Pat Gillick has to be getting desperate now. It seems every day, we see a new waiver claim. I guess on one hand, it’s positive, because he’s still trying to fix our shaky bullpen, but on the other hand, how likely is it that a guy plucked off waivers is going to save our fledging pen? Well, JD Durbin is the latest name to enter the mix, as the Phillies claimed him off waivers from the Red Sox. Durbin, who’d been in the Minnesota system his entire 6 year career prior to 2007, has had some success, notably in 2006 at AAA Rochester, where he posted a 2.33 ERA in 16 starts. He has solid K numbers, as seen in his career 8.18 K/9 rate in the minors, but of course, there’s always a catch, that comes in the walk rate, which has been downright ugly since 2004, as he’s walked 145 guys in 300 innings….not a good ratio. Durbin used to touch 100 MPH with his fastball, but clearly he didn’t always know where it was going. He was ranked the Twins 10th best prospect in the 2007 Baseball America handbook, with his velocity (still mid 90’s) and his power curveball as assets. Over the last three seasons, he’s missed time, largely due to a partially torn labrum in 2004, but he appears to be healthy. If the Phillies are planning to use him in relief exclusively, I guess it can’t hurt. But who goes? As far as I can tell, no one in the current bullpen has options remaining. Do they try to pass Condrey through waivers? Is a trade in the works? We’ll see.
Phuture Phillies 
Durbin seems like a high risk/reward type of guy who may have a
better chance of sticking with the Phils than with the three
other teams he’s auditioned for this year. If he sticks, Condrey
would be the guy to go–no loss IMO.
I agree, because guys like Condrey are floating around everywhere, and we have a number of guys in AAA who can do basically the same thing.
Could Durbin be put on DL for a while to let him work on his
problems, then ease him into action as our pen gets sorted out
(if ever)?
Not sure Durbin is hurt, so that may not be possible. Of course they could pitch for an inning or two and claim “shoulder stiffness” or something like that. He certainly has better stuff and more upside than a Condrey, so I would make that move. Someone else needs to go down for Garcia, however. Condrey was designated for assignment to call up Garcia, so Durbin vs Rosario is probably the choice the Phillies have absent figuring out what to do with Lieber.
Perhaps it’s time to think about cutting bait with Ryan Madson.
Somewhat to my surprise, Durbin evidently cleared waivers, so he’s going to Canada. Flyer worth taking, given the guy’s stuff.