So, time for me to stop slacking and get in gear. I have some general thoughts. Before I get to that, if you want to make a redundant comment about the Joe Blanton trade, or even a fresh comment with fresh ideas, go to the Joe Blanton post, make it there, and do it before the end of the day, because I’m going to lock the comments on the post and freeze it in the time capsule for all of us to look at later. But I want to move on, and I feel like Blanton-Mania has cast a general malaise over the rest of the site. With that said, lets get to the tidbits.
* Travis Mattair’s current batting line is; .248/.315/.319, and this after going 0 for 9 in his last 2 games. Over his last 10 games, he’s drawn 4 walks and struck out 9 times, but he’s also collected 3 2B and hit a HR. Progress has been slow this year, but I think he is making progress. He’s hit .266 since May 1, and he has a 7.0% BB rate for the season, not great, but better than I expected considering his profile heading into this season. The question now is, where does he go next year? He’s only 19, so he could repeat the level and be age appropriate, but should he be challenged and moved up? If he repeats does Cody Overbeck double jump over Lakewood and move to Clearwater? The Phillies lack 3B prospects in the lower reaches, so this is going to be an interesting situation. Best case scenario is Mattair finishes the last month strong and logically moves to Clearwater in 2009.
* Drew Naylor experienced some growing pains upon his promotion to Clearwater, but he’s starting to piece things together. His lines couldn’t be more different;
first 4: 21.1 IP — 7.68 ERA — 22 H — 18 BB — 16 K — 1.85 WHIP
last 2: 13.1 IP — 0.69 ERA — 9 H — 4 BB — 14 K — 0.99 WHIP
Naylor’s fastball is only average velocity wise (89-91, based on reports), but he can spot it well, and he has the potential for 2 plus offspeed pitches. The key for him, as is the key for every guy without a plus fastball, is to locate his pitches to all four quadrants, especially inside, to set up his offspeed stuff. In a perfect world, Naylor becomes a #3 starter. More realistically, he becomes a solid back of the rotation guy, kind of like Kyle Kendrick but with the ability to miss bats.
* I wasn’t a huge fan of the Jason Donald pick in 2006, mainly because of his unspectacular college career at a major program. After a somewhat sluggish half season in the NYPL, a pitcher’s paradise, Donald exploded in 2007, and he had me convinced. Scouts still were skeptical, but it seems like everyone is on board this year, and Donald has established himself as a legit prospect. Some still wonder if he’ll stick at SS, but he can probably play passable defense there, and might be a candidate to move to 2B possibly for another team. I wanted to watch how Donald progressed this year at AA, if he’d have a bit of a falloff after beating up on A ball pitchers last year, but so far so good;
April: .339/.403/.393 — 2 XBH (0 HR) — 4 BB — 13 K
May: .267/.398/.476 — 13 XBH (4 HR) — 22 BB — 28 K
June: .308/.370/.549 — 11 XBH (5HR) — 8 BB — 19 K
July: .324/.346/.581 — 9 XBH (5 HR) — 3 BB — 16 K
Donald’s month to month splits are kind of odd. No power and lots of singles in April, a monster April in the power and walk department but a .267 average (and this is why average is overrated), a solid June and already 5 HR in July, with very few walks. It seems like when he’s not hitting for average, he’s not afraid to take a walk, and since May, he has 33 XBH with 14 HR, very very good totals for a middle infielder. Its possible that the Phillies see Donald as a 2B, and because of this, they decided they could trade Cardenas. I think at the highest level, Cardenas still ends up the better long term guy, but Donald has clearly won over scouts and the front office. Could he be our version of this guy, with fewer walks and a few more strikeouts?
Phuture Phillies 
I love the comparison…watching him play a few times it is a logical comparison to make. He’s got a little more pop than Pedroia.
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Pedroia was always the type of guy I looked at and wondered how he would have extended amounts of success in the majors with that type of swing, but to be honest it fits him well…. he is a smaller guy that needs that swing if he wants to hit for power, and he has done it well this year
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I think their pop will end up about equal. Donald has surpassed anything Pedroia has done HR wise in the minors, but Pedroia is a doubles machine. He already has 30 this year, with 9 HR in the bigs. If Donald can do that, he’d be an everyday player up the middle for sure. I wonder if the Phillies will consider moving him to 3B if they don’t trade him in the next week.
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Both RJ Swindle and Steve Green will be leaving for the Olympics very shortly making the Lehigh Valley bullpen very shorthanded, as both have been very effective for them this year. Any thoughts on call ups?
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As for Joe Blanton (just kidding!!!) . . .
Seriously, I don’t view Donald as being like Mattair. In the long run, I view him as kind of a poor man’s Cal Ripken or Jeff Kent. A guy who can play the middle infield, albeit not like Freddy Galvis or Roberto Alomar, but a solid guy and a real offensive threat. I give Donald a 30% chance of being a minor star, a 40% chance of being a solid regular, and a 30% chance of being a part-timer or less. If you forced me to guess, however, I would say that he’ll be a very good major leaguer, a guy who, once in a while, could be considered for an all-star game.
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James, pedroia’s doubles are obviously inflated a little by playing half his games 270 feet away from a gigantic green wall… still, he would have a good amount anywhere else too
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the splits on naylor are interesting. to me, there is one number that jumps out…walks. when that went down his numbers were great. the other numbers per nine didn’t change that much. improved a little, but not much.
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Gregg, My guess is Anderson and Castro will get the call. I’d like to see JD move up so a A+ guy can move up and maybe move Chapman to A+. But AAA doesn’t need a starter right now with Benson, Mazone, Happ, Walrond and Blackley. Bisenius was optioned to AAA and he may fill one of those spots.
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Donald is suppose to have a good arm in the scouting report its a 80. If this is true why not third base.
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I hope Donald is not involved in any Fuentes deal. Why is that guy commanding such a big price tag? If the arm is not an issue, Donald at third would be a perfect way to replace Feliz after next year.
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Some random points…
Is Dominic Brown hurt? He hasn’t played the last few days, which is easy to notice since he’s the first guy I check for in the Lakewood box scores.
Speaking of Lakewood… Freddy Galvis’ recent 10-for-18 tear took his average from .221 to .241, but he’s still been a bit unlucky. He’s got a very good 26:28 K:BB ratio, but his BABIP is only .259 right now. Now he doesn’t have a high LD% (only 10%), but I’m thinking all of the above means that he’s got great bat control but just doesn’t have the frame yet to really hit the ball solidly. If he can keep the same K:BB ratio as he grows into his body a bit, his LD% and BABIP should rise, giving him better numbers across the board, right?
Oh and finally — jeez, another Lakewood guy — I’ve been impressed with Matt Rizzotti recently. After missing a month with injury (and whose to say his earlier numbers weren’t affected by that?), he’s hit .329/.410/.534 with 3 HRs in 73 ABs since he came off the DL. I know he’s stuck at 1B defensively, but he’s got a sound approach at the plate and has probably had trouble with both the injury and with adjusting to a higher level of competition (he played college ball at Manhattan). He’ll move slowly and he’s certainly not a top prospect, but he’s someone to keep an eye on as a potential sleeper down the road.
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I’ll repeat my production from a prior post:
Donald will either take Bruntlett’s role next year or be playing 3rd at AA and then make the team in at least a utility role the following year.
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PP…is there any way that we could get the days probable starters listed either on these daily tidbits or on their own thread? I can’t follow every team every night because I’m just not that good, but I’d like to be able to follow a bit more closely when there are guys pitching that I really want to catch up on.
On today’s post, I find it odd that Donald’s OBP is dropping as his SLG is rising. If I had to guess, I see him as the 2B in 2010, Utley at 1B, and Howard traded. I don’t WANT that to happen, but just a gut feel. It also seems that the Phillies have a lot of solid back-end of the rotation-type guys in the minors, but no real studs. I don’t know if I should be happy about that or concerned that the Phillies have a long future of middling pitching.
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Donald has convinced lots of people this year that he can play. The Phillies brass as well as the Olympic selection group. Davey Johnson said he loves Donald’s game after watching him for a few days with the Futures Game. Donald is probably good enough to make the big club next year but unless he’s starting, which he won’t be, its better to put him at AAA. His arm would play better at 3rd than SS but I just don’t see him as a long term fit at 3rd. Another scenario is that he gets traded in the offseason to get a left fielder if they don’t resign Burrell. They’ll keep Marson because he could make the club as a part time starter next year with a big spring and they’ll want to keep their top pitchers. That leaves Donald as their most valuable trading piece because Jimmy and Chase aren’t going anywhere for years.
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On Dom Brown, I think he has slight leg muscle pull or something and is day to day. He hit his first stretch recently where he seemed to go a little cold. He could use a break as he hasn’t missed any games all year.
On Jason Donald, logic says the Phils play him at 3B in the Arizona Fall League. But as we all know, their logic and our logic are two different things.
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greg,
if you go to http://www.milb.com and look up each scoreboard, many times it will show the probable pitchers. For instance i looked up there and saw Carrasco was pitching tonight for Reading. Just an FYI.
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Mike…I saw that for Reading and Lehigh Valley, but they often times don’t list below, which is where most of the better pitchers in the organization are throwing. Of course, I don’t know where else anybody would go to get the information either.
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I checked the official Blue claws website and Dom Brown isn’t even listed on the roster. There are only 2 OFs on the roster (Warren and Miller). Kennelly’s been in RF the last 2 games. they only list 2 catchers on the roster too (Kennelly and Naughton). I wonder who the emergency catcher is? No one’s been called up or called down to replace him. Hope it’s a minor pull and a well deserved rest.
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Isn’t Pedro Feliz signed through 2010? So why would 3B make more sense for Donald? His arm is already a question mark a shortstop, and would only be more of an issue at 3B. I agree that he should learn more positions, but I think he’ll just replace Bruntlett in 2009.
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speaking of 3B i just asked and got this answer from Jim Callis on ESPN’s chat:
mike (philly): better career: Donald or Cardenas?
Jim Callis: (2:54 PM ET ) Cardenas. I think he could wind up at 3B in the long run wtih Oakland.
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Baxter The reports on donald arm are its really good. I Think its his range they question at shortstop. I read the scouting report on him coming out of arizona state and it said his bat was a question.
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The colorado rockies are really playing hard ball on fuentes. They know that they will receive two top draft choices for him,if he leaves for free agency. The article said they build there team through the draft. Why is a pitcher like him worth two top choices .
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Baxter: Feliz is signed for $5 million next year, with a $5 million team option for 2010 (and a $500K buyout).
And reports are mixed on Donald’s arm. Some thinks it’s only average, but Kevin Goldstein spoke with a scout who thinks Donald has a plus arm and could make the move to third. I agree with you that he’ll probably take Bruntlett’s utility role next year, and they’ll use that time to see if he can handle third base. If he can, then he’s probably the starting third baseman in 2010.
And Bellman: that’s very strange that Brown isn’t even listed on the roster. He’s still listed on the roster on MiLB, so maybe it’s just an oversight? I think it’d be a mistake to move him to Clearwater at this juncture, so I just hope that’s not what’s going on.
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oh and by the way, Mr Savery DH’d again today in a 12-7 Cleatwater loss. 1-4 with a run scored.
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Haha Savery is turning into Clearwater’s best bat.
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Rocky,
If he is determined by Elias to be a Type-A FA, the Rockies would get 2 draft picks a compensation, assuming they offer him arbitration.
For relief pitchers, the formula used is:
Total games (total relief appearances + 2 * total starts), IP (weighted slightly less than other categories), Wins + Saves, IP/H ratio, K/BB, ERA
This formula is used against the players numbers for the previous 2 seasons and then the top 20% are considered to be Type-A free agents.
Fuentes was ranked #5 in the NL for 2008 and will no doubt remain high enough to be a type-a FA in 2009.
If you’re Colorado, why would you trade him for something less than 2 top-40 draft caliber players since that is what they will get in return if he leaves as a FA after the season.
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3up3kkk THANK YOU I appreciate the explanation
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Hey 3KKK- Will Burrell be a type A after this season?
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He’ll be a Type A
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Thats what I figured… just wanted to check with the experts before I started assuming. Thanks.
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Alright I did a quick look at something, from 2001 to 2008, BA has only once ranked a phillies prospect in the top 15 once. And given the players to come out of our system does anyone else find this odd? Hamels, Howard, Utley all recently, JRo not to far behind. Howard (*ROY.MVP etc..) only even made the top 50 1 year and still didn’t break top 20 then after hitting how many home runs was it? 50 something?!?!
Could someone explain to me A – why the phillies seem to be the only ones who correctly evaluated the above talent? and B how the phillies somehow have not managed premier prospects (*as evaluated by the rest of the world) with any frequency even after not making the playoffs for over a decade.
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Sorry, I’m ranting, I know… I’m just frusterated, just not sure about what… the lack of recognition or the crappy farm system… but on the bright side i’ll be at shea tonight rootin’ my boys on, so long as it doesn’t get rained out!
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aaron – great question. the answer is because most mlb scouting is flawed. a guy like cameron maybin is a top 5 prospect because he is all tools. he flashes all 5 tools. who cares that he doesn’t do it consistently. but most stars are not 5 tool players or even 4 tool players. they are 1-2 tool players that do those tools off the charts and do them consistently. but scouts don’t love those type of guys. that’s how a team like the A’s or Twins consistently win. because they don’t over pay for that stuff.
sure, the scouts will get some right. but they have a lot of false positives and a lot of those that slip through the cracks. also, reports like BA don’t ever take the time to learn about mental make-up, which is more than half of the equation.
p.s. i know PP strongly disagrees with everything that i just wrote. but that is what makes chocolate and vanilla.
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another reason aaron could be how quickly players move through the system. just a few years back i don’t know if you had midseason top 150’s like you have now. everything’s watched closer.
oh and if Billy beane or Brian Sabean (insert other “famous GM here” were to be the phils gm then we would get similar billing
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Aaron —
Part of the reason is the Phillies anti-hype their prospects. Couldn’t say enough bad things about Howard and tried to trade him for a middle reliever. Utley had lost a season in a move to 3B, the failure of that move may have cast a small pall over his rep. That and the Phillies were negative on his 2B D. Hamels always had all the talent in the world, but had been consistently injured and pitched very few innings prior to coming up to bigs and pitching more innings than in the minors and doing it very well. I wouldn’t have put him in top 15 either. Rollins was in majors in 2001.
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The Phillies are the anti-Yankees when it comes to hype. The Yankees overhyped so many of their prospects, and some GM’s actually bought into the hype. The Phillies, on the other hand, make it a point to stress a guy’s weak points and throw a wet blanket on a guy performing well. Why they do this is beyond my grasp.
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On that note, it seems that the New York media helps the team by hyping their prospects as much as the team does. You rarely hear about prospects from the Philadelphia media. Have you ever heard a knowledgeable conversation about a baseball prospect on WIP? Never. You can’t call WIP and ask them a prospect question…they don’t know the answer, but if they did they’d sure as hell be talking about it. If WIP started talking, if comcast talked about it more, if the newspapers started the hype train, I think they’d actually help the Phils to keep from stumbling over themselves. New York loves to market itself, and they do the same thing with their prospects (Yankees and Mets). Look at the hype that Jose Tabata, Austin Jackson, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Joba Chamberlain have received, look at the hype that Deolis Guerra and Carlos Gomez and Franklin Martinez have received and look what it did for the Mets in landing Santana for some decent prospects, but not super-stars in the making. I personally think that BA falls into the media hype in those cities as well…not so much that it calls into question their “character”, but it plays a part.
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Geez, how could I leave CJ Henry off that Yankees list…we fell for that hook, line, and sinker.
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Guys, thanks for all the thoughts, def. appreciate it, what i will say, regardless of the fact that the pharm here seems to always suck, we do consistantly seem to produce some pretty decent talent. I think you’d be hard pressed to find any team in the majors who’s ever developed 3 MVP quality players on the same team, let alone consecutively (*lets hope chase gets hot again)… just a thought, so BA, I’m giving you a big FU, tools are great if they’re real, and not just projectable, and clearly, not all tools are created equally, I would take a .310/30 homer hitter with slightly below average feilding, slightly below average arm, and slightly below average speed over any other combination. Again, thanks for the help.
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D’arby Myers still isnt hitting.
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guys…as frustrating as it is for us that the phils don’t hype their prospects, MLB GM’s don’t make a trade for a prospect because they are hyped in BA or in the local newspaper. They all send scouts to watch these guys and the reports from their managers from that level. hype sells newspapers, but doesn’t impact trades.
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Not to be a contrarian, but I think the hype can impact trades. A buddy and I were discussing this at one point, and he talked about how the Yankees and, to a lesser extent, the Mets are able to hype up their prospects through the media. It’s a smart move on their part. Look at what the Mets were able to give up for Johan Santana: the centerpiece was a so-called leadoff man with an OBP of .282 this year.
I’m not saying GMs and scouts are completely taken in by the hype, but I do think that as players like Gomez continually get overhyped, it does affect them at least subconsciously. And I do think that Mets/Twins deal is proof.
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Wow…did anybody else see the ASK BA on the 21st?
After the latest wheeling and dealing of general manager Billy Beane, who will be the Athletics’ second baseman of the future: 2008 first-round pick Jemile Weeks or trade acquisitions Adrian Cardenas or Eric Patterson?
Mike Gravinese
Raleigh, N.C.
Weeks. He’s as good a hitter as any of Oakland’s second-base prospects, and while he’s not a power threat, he does have decent pop. He’s the quickest of the three players, a legitimate stolen-base threat and a potential No. 1 or 2 hitter. He also the best defender of the trio, though none of them is a standout comparable to A’s incumbent Mark Ellis.
Cardenas is the best of three in terms of hitting for power and average, and he has enough arm strength that I think Oakland will make room for him at third base. Patterson has solid tools but is lacking defensively at second base and center field, the two positions where his bat could make him a regular. He’s destined to be a utilityman rather than an everyday player.
I find it interesting that the A’s now (according to Jim Callis) are likely to find room for Cardenas at 3B yet the Phillies who desperately need a Third Baseman couldn’t see him as at Third. If he could play Third why the hell did we trade him?
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I don’t think media hype affects the scouts/gms but I do think is has an effect on deals because of the effect that hype has on fan bases and ownership.
For example, take the Santana deal. The Twins know they have to trade Santana because they aren’t going to trade him and they also know they will take some heat from the fan base, especially if they aren’t perceived to have gotten good value in return.
So faced with 2 similar offers, 1 from team A for 3 prospects no one has heard of or one from team B that includes a couple of overhyped guys, I think the GM is more likely to take team B’s deal because the uninformed talking heads in the media and the vast majority of the fanbase won’t blister him for making a bad deal.
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Just image cubs get harden,brewers cc. we get another eaton and give more for him then the cubs for harden. Go figure.
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My problem with the team is less that they are willing to trade prospects than the type of talent they are seeking in return. I am okay with trade B quality prospects for B quality major leaguers. But, if you are going to trade away really good talent, you should be seeking A quality talent in return. My problem with the Blanton and Garcia trades (this is not a post about Blanton, he is an example) is that they are trading away valuable talent for more pitchers that will just be the same old crappy third man or fourth man rotation starters (or worse) the Phils always seem to have and who, as a group, continue to get the team nowhere (Let me give you examples of the type of starters I mean – Jon Lieber, Kevin Millwood, Freddy Garcia, Adam Eaton, Joe Blanton). It gets old VERY fast and it constantly puts a damper on the club getting to the next level.
If you trade good prospects, you should pick up a Brad Lidge or a Rich Harden. Truly outstanding talents that have the ability to put your team over the top. Can anyone who has seen the likes of Joe Blanton honestly see these pitchers taking the team to the next level? It’s crazy to think they can or will and watching the same type of strategy fail over and over and over again, is a bit like watching the move Groundhog Day.
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Speaking of prospects – does anyone have any idea of what’s wrong with Antonio Bastardo or when he will return? He was the number one story of April and May (aside from Michael Taylor) and now, his status seems significantly in doubt.
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slight labrum tear was the last thing i read
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is there such a thing as a slight labrum tear? If the labrum is damaged then he’s done. Now if the Phillies move Happ then they have no LHP prospects.
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Except that guy in Clearwater, but it looks like they’re moving him to DH anyway.
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Yeah Joe Savery is looking pretty good these days. 4 straight good starts, hopefully he keeps it up.
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I hate to be the defender of the Phillies front office, but let’s be fair and look at some of the trades that Catch 22 references…as we all know Garcia was traded for Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzales. Just about everybody in Philly thought Floyd was a bum and this trade instantly made the Phillies the favorite to win the NL East in 2007 because it gave them a number 1 starter. Now, as we all know it didn’t work out that way, but the trade at the time it was made was a good one. Kevin Millwood was coming off a spectacular 18 win season and was traded for Johnny Estrada, who wasn’t going to play in Philly anyway with Lieberthal behind the plate. I believe Lieber and Eaton were free agents signed to compliment existing pitchers, not be #1 guys. While non of these guys has worked out particularly as well as we had hoped, if anybody actually knew how a player would perform in the future they’d be the best GM in baseball.
We as fans always complain that the team never makes a move when it needs to. Then, when the team makes a move, we essentially say that they are making the move for the sake of making a move. You can’t have it both ways!
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Phenix:
yes there is such a thing as a slight labrum tear, see Zimmerman, Ryan… had a small tear from a head first dive into first, he was out for nearly two months, and just came back this week…. He rehabbed his shoulder and opted away from surgery and it seems like it worked….
Lil bastard is a pitcher, so im guessing a labral tear in your pitching shoulder is a tough one…. depending on the size of it though, it may be able to be rehabbed, and he could avoid surgery i guess
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greg,
it would have been a good trade IF Gillick had bothered to look at medical reports and see Garcia was damaged goods. That to me is inexcusable. Its one thing to make a mistake on how good a prospect is going to be years down the road, but to not bother to check out medical reports? that’s horrible.
Oh and did you really try to justify the Adam Eaton signing? How are those rose colored glasses? There is no worse way to waste $25 million. Oh ya we knew he sucked and would be a 5th pitcher and everybody’s 5th pitcher is paid $8+million a year. NO they’re not. They’re most likely a minor leaguer that deserves to be brought up and works his way through his development (HAPP) but we don’t seem to want to do that.
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Garcia was damaged goods with no fastball his last month in Chicago. We should have seen that. Obviously we overlook conditioning—Lieber,Millwood,Blanton. The Lidge deal looks beautiful but Wade can only do so much for us 🙂
It is ironic that we overrate tools in our June draft and yet seek out fat pitchers in trades.
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You can’t make a compelling argument that the Millwood trade was a bad move, coming off the season he had in Atlanta and his overall career at that point.
Harping on FA pitcher signings seems silly on a site discussing prospects…HOWEVER, it’s easy to lose sight of reality. Lieber was signed after a 14-8 year with the Yankees, and was two years removed from a 20-6 season with the Cubs. He won 17 games for the Phillies his first season…then the wheels fell off and he couldn’t stay healthy/in shape.
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You are right—Lieber was a free agent but his signing cost us a draft choice or two. We need to build from within and makes trades when our cup runneth over.
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How are Outman, Spencer, Cardenas doing with new teams?
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Outman 1.1 Innings, 2 Hits, 3 Runs(2 Earned), 3 BB’s
Cardenas 5-23, .217 BA, 1 2B, 3 Runs
Spencer 9-20, .450 BA, 3 2B’s, 3 RBI’s, 6 Runs
Small sample size, but it appears Spencer has adjusted quickly.
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Greg,
A poster at http://www.philliesphans.com lists all the scheduled starters every morning in our daily “minor league games” thread.
Other comments:
it’s too early to evaluate Cardenas and Spencer as As, but Cardenas was off to a slow start there, and Spencer was hot after their first 4 games. Outman got bombed in his first start after relieving for half the year.
Garcia trade–Gillick’s problem was that he thought Garcia was healthy, and did what GMs usually do, accepted the opinion of the ChiSox doctors. Many intelligent posters have agued he was just unlucky, and that GMs always do that, but, personally, I think he shold have been suspicious given Garcia’s struggles the previous year, and his workload. RE: Floyd–many young pitchers take time to “get it” in the majors, and contending teams often lose patience with them.
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A couple of points.
First, please don’t accuse me of wanting it both ways. I am not that keen about deadline trades unless they provide us with Grade A talent. What I am against is trading lots of young players with upside for Grade B talent. As far as I’m concerned, trade deadline deals are generally ripoffs for the team obtaining MLB talent, so, if you are going to get ripped off, you really need to benefit from such trades – not just get another arm for the staff. That’s pointless, particularly with a pitcher like JA Happ just sitting in AAA.
Second, I am not saying that all of the Phils’ trades have been bad. The Lidge trade was a good risk and it paid off. The Millwood trade also seemed like a good idea at the time, as did the Lohse and Moyer deals. The reason those deals were fine was because the Phils did not give up that much – they were just taking on contracts that the other teams did not particularly want. What drives me nuts is paying the price for A level talent and only receiving B level talent in return.
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The point with the FA signings was not to dwell on them in the abstract, but to point out that the Phillies are always in search of a “deal.” When you are talking about pitching, the deal almost always takes the form of a “B” level pitcher. Jon Lieber was not the worst pitcher in the world – for the most part he was okay. The problem is that the Phils picked him up as 3 or 4 starter and hoped he’d be their ace. It doesn’t work that way – he was still at 3 or 4 man.
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D’Arby Myers closing in on the Mendoza Line. Unfortunately in the wrong direction.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_07_24_wptasx_hvrasx_2
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Catch 22…thanks for the clarification. I lumped you into a category of folks that you probably didn’t belong. Sorry.
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phillychuck…thanks for the info. Now I have another site to look at while I’m supposed to be working.
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