more?
That doesn't address their biggest issue, a right handed bat. Mayberry Jr had his chance to be that man, and did nothing worth remembering after his opening day walk off hit. Buster Olney of ESPN has said the Phillies may be interested in guys like Josh Willingham and Michael Cuddyer. While I love the idea, I dont think it'll be all that easy to get guys like that.
In reality, I could pull up a ton of names of right handed bats who would be great for the Phillies, and are likley available come this trade deadline.
If the Phillies get a right handed bat, who leaves the lineup? I can't see how it's anyone other than Francisco or Martinez. Phillies have 4 replaceable bench players (not including a catcher); Gload, Martinez, Valdez, and Francisco. You can eliminate Gload since he's the only guy who's ever played first (and why Thome isn't a bad idea.) You can eliminate Valdez for how good he's been as a filler, and you are left with Martinez and Francisco. I think it'll come down to if we get an IF or OF player as to who goes. I'm more satisfied with letting Francisco walk, he's had his chance, and he's failed. Martinez is a Rule5 player, who if the Phillies release, is out of our organization. He's young and hasn't really had the chances Francisco has had, and his versatility in the field is unappreciated.
And I want everyone to understand, despite how frustrating the Phillies have played so far this year, they are still the best team in baseball. They aren't as bad as you think. As one of my favorite blogs Zoo With Roy states :
"As everyone knows, the Phillies are in serious trouble and the roster is flawed and their offense stinks and Jimmy swings too early in the count and too many guys are past their peak and Ryan Howard's contract is terrible and there are too many lefties and Cliff Lee has given up runs and Victorino is a space cadet and basically their problems are way too huge to ever think about overcoming.
Oh yeah also we have the best record in baseball."
-Cheers!
Remember the 2008 trade deadline? Probably not. But the Phillies picked up this guy named Joe Blanton. What did he do after the trade deadline? Go 4-0 in the regular season. Then ended up 2-0 in the postseason, including 1-0 in the World Series. Players like him were underestimated and under-credited toward the World Series that we will never forget.
Everyone in Philly wanted us to bring in C.C, but He ended up 0-1 in the postseason, thanks to Mr. Victorino and Brett Myers. Everyone wanted the Phillies to bring in Manny Ramirez. Had we got Manny, we wouldn't of been guaranteed those game 5 hits Geoff Jenkins and Pat Burrell put up that ultimately led to that swing and a miss from Hinske.
But these days leading up to the trade deadline often determine champions. Will the Phillies pull the trigger, and if so who? Here's my thoughts.
First I take a look within the Phillies organization. I dont see JC Romero and Danny Baez having guaranteed playoff spots. I wouldn't be surprised to see either of these guys go with just how well Stutes has pitched. With their play recently tho, there isn't too much that can be said about the bullpen in the negative light we got so used to talking about in the past. I assume the Phillies will turn to a 4 man rotation come playoffs, and it's likley that Joe Blanton or Kyle Kendrick could be dropped for a guy like Vance Worley who has a little more experience coming out of the bullpen.
Don't get me wrong, I do not want to see Vance Worley make an appearance on the Phillies for the rest of the year unless one of our starters goes on an extended DL stint. He needs to start in a consistent rotation, since I fully believe he will be on the Phillies staff next year.
The use of position players in the Phillies organization isn't what it used to be. Along with success comes a standard lineup, and we haven't seen the integration of players from AAA into games like we used to just 6 or 7 years ago. Scott Posednik, Ronnie Belliard, Delwyn Young are three household names in our minor league system, but none of them have had a season this year good enough to mention. In reality, there aren't many position players in our minor league system that could help us out.
So in reality, the Phillies could very well reach out to pick up another bat. Speculation about the return of Jim Thome to be that big pinch hitter came and left without anything happening, but in reality, it still makes sense. Ross Gload has had that persistent injury, and I don't know how reliable he can be down the stretch. I say the Phillies trade something for Thome, and then god forbid something happens to Howard, we have Thome backing him up. Then Gload can finally go on the DL instead of sitting in the dugout every game doing nothing. Thome and Manuel have a great relationship, and Thome and the city of Philadelphia have just as great of a relationship. And wouldn't we all love to see Thome hit the 2nd deck in right once more?
That doesn't address their biggest issue, a right handed bat. Mayberry Jr had his chance to be that man, and did nothing worth remembering after his opening day walk off hit. Buster Olney of ESPN has said the Phillies may be interested in guys like Josh Willingham and Michael Cuddyer. While I love the idea, I dont think it'll be all that easy to get guys like that.
In reality, I could pull up a ton of names of right handed bats who would be great for the Phillies, and are likley available come this trade deadline.
If the Phillies get a right handed bat, who leaves the lineup? I can't see how it's anyone other than Francisco or Martinez. Phillies have 4 replaceable bench players (not including a catcher); Gload, Martinez, Valdez, and Francisco. You can eliminate Gload since he's the only guy who's ever played first (and why Thome isn't a bad idea.) You can eliminate Valdez for how good he's been as a filler, and you are left with Martinez and Francisco. I think it'll come down to if we get an IF or OF player as to who goes. I'm more satisfied with letting Francisco walk, he's had his chance, and he's failed. Martinez is a Rule5 player, who if the Phillies release, is out of our organization. He's young and hasn't really had the chances Francisco has had, and his versatility in the field is unappreciated.
And I want everyone to understand, despite how frustrating the Phillies have played so far this year, they are still the best team in baseball. They aren't as bad as you think. As one of my favorite blogs Zoo With Roy states :
"As everyone knows, the Phillies are in serious trouble and the roster is flawed and their offense stinks and Jimmy swings too early in the count and too many guys are past their peak and Ryan Howard's contract is terrible and there are too many lefties and Cliff Lee has given up runs and Victorino is a space cadet and basically their problems are way too huge to ever think about overcoming.
Oh yeah also we have the best record in baseball."
-Cheers!
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