Zagurski traded to Arizona

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Just a quick note that LHP Mike Zagurski has been traded to Arizona for a player to be named later. After this season, Zagurski is out of options and eligible to become a free agent. Zagurski was very effective in Lehigh Valley, but struggled in his time with the big club.

80 thoughts on “Zagurski traded to Arizona”

  1. I’ll repost the comment I initially made on the previous thread:

    Kind of a head-scratcher there. I guess he became vulnerable to a claim when they outrighted him off the 40-man [oops, meant to say DFA’d], but I’m not sure why it was necessary to do so–basically, I think Savery took his spot, and hasn’t been used much, as you would expect. So in order to get the briefest of looks at one left-handed bullpen guy, they parted with another, who as recently as midseason was having a lot of success in AAA. I’m not saying he was likely to figure largely in their plans next year, but he could have provided a little organizational depth, at the very least. But maybe there are roster issues I’m not considering. I suppose Savery will have to be protected after this year, but there’s going to be a lot of 40-man flux after the season anyway.

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  3. Good arm on Mike but has really struggled throwing a breaking pich of any type for strikes. Seems like a great fellow who interacted well with young fans. I hope things come together for him and wish him all the best.

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  4. This makes a lot of sense. Zagurski had not shown that he could get big league hitters out to this point. The Phils would have had to keep him on the 25 man roster all next season or risk losing him. I just didn’t see enough to say that he warranted that.

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      1. Actually crappy job clarifying. They either had to keep him on the 25 man, or DFA him to send him back down and risk losing him for nothing. They could have just kept him in AAA. I meant to clarify that he didn’t have to be on the active roster, but my clarification was pretty crappy.

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        1. The original statement was correct that they have to keep on 25 man roster or risk losing him (next season) and the statement that they could have just kept him in AAA would only apply till around November 1, when the minor league free agents would be granted free agency, unless they were interested in re-signing ,him , which by the DFA classification it appears they were not.

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  5. Well I wish him the best in Arizona. I think he might still be a solid lefty in the majors but it was pretty clear that it probably wouldn’t be with the Phillies.

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    1. The Diamondbacks are sending money over to replenish the spreads this guy must have devoured every time he was called up.

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    2. Maybe they’ll get a 29-year-old reliever with good minor league numbers who has flopped miserably in the big leagues and will almost certainly be let go in the off season because of roster considerations. Is that the kind of potential you’re talking about?

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  8. Sad. I always liked Zagurski. I wish they had given him more time to get settled up in the bigs. They seem to give Schwimmer plenty of time to get settled. This up and down they did with him probably didn’t help.

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  9. Zagurski turns 29 in January. Always liked him but his command was never great, even when he excelled in the minors. I hope a new team gives him an opportunity, but I simply think he didn’t merit a spot here.

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  10. Thought he was terrible. Clearly can’t condition himself properly and I don’t expect much better out of him in Arizona where mistakes fly out pretty quickly. Zagurski seems to make a lot of them.

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  12. I see it as a potentially comparable situation to this guy:

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/escalse01.shtml

    The Phillies traded Escalona to space on the 40-man, taking missing person Albert Cartwright in return, and he ended up proving that when he got a chance to pitch regular innings for the lousy Astros, he could put up decent numbers. Some of the peripherals are not so great but I’m sure the Phillies would take a lefthander with a sub-3.00 ERA right now. Decent lefthanded relief pitching is quite hard to find.

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  13. It makes sense to me. The Phillies know he will not fit their plans, just as they did with Carpenter. Better to send him to another team than keep him at LHV and take the roster spot of someone they could bring in to help. They use LHV as as a team that will feed the major league team when they need a player. It should be one they think can help. Good lock to him. This move is just as good for him as it is the Phillies.

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  14. This is an outrage, this organization is not committed to winning. This was clearly a salary dump. And now he will come back to haunt us in the postseason this year, what a terrible move. I believe they will convert him to a starter next year and he will be the next Cole Hamels…

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    1. These posts are pretty hilarious. Mike Zagurski seems like a swell guy and all, but he was never going to pitch in the major leagues for the Phillies and, sooner or later, someone was going to be able to claim him and get him for free. They something, anything, for him – it’s not a big deal and it’s not outrage. It’s barely noteworthy.

      As far as AAA success, sometimes it’s meaningful and sometimes it’s entirely meaningless. Some players’ skills (like a good finesse pitcher or a slugger who can really only hit fastballs) just do not translate well to major league baseball.

      Calm down everyone.

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      3. I don’t think anyone’s arguing this is a big deal. I’m just saying there’s value in having left-handed bullpen depth. As I said, the comparison here is Sergio Escalona–not a superstar, but a pitcher who matches up favorably to, say. Robert Herndon, except he’s left-handed. That’s all. Nothing hysterical about it.

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          1. Right, David. Robert Herndon was a guy I went to school with. Also not a better pitcher than Sergio Escalona.

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  16. Good luck big guy. Nice personable player and former Paul Owens Award winner. He wore out his stay/options in Philly and the practice team(Lehigh Valley) was wasting his time. Best for all parties to move on.

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  17. Good for “eats” and “carp” the phillies will distribute their brand of AAA baseball to the west coast teAMS

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  19. Do the Phillies have any broadcasting prospects in the Top 30 that can replace Wheels next season? I don’t know if he’s getting more annoying or if its just getting late in the year but its driving me crazy…

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      1. Its not what he says but how he says it. Well I guess its what he says also but geez thank god for the mute button, although you have to feel for McCarthy who does not have the same mute button.

        And what is with this losingg, this is getting ridiculous. I know the games don’t matter but whoever we play in round 1 is going to be a little less intimidated now after watching us stumble all over ourselves the last two weeks of the season. We look like the Astros…

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  20. No coincidence that both Carp and Zags had trouble with conditioning as they rose through the ranks and became very inconsistent. Hard to get the right handle on pitching to ML hitters when you can’t get a handle on your own body to help you develop good mechanics and endurance in a long season. Not a holier than thou attitude. I had trouble with my own weight for many years after entering sedentary middle age sitting at a computer and stressed a lot. Took me a long time to address it, and I feel lucky I was able to, so I have sympathy and empathy. Just a factual statement that if you can’t condition yourself optimally, you can’t perform optimally and you lose out. That’s the nature of competitive sports. You need every single edge to succeed in most cases.

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  22. Michael Schwimer… bravo… that’s what I want to see out of you. Looked fantastic tonight… even got a left handed hitter out!

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    1. Agreed, he threw several great changeups, including the first pitch to Evans and the strikeout pitch to Thole. If he can locate that change down to lefties, he will have more success against them.

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  23. Back to zero faith in Herndon and even KK. I can’t believe I am saying this but maybe the NEW Joe Blanton should be on the Post season roster.

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    1. I have faith in Kendrick. One bad outing shouldn’t undo all the good he’s done this year as a starter/reliever. Besides, he’s probably not going to pitch in the post season anyway.

      I’m definitly back to zero faith in Herndon though.

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      1. What’s the difference? Herdon wasn’t going to make the playoff roster anyway. You only need 10-11 pitchers in a short series. Kendrick isn’t going to get into any game that is still being contended either.

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  24. I’d expect Madson, Bastardo, and Worley will be tasked with all the key outs in the post-season, with maybe a Stutes or Lidge sighting thrown in, so don’t worry too much about those other guys. As for a wildcard, what about JDF? Seems like he’s throwing well, and the lack of a scouting report on him could work to the Phillies’ advantage.

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    1. JDF was a little wild two outings ago..But an outstanding looking inning last night. no hits in his first 3 innings in the bigs, not bad..hope they at least consider him for the playoff roster..looks just as good as stutes to me

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      2. Unfortunately all singles and walks will be doubles with Lidge as he has no move to first and is slow to the plate

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  26. Zagurski = No conditiong, poor off-speed stuff, and wasted chance after wasted chance during his cups of coffee. At least maybe Arizona, or someone, will give him a chance next year. He is the type of failed pitcher from the Huppert days at LV with no upside and no potential.

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  27. How about a new general Phillies chat thread… or a playoff roster (should Joe Savery get a shot at a playoff spot if Bastardo continues to struggle thread)?

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  28. Zagurski is a red flag for the minor league system and for prospects. He was rushed into the majors as a lefty who could throw 90+MPH. He did not have the chance to develop through the system as others have. Worley and Stutes benefited by being right-handed. There is a reason for progression through different levels of the minors, even for college pitchers.
    Zagurski seems to have been a good friend and an inspiration to other guys who had arm surgery. He seems like a great person. I wish him good fortune.

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    1. I agree that Mike Zagurski appears to be a really good person and friend, but pretty much disagree with everything else you said.

      What happened to Zagurski is not a red flag for anything. Zagurski was not a kid when he made his major league debut in 2007 – he was 24 years old and he spent a few years in the minors. He got the majors quickly in 2007 because he completely dominated the competition. He was brought up to the big leagues and might have been fine, but he just got hurt. The post-surgery Zagurski was not as good as the pre-surgery version and he sure did not take the surgery as a signal that he should lose about 35 pounds and get in the best shape of his life. If anything, the red flag is that, when you are coming off an injury, you better emerge in the best shape of your life. That’s on Mike Zagurski.

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  29. Seeing Bastardo pitch yesterday made me think that they would be better off with Savery right now on the playoff roster. It could just be the law of averages catching up with Bastardo, but whatever it is, it isn’t pretty right now. If I were making the postseason roster right now, I wouldn’t put Bastardo on and you need at least one left-handed reliever, hence Savery.

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    1. I’m fairly sure that Savery isn’t eligible for the post-season roster. I didn’t think he was on the 40-man roster on August 31, so this becomes a moot point.

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      1. Ruben, on WIP, says they can do it if they have to…..’he is in the system by 31 August’….and says 60-DL player like Jose Contreras gets involved in the transaction for it to happen. He says it is complicated but can be done. Who knows!

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      2. This comes up every year and is answered all of the time. Everybody in the entire organization as of 8/31 is eligible for the post season roster. They just have to replace someone that is part of the 40 man roster who is on the 60 day DL.

        In short, Savery and Moss, and could be on the playoff roster if they needed them.

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        1. Sorry…I forgot about Contreras being on the 60-day DL. That would preclude Moss however, since the rule now states that a pitcher must replace a pitcher. Not that Moss would receive any consideration anyway.

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      1. Savery looked very good tonight, not because he got an out, but because he threw two quality big league pitches, including a nice curveball. Go Joe!

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          1. Yeah, I just read that. It looked like a curve out of his hand, but it was a quality pitch nonetheless.

            The 92 MPH fastball, while not overwhelming, was well placed and more than an acceptable offering from a lefty.

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  30. The thread above on the relievers in the upper levels of the farm fairly starkly demonstrates why there is no place for Zags on the 40-man. Too many guys have passed him. I agree with the above poster that he was very good pre-injury and just never regained his former pitching quality. Sort of like Mathieson, whose story is just about the same.

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    1. …not-so-big Joe will be on his last contract year next year….so he definitely will be in shape. Ruben is going to have to make a big decision next year, whether to go with the 2011 mysterious elbow-ailment Blanton or go ahead an offer Oswalt. not sure he will do both with Worley seated in the wings.

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      1. Best strategy may be to:

        1. Make Blanton look good this offseason and next spring and trade him. Eat $ 2million of salary if need be, but he has some value if he’s healthy – just ask the Red Sox.

        2. Non-tender Kendrick. Yeah, it’s a risk, but he is becoming too expensive.

        3. Restructure Oswalt’s deal to a 2 year $22-24 million deal. A Chris Carpenter deal is a perfect template.

        4. Re-sign Cole Hamels and do it asap. We were lucky Hamels stumbled a little bit as it cost him a Cy Young run. He is only going to get more expensive. Sign him already, but discount the first year so you have some salary flexibility.

        5. Sign Madson to a 3 year deal. We need an established closer, better the devil you know.

        6. Sign Rollins. Got any better ideas? Didn’t think so.

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