Its a mad world. The Rangers have DFA’ed former Phillies prospect Greg Golson to clear space on their 40 man roster.
The club needed to clear a spot on the 40-man roster in order to make room for the newly-signed Khalil Greene. Golson, 24, appeared in one game with the Rangers last season, but spent the majority of the season with Triple-A Oklahoma City, batting .258/.299/.344 with two home runs, 40 RBI and 20 stolen bases. The former first-round pick is a tremendous athlete, but catching on as a fifth outfielder in the majors is probably the best-case scenario for him.
This prompted me to go back to last November, when the deal was made, and see what I said.
So while he may have been useful as a defensive replacement/pinch runner, Mayberry offers similar upside, but as a position player in a platoon in left field, with real usable power, and perhaps even more down the line.
Bottom line, I think Rube is 1 for 1, and I’m pretty happy about this deal. Best of luck to Greg Golson, and welcome aboard John Mayberry.
Sounds about right. Would be kind of funny if the Phillies put in a claim on him and bring him back.
Phuture Phillies 
Honestly, I don’t think Mayberry is terribly far from the DFA pile himself.
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They can bring Golson in, promote him to the big leagues, put him on the bench and, there, he can join the other misfit toys (sorry, I couldn’t help myself).
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They have room on their 40 man, but as I said in the last thread I bet Ed Wade is just licking his lips right now.
With the trade of Taylor Mayberry is far from the scrap heap. Whose playing left if Ibanez’s groin flares up again? Tyson Gillies? Until some of OF depth in the minors works it way up to being close to ML ready there will be a use for Mayberry.
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I agree that Mayberry is far from a scrap heap player. Of the players that could end up being the biggest surprises of the year, I put him pretty high on the list and he’s a hell of lot better player than Greg Golson, that’s for sure. I would love to see Mayberry have a year where he dominates at AAA and is brought up to the majors for a continued audition. I know he’s not truly young anymore, but, given his raw abilities, could be a bit of a late bloomer. The talent is there; it’s just a matter of honing it and, of course, shortening that swing.
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I hope it winds up working out for Greg, but he went backwards again last year, with the walks falling to 6.0% and the ISO plummeting to .085. Perhaps that was due to an increased focus on contact — he did manage to cut the K’s down to 24.9% — but the end result (.258/.299/.344) wasn’t pretty, especially in the hitter-friendly PCL.
I think RodeoJones is right in guessing that Wade scoops him up (though I’ll admit I don’t know what the Astros’ 40-man situation looks like offhand). Whatever the case, this is by no means a death knell for Greg’s career, but I think it really drives home the point that any major league utility he ultimately provides will be in the form of pinch runner and defensive replacement.
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Mayberry will see plenty of action in spring training–hopefully Charlie can get through to him. At 750k Greene would have been a better utility man than we signed although Philadelphia is not the easiest place to play for a man suffering social anxiety disorder.
Golson would be a nice signing for our independent league team here in York.
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I think Ben Francisco was acquired to play left field and be a stop gap fourth outfielder for the next two years, John Mayberry will never be a major factor with the big club, other than spot starts. Dom Brown will be up with the big club, but probably not before 2011. The importance of outfield prospects will become clear in the next few weeks when we learn of Victorino’s short and long term status, and the ultimate market rate of Jayson Werth. Gillies should not factor in until 2011 at the earliest, and Gose should not be a factor until 2012. The Phillies control Victorino until after the 2011 season…so unless he is signed and traded the 2011 outfield is probably Ibanez(final year), Victorino(final year) and Brown(rookie) with two 1st rd picks for Werth or Ibanez, werth(new deal), and brown followed by a 2012 open competition for CF between one of our 6-7 stud OF Prospects. I just hope a few pan out. In summation, who cares about Golson or Mayberry
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I was a fan of Golson but there’s no room for him here. Don’t forget, we signed DeWayne Wise to play center if Victorino were to go down with a long-term injury.
Quinton Berry might have surpassed him also.
He’ll catch on with someone.
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Golson who? hell lets bring back Chad Mcconnell and reggie taylor while we are at it.
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Francisco is the 4th/fill-in OF. Mayberry is in a tough spot. He is probably not a better hitter than Francisco but could possible provide 5th OF value against lefties on some team.
Phillies do not need Mayberry (he certainly is not going to replace Werth) but he has almost zero trade value. Maybe he is just insurance next year if Brown cannot hit lefties and Francisco needs to play CF.
I am glad someone mentioned Quinton Berry. He is another guy I like as a 5th OF. Can play defense and pinch run. He is likely a marginal hitter. That is a useful player to shuttle up and down for the next 3 years. I wanted him for the 2009 playoffs just as a pinch runner (over both Cairo AND Bruntlett). Golson could serve the same purpose somewhere.
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S Vic for 3 years and 22 million, Dom Brown has another year on the farm at least
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In the unlikely event Ibanez gives a substandard performance next season, Ben Francisco is the fill-in. Mayberry could be then the reserve OF, who could pinch hit against LHP’s , pinch run and fill in defensively in the OF as needed. Now that Victorino has signed on for the next 3 years, future time for Mayberry and/or the signing of Golson looks dim. Don’t see much opportunity for Golson as a Philly minor leaguer either. In the event they don’t start off with Domonic Brown after Spring Training, he should arrive at some time in the season, Till thien , it looks like they hold the fort with Berry and among the minor league vets; Dewayne Wise, Chris Duffy, Rich Thompson, and Mike Spidale, in addition to Mayberry of course. I would have slid Mayberry to 1B at AAA, but they went and brought Andy Tracy back, in addition to 3 other old war horses to try out there.
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Ahhh, now hearing that name does bring back some memories…. I kind of feel like Hewitt is the new Golson on these boards. At any rate, I hope Golson lands on his feet, and I still hold out some sliver of hope for Hewitt turning into a ‘Pat the Bat’ type hitter, but with great field play.
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Off-topic but I also like what they have in Q. Berry. He might just be a fifth OF but there is value in producing your own guy for that job rather then trying to sign one as a FA.
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I get that some might want to keep Mayberry around because of his power, but I don’t see him as a useful player to the Phils at all. He’s clearly not as good as Francisco so the 4th OF spot is not an option. His only value is power and he can’t make enough contanct for it to count, and at his age he’s not likely to get better. So basically both teams took a shot with the trade and it worked out for neither.
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Frank Robinson must be saddened and disappointed that he won’t be able to see the next Frank Robinson.
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I see Mayberry as a better 5th OF than Stairs.
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I don’t. Stairs’ OBP last season was .357. Mayberry’s BEST OBP in the minors was .358, in the Midwest League. Stairs had a tremendous ability to work the count and wait on a pitch that Mayberry simply does not possess. Stairs never gave away an at bat flailing at bad pitches, a trait Jayson Werth also possesses. I highly value hitters like that.
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But, Stairs can’t run the bases or play anywhere in the field competently.
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I wonder if we will be reading the same thing about Anthony Hewitt in a few years
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The points about Matt Stairs are well taken. Not because Matt Stairs has anything left in the tank (I think he’s done), but because it shows the value of having a true slugging pinch hitter on the bench to work the count, draw walks and, on occasion, hit the living daylights out of the ball. The only guys I can think of who could come off the bench now and hit like that are Sheffield and Thome and I wouldn’t be sad to see either guy start the year with our team.
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Yankees just aquired Golson from the Rangers for infielder Mitch Hilligoss and cash considerations.
That didn’t take long did it.
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Just had a thought on that Yankee trade for Golson. Now that they signed Randy Winn for 2 million to be LF. Winn is a Switch Hitter but much better as a LH Hitter, I see Gardner moving to back up his fellow LH Hitter in Granderson in CF, and the Switch Hitter Swisher in RF. So maybe the 5th OF will be somebody they can platoon with Winn in LF, and maybe it comes down to Golson or the guy they took in the Rule 5 draft , Jamie Hoffman. I don’t think I am leaving any important Yankee OF possibilities for next season out. Maybe Golson in majors next season.
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I’d be very surprised if Golson won out over Hoffman, given that the Yankees would have to return Hoffman while they can let Golson stay in the minors. Besides, Golson’s primary value right now is more or less in Brett Gardner’s role, a backup center fielder and pinch runner.
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