Phillies trade Fabio Castro for Matt Stairs

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per Ken Rosenthal. Should be a marginal prospect. Stairs has been on the decline after a hot start, and he’s like 50 years old, but he’s better than Taguchi, the guy he should be replacing. We’ll see. More info in this space when its available.

Update: Its the model dictator

112 thoughts on “Phillies trade Fabio Castro for Matt Stairs”

  4. somebody like Jesus Sanchez catcher we got for Abreu now at Lakewood batting 186 hopefully after that we could trade Carlos Monsterios (sp) then we could close the door on the Abreu trade since your namesake is already gone

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  5. Actually Sanchez is with the GCL Phillies learning to pitch. Think he pitched an inning the other day. Saw that Wellinson Biaz, also pitched an inning in Florida.

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  6. “Matt Stairs for J.A. Happ and Travis D’Arnaud”

    Hey, you gotta give up something to get something, right? All you crazy fans value these ‘prospects’ so highly, but the team needs help NOW man. This is about the big leagues. Give ’em all up, I say. I would have thrown Marson into the Blanton deal just so everyone here would stop talking about it.

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  8. Padraic, you’re clearly on the wrong site. This is THE place to overvalue prospects!

    You do have to give something to get something, but we didn’t get much, so we shouldn’t have had to give much. If we did, shame on Gillick. I am having trouble guessing who it might be, though…I could see Happ, though I think that’s unlikely. Not sure who would fit the bill here…Carpenter?

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  9. I’m surprised if it’s any more than an Overholt, maybe Savage or Walls. No Clay Harris, but send em Spidale or Moran.

    I would not want to give up on Harman yet.

    I really think the price for Stairs is organizational fodder, at least borderline, like Moran, who might still be a 5th OF. Not even a fringe prospect should be sent.

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  10. Padraic we “overvalue” the prospects huh?…lets see Happ could be a very solid starter who could get 10 wins a year and D’Arnaud is a good hitting catcher which if you havent realized and im guessin you havent IS SOMETHIN WE NEED in the big club..you definitely do not give up either one those two or anyone of value to the big club in the future for a guy who isnt worth much…you dont give up your farm system for nothin come on man think would ya

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  11. Arguably Gillick best trade ever under similar circumstances as now might have been picking up Jeff Conine for a player to be named later who turned out to be the not so great prospect Angel Chavez and a little cash back in Aug. 06 .

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  13. giving up more then a bag of used baseballs is too much for stairs….he sucks!!! just another move so the front office can say, “hey we tried!”

    they make me sick….this organization will be nothing until montgomery sells this team to someone who cares more about winning and the fans then the bottom line!!! pathetic!!

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  14. stairs is OBPing .342 this year = he is better than taguchi. hopefully we gave up some filler and nothing good

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  15. Heh, close Phuture. It was actually just a shot at a little satire. A bit too dry perhaps.

    I would throw a rock through my computer if it was D’Arnaud and Happ.

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  16. Considering it’s a player to be named later there is a good chance he might be on the 40 man already. Could it be Bisenius?

    I do realize that a player named later could mean the Jays are just deciding between several players but with all the minor leagues coming to an end soon I am just thinking he might be on the 40 man.

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  17. The player to be named is Danny Almonte……he is 36 and still pitching in Little League, but apparently has a slide piece that tops out at 56 and has been stifling the competition.

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  18. It’ll be a Schlitter type, a fringe guy with no hope of every making it above AA.

    Tom B. Who would you have preferred the Phillies go after that is even available? Let’s be realistic here. If he is used as a bench bat that will allow Manual to use Dobbs as a starter more often, then it will be a positive for this team.

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  19. The PTBNL aspect probably indicates that the Jays and Phils agreed upon a list of players, and it’s up to Ricciardi to choose one.

    For some reason, I have a nagging feeling that this could be someone like Jeremy Slayden, which would be fairly disappointing. Hopefully not, so let’s just enter “wait and see” mode.

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  20. There no way we would’ve gave up a 4 star or even 3 star prospect for Matt Stairs. I wouldn’t be shocked if it was Swindle or Bisenius

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  22. ***Who would you have preferred the Phillies go after that is even available? ***

    There is somebody out there that I would have rather they acquired: Aubrey Huff.

    I know that he is probably a defensive liability but he has played different 4 positions (1B, 3B, RF & LF). The major problem is that he owed $8,000,000 next year …BUT… if you are trying to get to the World Series, his offense may just be what we need: Avg .307…HR 29 …RBI 94…Runs 84…SB 3.

    I believe that there may be other issues with this guy and the cost may have been more than we at this site would have liked but then again, it is very possible that Baltimore is just looking for a salary dump, a la the Phils with Abreu.

    In any case, the prospect(s) better be organizational fillers!

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  23. Here’s the scouting report on Luis Sumoza who the Red Sox gave up for Kotsay.

    Scouting Report: Athletic and well-built, Sumoza signed for a big bonus out of Venezuela in mid-2004. Gifted athlete, still very raw. Shows the potential to be a five-tool player, but needs a lot of refinement. High power potential. Above average speed. Strikes out too much, still has some holes in his swing. Hits from a slightly open stance. Keeps his hands around his helmet. Swing tends to get a bit too long and he can jam himself. In the field, Sumoza has above average range, a passable glove, and a decent arm. Overall, he has a ton of potential, but still a long way to go.

    Now… Kotsay is 32 and Stairs is 40. Stairs has more power, walks and Ks more. Kotsay is the better hitter for average and does kill you with the Ks. Plus Kotsay’s a generation younger. I just can’t believe it will be anyone who would get a vote for top 50 prospects. The perfect guy would be C.J. Henry but he’s in the Yankees organization now. Crap!

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  26. The player to be named is Danny Almonte……he is 36 and still pitching in Little League, but apparently has a slide piece that tops out at 56 and has been stifling the competition.

    Phillies fan, Isn’t that RJ Swindle???

    My bet is we paid too much. that’s our MO.

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  27. I think we all should pick a player we think it will be, a contest to see who reads the phillies F.O. best. My guest is swimmer.

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  31. Anyone off LHV pitching roster except Happ & Carassco… my bet is Swindle as he is a lefty and Canadian.

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  34. Gut feeling: Jaramillo. I know the Jays have Arencibia in the system, but they have really bad catching at the major league level, and he would work well as a league minimum backup to Barajas if they pick up the option.

    They likely scouted all the Phillies catchers during the Burnett discussions, and I don’t think they would trade a guy who could help them in 2009 signed for only 1 mil for low A trash. It might not be JJ, but I think it will be someone we’ve heard of.

    Incidentally, this would also allow the site’s While Whale a chance at a Sept. callup.

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  35. Padraic,
    Considering the rumor is the Phils don’t want to call up Marson I doubt very much Jaramillo is getting dealt.

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  36. True liquid, but a lot of that speculation is in the other direction, meaning, it’s not:

    ‘We don’t want Marson, so we’ll call up Jaramillo,’

    but rather:

    ‘Jaramillo deserves a chance, so we’ll talk down Marson.’

    If it’s the latter, than trading JJ becomes more of a possibility.

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  37. thanks for the update on Jesus Sanchez , Stairs I believe is owed 400,000 for the balance of this year and is signed for a million next year, so the Phils should be giving up a very marginal prospect esp. if they are not getting any money back from the Jays

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  38. How about Tuffy? We’re loaded with catchers. He’s expendible. I’m wondering about Jesus Villegas Andino. He’s 21 and had a decent year at A+. He’s never been discussed by us (that I know of). He plays 2B so he could be trade fodder.

    That sounds so heartless, “expendible” and “trade fodder”. I apologize for my insensitivity.

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  39. prepare yourself for it being someone you don’t want to lose. a guy like slayden or overholt or d’arby (as PP notes). JP Ricardi doesn’t do this unless he is getting something. it won’t be a AAA filler like swindel.

    but i do think that Jamarillo is too much. i don’t think that they will give him up for this guy.

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  42. i dont mind it for castro even though it may be a little much…personally stairs is better in my mind than jenkins

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  43. that’s odd because they just reported that on the ML game that’s on now, but Castro is still sitting in the bullpen.

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  44. Now that really makes what the FO did in waisting the option year on Carpenter, extremely stupid. Sorry to go back to that.

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  45. Cromp check out the Carpenter thread now. Theres a post on there that explains that they didn’t waste an option year at all

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  46. This trade doesn’t bother me, but, man o man, is the Blanton trade beginning to haunt us or what? Cardenas, Spencer and Outman are all doing well. Outman and Spencer are really lighting it up (and Outman’s in AAA!). I’m sorry, I can’t get over this trade. Not when JA Happ was sitting in AAA and would have been roughly equivalent to Blanton. I don’t care if we get rid of a fringe prospect for an older veteran (Stairs, Conine, Moyer, etc . . . ) and I truly don’t mind getting rid of talent for a high ceiling major leaguer. But giving up solid prospects for an average pitcher when you have another pitcher waiting in the wings at AAA ready to go (yes, he was lit up recently, but he’s discouraged – wouldn’t you be too if you were him!) is just god awful poor talent management. And it really makes me steamed.

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  47. Castro is way too much, they are not getting money back from the Jays????? 23 yuear old Lefty reliever for a 40 year old DH

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  48. I agree, sdcaphil, especially since the bullpen needs all the help it can get right now. Castro isn’t the next Eckersly, but he could’ve helped. The shuffling in the bullpen the last few days really concerns me. Doesn’t seem like they know what to do.

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  50. How can Castro be too much? At best, he’s a LOOGY it seems. You can’t give up much less than a fringe prospect and still get anything back in return.

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  52. Sdc,
    What money? The guy gets about $300,000 the rest of this year, and is signed for $1M next year, which is basically the minimum.

    Well, it wasn’t JJ, but I did say we will have heard of him!

    This is fine. Castro is/was not going to be much.

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  54. If Castro is the guy he would not have been warming up, something is fishy I am not a big fan of Castro but I still say its too much call me stubborn I will believe it when it is announced

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  55. Scott Eyre to me was a more valueable player who is signed thru just 08 no financial obligation beyond this year we gave up a class A righthander for him. Say want you want about Castro he showed enough promise to spend a whole year on the 25 man roster and he is lefthanded I doubt that Stairs can even play in the field unless maybe first base

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  56. I’m assuming Castro would have to go through waivers, that’s why it’s a PTBNL.

    Also Castro really hasn’t progressed the past 3 years, he’s still very wild and hasn’t taken a step forward. He had an ERA of 4.40 in AA & an ERA of 8.00 in AAA. Right now he’s a fringe reliever/starter who may top out as a loogy.

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  58. Just for the record Michael Taylor went 3 for 4 with 3 doubles tonight for Lakewood winning 2-1. Naylor had a strong performance going 7 innings striking out 6 allowing only 1 earned.

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  59. @ sdcaphil

    -Say want you want about Castro he showed enough promise to spend a whole year on the 25 man roster

    he was a rule 5 guy. when a rule 5 player is traded, the roster rule still applies. the phillies obviously wanted the guy if he was included in the trade, so they had to keep him on the active roster and hide him. he pitched verrrry rarely after he came over, and was sent to the minors the next year, and never really progressed after that.

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  60. matt stairs = jeremy giambi

    nice move guys…keep it up!

    btw…another great outing today by our bullpen..maybe castro can help…oh, never mind we just traded him for a 50 year old bum, that doesn’t want to leave canada! gillick is a genius!!!

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  62. Castro was a rule 5 guy? Didn’t the Phillies get him from Texas for Daniel Haigwood, who we got in the Thome deal?

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  63. “one more thing…castro’s minor league stats are mindblowing-ly odd.

    412.1 IP, 176 H, 187 BB”

    You’re not looking at the correct stat line–he allowed 176 runs in 412.1 IP, not hits. He allowed 350 hits, which isn’t uncommonly low for a hard throwing reliever w/o much control.

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  65. They should have given them Anthony Hewitt. Has any #1
    pick ever gotten off to a worse start – 55 K’s, only 117 AB’s, only 1 HR.

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  66. Old Grandad, how about this one:
    183 ABs, 54 Ks, 1 HR…Greg Golson!

    Some others from this year:
    Tim Beckham: 177 ABs, 43 Ks, 2 HR
    Kyle Skipworth: 159 ABs, 46 Ks, 5 HR
    Casey Kelly: 98 ABs, 34 Ks, 1 HR

    Point is that a lot of very talented young men struggle early. Give him some time.

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  67. I’m not sure Castro would of ever had any value to the Phillies other then what he has been used for, trade bait. It seems others have moved ahead of him. I still think he was worth more then Stairs but I’ll live with it.

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  68. i disagree that the blanton deal was bad, it was fair for both teams

    blanton is solid and signed for 2 more seasons
    cardenas will be good, but no future spot plus the emergence of jason donald
    outman is a likely sept callup..not sure what role he fills…with happ/carrasco etc outman was expendable
    spencer has done well, but never walks. he’ll be 23 in AA in 09, not a big deal giving up a 20-30 range prospect

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  69. The Blanton deal would have been an okay trade if Blanton had more upside, if the Phillies were truly loaded with prospects, or if there were no JA Happ ready to take over in AAA. Unfortunately, none of these conditions existed. The trade was just a flat out waste of talent. If Blanton wins 15-20 games next year, I’ll take back what I’m saying but what I see is a 4th or 5th starter who is out of shape. I could be wrong, but I think, on the whole, the talent we gave away is going to outperform, and perhaps far outperform, the talent we received. Again, this would have been fine if we were brimming with talent or JA Happ was not ready to walk into the rotation. But Happ was there and he is every bit Blanton’s equal as a starting pitcher. So why give away those players? It makes no sense. None.

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  70. phillyfan . The thing that is making me crazy is that spencer is killing the ball in higher level. Outman himself could be too much for blanton. And cardenas is going to be a solid major league. We get a adam eaton type back and no midrange prospect from them to even out the trade.

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  71. how could outman possibly be enough to get blanton? a proven, above average major leaguer with 2.5 years to free agency >> a AA pitcher who isnt a top prospect. i could see cardenas for blanton, however.

    i would be interested to see PECOTA’s projections for happ vs. blanton’s statistics for us. anybody got em?

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  73. 1- Spencer is killing the ball in A+ in an extreme hitters league. (Cal League) with a greg golson like BB/K rate 6/35

    2- Blanton is not Adam Eaton, it’s hilarious how people continue to spew this crap. He won 12/16/14 games the 3 seasons prior to this year. And so far he’s 1-0 3.92 ERA, it’s crazy how people are killing him for that.

    3- Look you have to give up something to receive a big league pitcher who is under contract for a couple years. I know everyone on here loves our prospects, but at the end of the day over half of the guys won’t become major league players or come close to having the success that Blanton has.

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  74. Boston Phan, you’re certainly correct to say that a lot of talented kids struggle early. All I’m saying is that Hewitt is off to a horrendous start and I’m asking if any #1 pick has ever gotten off to a worse one.
    Considering your examples and extrapolating the results to Hewitt’s K rate, Golson would have had 86 K’s, not 54. Beckham would have 83, not 43. Skipworth would have 75, not 46. Kelly would have 46, not 34. The K rates are:

    Hewitt: 47%
    Golson: 29%
    Beckham: 24%
    Skipworth: 29%
    Kelly: 35%

    I’ve been rooting for this team since 1949 and, believe me, the guys doing the scouting now are much, much better than they were during the fifties. But I fear they’ve made a mistake with Hewitt. I hope and pray I’m wrong.

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  75. I don’t want a huge argument here but the Blanton deal was a good one. We DID overpay…you always overpay in mid-season deals. The key difference between the Blanton and Harden deals are two-fold. 1. Blanton isn;’t a rental, he’s here for a while. 2. Harden is a HUGE injury risk and the Cubs have gotten lucky so far that he’s somehow stayed healthy. He has never had a season in which he stayed off the DL even this year. The Cubs gambled big time on that deal..

    Blanton has done his job since coming over…he’s been a very solid #3 guy in this rotation. Yes, we might miss Cardenas and Outman in a couple years but that’s the price for a mid-season deal in baseball. Just like the Brewers will miss Matt LaPorta etc etc. Its not Blanton’s fault the offense has stuggled. He’s done his job.

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  76. The difference is in the brewers case. They will get two draft choice for cc. and they draft well.So they will replace La Porta with those two high draft choices. In the phillies case how long will it take to replace two good prospect. And if blanton is your #3 Then you rotation is in trouble.

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  77. stop talking about the blanton deal. seriously it’s really beating a dead horse at this point. it’s done those guys are gone, he’s pitched well for the phillies. case closed, i think everyone on here is sick of it.

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  79. Carrasco has finished his AAA season last night with some interesting numbers. I, for the life of me, can not understand why he was so ineffective at AA where his ERA was 4.32 this season and 4.86 last season compared to 1.72 at AAA in his 6 starts to end the season winning raves from everyone who saw him pitch there.
    With those kind of AAA numbers he has to be given a shot at the rotation next year: Hamels, Myers, Carrasco, Blanton, Happ/Kendrick.

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  80. Trust me I think a lot of people including James would have my back on the fact that the Blanton deal has been beaten to death.

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  81. anyone who thinks Blanton is another Eaton either:

    A) hasn’t watched Eaton pitch for us at all.
    B) hasn’t watched Blanton pitch for us at all.
    C) is just an idiot.
    D) all of the above.

    Eaton 5.80 era for us, 7.09 era in the minors.

    Blanton 3.92 era for us, outpitched Rich Harden in his most recent start.

    nuff said.

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  82. i am a bad General Manager.there was no reason to acquire matt stairs.  there was no reason to acquire joe blanton.  these are the moves of an inept, overyhyped, on the move GM.  i was good in toronto and seattle, but not here.  i signed adam eaton.  i traded gio gonzalez, adrian cardenas, josh outman very very recntly.  and those are the names i can drop off the top of my head.For all of u who love defending joe blanton… consider my acquisition of him.  “average” joe blanton is just what my should-be nickname suggests..average.  this is yet another case of everyone LIVING for durability rather than ability.  he is a pitcher that doesnt get a lot of Ks, has let up 6 homers in 8 games for the phillies, and will probably get resigned for absolutely ridiculous amounts of money.welllllll….thats just great.  im pat gillick and im out after this year retiring to florida.this also shows the widespread misunderstanding and misuse of philadelphia prospoects.  there is a stigma upheld thruout the universe that our farm is GARBAGE.  false.  carlos carrasco, nuff said.  why do we need to trade for joe blanton when were clearly doing nothing this year.  call him.  get his feet wet.  then next year u have hamels, myers, and carrasco as ur top 3 starters.  all of these moves for “veterans” and other slop is just delaying the progress of our younger players in the minors.  i would understand if for some reason today or next, everyone on our offense reverted back to their top forms.  not going to happen.  this year is done.  the only logical conclusion is build for the future.  why keep adding people like eaton, blanton, and other trash when u have solid prospoects that could put up equivalent, if not much better stats for 1/8 if not less of a price.  all the while building for the future.  its doesnt make any sense.  i would understand a trade for RICH HARDEN or CC SABATHIA.  good god the cubs got harden for nothing.  the brews gave up laporta, but as evidenced, CC is worth it. my frustration and anger with this management is mounting and mounting.  i am happy that they even promoted carrasco to AAA, where he is dominating.  they have avanced their players a little bit.  but come on.  they held back utley.  they held back howard.  they held back victorino.  this is just an attempt to handcuff these players into their older years because they can control them thruout arbitration.  then they have them thruout their prime so they can delay any sort of large payment.i am afraid that ruben amaro or whomever takes over is going to do the same stupid moves as gillick.  we need new management, new ownership, and a new season to start.maybe eddie “the shot” stefanski knows some baseball.  even if he doesnt, he could do a better job. from this point on i just hope some of our hitters regain some semblance of their form.  our starting pitching actually hasnt been that bad, nor has our bullpen.  but the bullpen of late has been faltering.  i say bring up carrasco.yes i have given up on this season largely in part to the excitement for the sixers.  but i also believe that this team, even if they made playoffs like the misery of last years appearance post making the playoff euphoria, will make no noise.  players like carrasco, marson, golson should all be given shots.  and players like knapp, collier, dominic brown, darnaud will be here in the year 2050.

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  83. yes 3 prospect were given up, but its DEPTH at spots that were blocked and had other players.

    outman – seriously blanton/happ/kendrick/carrascco around, outman will not be missed. if he was a top prospect in the system why switch him to reliever

    cardenas maybe be good, but he’s showing no power. the next chase utley lol. the real utley was blocking him. jason donald emergence made cardenas expendable. he cant play SS even though A’s are experimenting him there. you could argue maybe cardenas couldve been the future 3b but thats several yrs away, the phillies are in win now mode.

    spencer is filler, wont be missed. he’s raking in an offensive league. if he ever makes the majors he’ll be in his mid 20’s. best case scenario he ends up like a poor man’s jason werth type

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  84. “matt stairs = jeremy giambi”

    I guess you’re trying to be sarcastic here Tom, but I would love it if Stairs were another Jeremy Giambi.

    The guy raked for a 244/435/538 line, a 162 OPS+ in his short stint with the Phils.

    ‘Blanton 3.92 era for us, outpitched Rich Harden in his most recent start.

    nuff said.’

    I’d love to continue this argument, but this isn’t really the place for it. Suffice it to say however, that yesterday’s game cannot be the be-all and end-all for determining the relative value of the trades. There has been, my friend, not nearly enough said to make a judgement.

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  85. I don’t know how good outman is but you are right.If any player is being blocked by happ,blanton,kendrick,then he should be traded because if he can’t beat out those names . He stinks and should be release.

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  86. ‘cardenas maybe be good, but he’s showing no power.’

    Okay, this is a former Phils prospect, so it’s fair game.

    To be quick: are you kidding me! He slugged 441 at Clearwater this year at age 20. For a second baseman.

    He slugged 442 at age 18 in 154 ABs.

    And I love this line: “he cant play SS even though A’s are experimenting him there. ”

    Why not? So one of the most respected front offices in baseball thinks he can play there, but you don’t. Until I see him with my own eyes, I’m gonna trust the A’s on this.

    And finally, he’s not blocked. In two or three years, Howard (uh, the last guy who was ‘blocked’) will not be here, and Utley could be switched to 1B. Or he could play 3B. Or he could play SS if Rollins leaves. He’s so young that to talk about being blocked is ridiculous – you have no idea what the team will look like in four years.

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  87. “win now mode.” thats the worst kind of mode when ur team is clearly not going to do anything in the playoffs, that is IF they make it.

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  88. Dave that’s not the worst kind of mode when you build around guys approaching 30. You probably only have 2-3 more years with Utley Howard and Rollins in their primes so why not have the win now attitude.

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  89. ok Jon, like false. the phillies version of win now is bad. milwaukee got CC, cubs got harden, and we got…Joe Blanton?

    our win now mentality doesnt produce results because we dont pull the trigger on a guy who would be a rental or we’d have to pay after the season.

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  90. Okay since I lost the player to be named later contest. My guess for call ups is Donald, Happ, Golson,Swindle,Jaramillo,Watson,Eaton

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  91. Look, win-now mode is the mode this team SHOULD be in. All of the key players except for Hamels are approaching 30 or are already there. Our farm system, despite what many here think, is not particularly deep, and some of the best players are at the young levels (position guys at least). The Blanton deal was stupid and we overpaid, no doubt. But if anyone is gonna complain about giving up Fabio Castro for anything that could be helpful, thats ridiculous. If Stairs does anything to help this team make the playoffs, he’s worth giving up a guy who has had multiple chances to show something at the big league level and has failed every time. If he turns out to be a talented pitcher for Toronto, good for them, but holding onto him just in case that happens here is a mistake.

    I understand that this is a prospects site, not a site about the big league team, but presumably if you’re here, you’re a Phillies fan, which means you want the Phillies to do well. So why do I get the impression some people (and only some) would rather see the Lakewood squad win their league title than see the Phillies win in the playoffs? The point of having prospects is so the Major League team is eventually good. The Major League team is good NOW, so we should act like it and try and capitalize and win a World Series (the only objective the franchise should have), while being smart about and not jeopardizing a long-term future.

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  92. Not sure how a thread about trading Castro for Stairs turned into another rehash of the Blanton deal but as to the merits of this deal, giving up Castro is fine for getting an experienced LH bench player with some power for the stretch run…

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  93. As for Cardenas, he’s slugged at under a .330 clip with Oakland since the deal (4 doubles and 1 hr in 150 at-bats) so I would say he has shown limited power.

    Granted it is a small sample size and includes a jump in levels but based on what he has done so far in Oakland he appears to be David Eckstein..

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  94. can someone tell me about what kind of prospect Justin De Fratus is. Is his stuff that of a starter or reliever. Is he a one or five as a starter or org. filler.

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  97. If you’re talking HR power, I agree but a younger player with power potential should be producing doubles, especially someone with good speed like Cardenas.

    5 XBHs in 150 at-bats shows that he isn’t hitting the ball with any authority.

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  98. Just curious I was wondering if someone could tell me when the phillies usually announce their september callups. I’m guessing it should be tomorrow right?

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  99. Don’t think they do any type of official announcment other than the standard transaction report. Expect it will happen sometime on Monday before their 3:00 game with Washington.

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  100. I think one important factor that we strayed awy from with this topic is how baren our lefty prospect situation is.

    Happ has basically graduated out of the prospect field.
    Savery and Bastardo are so iffy and they are our top lefty prospects. After that who do we have? Diekman? Brauer? German? Smith…haha…Fike? Arroyo?

    I mean its pretty barren. We have righties, catchers, and OFs but lefties are looking harder to come by.

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  101. “5 XBHs in 150 at-bats shows that he isn’t hitting the ball with any authority.”

    He is twenty, in a new organization, at a new level. Why are you ignoring the rest of his career, which clearly shows he can hit for some pop?

    You’re simply ignoring age relative to level and the over 700 career ABs before he went to Oakland.

    “I agree but a younger player with power potential should be producing doubles”

    Was 30 doubles at age 19 not enough for you? Leading his team in doubles at age 19 (one year ago!), is not enough.

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  103. I will be very surprised if Cardenas does not increase his SLG over the next 4-6 years and become a .290+ AVG, 15-25 HR, .800+ OPS guy. He is a guy focusing on a fundamental, disciplined, line drive approach and will learn when to turn on a ball instictively. I see him as a Kevin Youkilis type.

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  104. the only issue I have with the Blanton trade is for what the Phillies gave up, they should have been able to make a major run at Harden. The Cubs gave up absolutely nothing for him…Murton blows and Gallager hasn’t done much for them either.

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  105. They didn’t want to make a major run at Harden because of the injury risk…this is a FO that just got burned by the Garcia deal…do you really see them rolling the dice again on an oft-injured guy? They went with cost certainty and an innings eater.

    We will probably miss Cardenas in a couple years but we had to make a move considering how weak the pitching staff was at that time.

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  106. Just in case any one didn’t see it yet, Phillies called up Adam Eaton, J.A. Happ, Lou Marson, and Greg Golson today which I assume is to make them eligible for the playoffs. Marson is the real surprise because it really sounded like Gillick practically gave the spot to Jarramillo. Congrats to Golson and Marson on making it to the bigs.

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  107. Matt Stair – Ehh Okay ! Fabio Castro is no big loss, but 40 yrs old? I hope that they use him as a pinch hitter only! Seriously they pinch run for Pat Burrell and he is a hell of a lot younger than Stairs . . . . .

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  108. Padriac,

    I’m not dismissing Cardenas previous numbers but his power #’s at every level aren’t overly impressive. He has never slugged over .420 at any level in a full season.

    I have always liked Cardenas as a prospect but the comparisons to Utley were never realistic. He is much more of a contact, on-base guy than a run producer.

    Putting the ball in play and getting on base are valuable tools and is probably why an organization that subscribes to the Sabermetric philosphy was so high on him..

    David Eckstein has had a good career, including a couple of all-star game appearances, so that comparison isn’t an insult..

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  111. I still don’t know about the blanton deal, I mean if they do something really special in the next 7-10 games then the trade is tolerable.

    The Stairs trade was fantastic.

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