The Mesa Solar Sox continued very hot, winning all 4 games since the last update, with their bats continuing very hot. Phillies prospects continue making large contributions to the teams success. Jeremy Slayden played in 3 of the 4 games starting twice in RF and once in LF. He went a combined 5-13, with 3 runs, 4 doubles, and 4 RBI’s. He is hitting .279 in the Fall League with a .752 OPS. An area that Slayden can improve his his batting eye, as he has only one walk in 61 at bats. Quintin Berry continued very hot starting 3 of the 4 games in CF. He went 6-13, with a run, and his 5th stolen base. He is hitting a lofty .367. Tuffy Goosewich caught last Wednesdays game (starter was Andrew Carpenter) and went 1-3 with an RBI, is his 2nd game of the fall. Jason Donald saw action as the DH in Thursdays win, and played short in the game Friday. Donald was 2-6 with 2 runs, and a double in the 2 games. Donald is hitting .423 with a .492 on base percentage and has committed only two errors, going from position to postion in the field.
Andrew Carpenter started to turn himself around on Wednesday, going 5 scoreless innings. He gave up 3 hits, didnt walk a batter and struck out two in his five every effective innings. He ERA now stands at 4.50 in the Fall, and his WHIP is 1.29. Pat Overholt, Sergio Escalona, and Tyson Brummett each added a scoreless inning over the last several days.
Phuture Phillies 
Why Amaro over Arbuckle, Arbuckle will most likely leave. is that why they brought in the rays scouting guru,in the off season.
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Just another ho hum day of work for Jason Donald
4-4, 2 Doubles, Home Run, 4 RBI’s while playing 2B today. Has an error.
Oh btw it’s only the 5th inning
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who knows maybe arbuckle didn’t want the g.m. job. donald is a beast i think he is getting bruntlet’s job.
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I’d say Arbuckle did want the job. He informed the Phillies he will be leaving shortly.
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Just when everything is lined up someone has to kick the blocks over. I heard interviews with Amaro and Arbuckle
Amaro was dripping with arrogance, a real executive creep
full of himself. Arbuckle was down to earth and pleasant
People tend to hire others like themselves. I truely hope i am wrong
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Probably the first to go will be Dave Huppert they already screwed him by sticking him with the Iron nobodies
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TO anyone who believes in free agent the 2007 list
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/features/freeagents?type=
dollars&season=2007
Lohse was great Kim ok but most starter were incredibly
bad
e.g. Fogg gave up 17 run in his first three games over 11 inning and still got 14 starts he didnt deserve. and he is far from alone If CC is a bust he will get maybe 3 starts.
Free agency is a trap ask the Marniners (silva)
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Nowheels – How would you know what was said in the interview room?
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Hey guys, lets stay on topic…
Donald continues to scorch, Q looks good and it’s nice to see Drew do something. His ceiling might be back to #5 starter.
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Excuse me, Rodeo Jones the G.M. Is one of the most important topic that we have on this blog. It relates to the draft and how its done. how money is spent and tradeing of prospect all things this blog is about. Arbuckle got screw for his loyalty. My opinion is that he isn’t a yes man like wade and Amaro.
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Matt: please interviews on the radio!!!!
Everyone improved Post-Reading. Maybe Amaro will see
the light and put Huppert there . He loses very few pitchers to injury and wins
Also they need to improve the AAA team it is only fair .Are they afraid the Ironpigs will take away attendence that shouldnt be a problem next year.
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Slayden must be really pressing to get noticed. This 18K’s/1BB is way out of character.
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harry Says:
November 1, 2008 at 11:58 pm
who knows maybe arbuckle didn’t want the g.m. job. donald is a beast i think he is getting bruntlet’s job.
I hope your wrong about this. I think his ceiling is way to high to stifle his growth by making him a part time player at the Major league level. Rollins and Utley will probably (if healthy) start over 140 games each next year leaving very little playing time for Donald. He needs time at 3B where our biggest infield weakness is. Hopefully by the All-Star break Feliz becomes expendable.
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nowheels please – “People tend to hire others like themselves. I truly hope i am wrong”
How can you consider Montgomery an arrogant executive creep? He’s seems like one of the nicest people in Sports. Amaro is a Phillies guy and I never got that vibe from him when he’s been on DNL or on the radio. He doesn’t really say much, but I think that’s because he wants to be smart about things that aren’t resolved.
He’s been with the club for a long time. The good and the bad. Hopefully he’s figured out the difference and takes the good from both Gillick and Wade.
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How does a strong performance in a prospect-heavy development league accelerate or improve the prospects for a player like Quentin Berry?
Here’s a 22-year old with more or less one promising single-A season. Does a strong outing in AFL start raising him up people’s prospect lists and (more importantly) pique the organization’s interest in trying to see if he can be brought along faster, or does it mean little more than a continuation of the tentative promise carried over from that single-A season?
I assume that, either way, it also improves his potential trade value at least somewhat…
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Donald is something if he could only find a position to play . Committed his third error last night. This time playing second. But how can you argue with a guy hitting .800 and a 2.246 OPS against lefthanded pitching so far in the AFL. Save that stat. Doubt we will ever see numbers like that again on any player’s stat screen. Maybe he can play leftfield and platoon him with Jenkings there in the Show.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081102&content_id=3660329&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
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Sure MO and Dave was hired by that nice grandfatherly
Bill Giles who refused to help Chris Short when he went into a coma. A nice suit doesnt make a man or a smiling face either
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Let’s just put Donald at 3B next season. He can’t do any worse at the plate than Feliz. Pedro’s defense is overrated anyways…
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No Wheels wtf are you talking about?
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He is talking about the biggest creep in baseball Bill Giles . He smiles to your face then stabs you in the back. There is no freedom of the press with the phillies if you don’t agree with them. They will try to take away any perts or your press passes if possible. Ask Howard Eskin or conlin and some others who they tried to bar. they turn there back on short when he got sick.
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Chris Short was good pitcher(20 game winner) in the day. He was a fan favorite
a gentle,and happy man. In the course of time we was struck down and into a coma . He never woke. Art Mahaffey(1964)
and others tried to get help from the Phillies for the enormous
medical bills and given a cold shoulder. Not even a Chris Short night What NICE person does that.
Giles begot Montgomery who begot Wade
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Forgive me if i’m the 10,000th person to ask this, but is Donald getting any time at 3b? He looks like a beast and it’s hard not to have dreams of him and marson at the bottom of the lineup.
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Sam most of the people on this blog. think he is a utility player. Most of the post have him as another buntlett. Without ever giving him a chance, they have tag him.
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Utley started off as a part-time player. Nothing wrong with breaking into a bigs in a limited role.
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Sam: Marson and Donald at bottom of the lienup? That would be awesome. They might wind up being so good that others may have to rotate there when they are hot. Maybe not first year, but eventually. Donald gives them a third candidate for the #2 slot. Marson could hit #2 or #3 one day.
But at 7 and 8, the potential offensive difference between them and Feliz/Ruiz is chilling.
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Don’t really care what most people think. Donald and Marson at the bottom of the lineup–two fundamentally sound hitters–would make Phils a step above their offensive potential this year. That is an amazing thought–those guys at #7/8. They will both rake and Donald will handle 3B fine. A better career than a healthy David Bell, IMO, but not a superstar. He can hold that down until we develop a star, in my book.
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Excuse me Rocky, this is a thread on the fall league, so let’s talk about the fall league. I’m sure there will be a thread on the GM tomorrow.
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Werth also started off a the RH part of a platoon. If Donald proves he can play at the major league level he will get the opportunity to play.
Until that happens, Donald fits on this team as a utility player..
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I don’t think the phillies will fit him in simply as a utility player. I think he would be in the minors then to play every day.
I guess the minimum role he would be in is half of a platoon, but Feliz already has the splits against LHP so I don’t know what to do.
But look at my dream…
Rollins
Werth (concession to chollie, illogical but we won a WS)
Utley
Howard
OF—slugging RHB hopefully
Vic
Marson
Donald
Pitcher
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Sam how about a speedy outfielder with a little power
McCouth in center,Vic in right,and Werth in left
Nate batting 1
Vic 2
Rollins 3
I believe the change would challenge Rollins
with Utley you have speed and Power in the first four
Plus Pittsburgh doesnt have a clue and can be a good trading partner
Workin the OB guys Marson and Donald and sit back
and wait for the leaves to change
p.s We need a DH type to match Stairs
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John Sickels is (relative to the philly fanbase) low on Lou Marson over on minorleagueball.com, and a good number of commenters are behind him. The prevailing arguments against seem to be a combination of (i) fluky BABIP, (ii) low and decreasing ISO (and no hopes for future power), and (iii) low power endangering future walk rates as pitchers won’t feel a need to nibble with him. Would be very curious to hear James’ responses as he’s a known Marson fan (and my favorite phils minor league analyst, of course!). If you have time James, it would be great to read. Thanks for the site!
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Marson can’t hit for power, yet he homered in his first major league start. Although that could be a fluke, I doubt Sickels is aware of this. I doubt Marson will ever be a slugger, but as a big guy who sees the ball well, Lou should eventually hit 15-20.
With Golson likely to make the team in 09, those of you calling for a “speedy outfielder with a little power” better watch what you wish for.
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Berry or Golson?????
Berry seems a better fit for this team if he keeps improving
any thoughts????
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From AFL notebook
MARSON ON THE WAY?: Phillies C Lou Marson was supposed to be on the AFL roster but has yet to arrive. He stayed with Philadelphia for its entire championship run as an extra catcher in case of injury
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Marson and Donald are on base machines compared to their counterparts…the days of the 90 rbi season for rollins might not be behind him
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In my opinion, Donald is being used as he is because the Phils are trying to see if that job would suit him and he’s responding great obviously. Bruntlett is up for arbitration and they shouldn’t offer it. I think Donald is a clear upgrade and can get a start or two every week. Utley needs to rest more because he wears down every year. I also Marson up sharing the job with Ruiz. By the way, Marson is not a big guy for those of you who haven’t seen him but I think he can be a terrific major league catcher. I’m worried however that Ruben might trade him for a right handed hitting outfielder. With D’Arnaud hopefully coming in a few more years and his better defensive ability combined with Marson never having higher value than right now, it makes some sense but I would be really disappointed to see Marson go somewhere else. To the comment “Golson is likely to make the team in 2009”, I would argue that Charlie keeping Taguchi over him for the playoffs told you that they don’t think much of Golson’s bat which many here would agree with. He can’t hit in the major leagues yet and won’t be on the team in 09. As for Amarro, I’ve met him and I thought he seemed like a pretty sharp guy who spoke fluent spanish which has to help nowadays.
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I continue to be annoyed by the constant knock on Marson about his lack of power. Joe Mauer only hit 9 hr is 2008 (just 44 total XBH), Russell Martin had 13 (38 XBH), and D. Navarro had 7 (34 XBH) for the Rays.
If Marson can .280 with 5-10 hr and 20-30 2b, and post a .360-.380 OBP his offensive production would be just fine.
Those may not be All-Star caliber #’s but would be an improvement over what most teams get from the catching position.
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marson is listed at 6’1″ 195. i guess he was just standing next to a shortstop or something.
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JD is at it again 1for1 hr and a walk already
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Looks like Donald’s moniker will soon be “the bomber”. He hit 14 homers in 92 games at AA, 1 in 8 games in the Olympics and just hit his 3rd in his 17th game in which he had a plate appearance in the AFL. Not bad this year, 18 bombs in 117 games so far.
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I heard Amaro do a radio interview today. He was adamant about giving Marson a chance to be the starting catcher next year. At the least he would hope for a Ruiz/Marson platoon, but he seemed like a truebeliever of Marson, and I got the idea he wants to see him as the starter next year.
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Kyle Drabek threw another good game Sunday, his first start. In all his games, he pitched great and the runs he gave up were right at the end, most likely when tiring. But the most important thing I’m seeing is his strikeouts, now more than 1 per IP. I hope this is a sign of things to come and yhat he’s healthy for the first time since high school. A lot of ‘caught looking’ Ks, so I imagine he’s throwing his curve.
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Jason Kendall doesnt hit for power either and he’s a pretty decent catcher. Just sayin’.
Donald will be on this team next year in some role.
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CC
Oct 30 1.80 0 5.0 4 1 1 4
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