General Discussion – Week of 7-2-2012

Weekly Discussion

First half is over.  Second half would have to be as good as the first half was bad to get to .500.  And I wasn’t even a math major.

83 thoughts on “General Discussion – Week of 7-2-2012”

  1. If any trades do go down, I bet it will be within 10 days of the trade deadline. FO will try and wait out to see how things change (if at all) with RyHo and Doc back. Also gives them time to 1) try yet again to extend Hamels to a reasonable contract and 2) see if a bidding war develops. Could backfire though if one of Hamels main suiters gets Greinke first (similar to when the phils got sick of the Jays demands in 09′ and just went with Cliff).

    One things for sure: stuff will happen. We will debate about it beforehand, and complain / praise it afterwards.

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  2. This falls almost totally on Amaro’s shoulders. He built this team. And guessing by the last week or with Charlie being more outspoken than usual, he thinks this is going to fall on him when that’s not the case. Sure he does some questionable in-game moves, but he didn’t bring Chad Qualls into be the 8th-inning guy when he had never been one for contender. He wasn’t the one who left the Phillies with little choice but to make a kid (Galvis) who had never played second base in his life play second base because Utley was hurt again. How they could have thought Utley would be ready to play is beyond me. How could they not know he was hurt? How could he not tell them earlier? Their games anymore are almost unwatchable. There is no enjoyment. If they get a lead you’re worried about the other team rallying. If they get down you know they hardly ever fight back and when they do they seem to always come up just short. Or they get back in the game and the bullpen comes in and it all blows up. I’ve been a Phillies fan since the mid 80s. I’ve seen awful, awful teams. I’ve never seen one like this though. One with no heart. No fight. No will. Where are the guys like Rollins, Victorino and Hamels stepping up and getting this thing on track. I can’t say back on track because it never was on track to begin with. Long post. Could be longer. That kind of season.

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    1. Couldnt agree more.. this team in full free-fall mode, and I dont see the fight. Too many guys are fat and happy, when I see Victorino laughing in the dugout in the 9th inning of yet another pathetic loss to a division foe it makes smoke come out of my ears. Watching Rollins trot to 1st every time he grounds out.. of course he also loves popping up that first pitch. Nice job RAJ, spend some more money for nothing. At this point I say trade em all: hamels, vic, pence, polanco… lets get some young blood in here, hungry young guys with compete levels that actually make you want to watch them play.

      oh, and of course i’d try to trade rollins and lee but i know they arent going anywhere with those contracts..

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    2. He sacrificed some strength in the long run to go all in 2008-2011. I had hoped the run would continue through this year at least but obviously it hasn’t. Now we’re dealing with the aftereffects, and while it’s not fun, I can’t fault gutting the farm to get guys like Lee and Halladay to try to win another World Series the last few years while the core of the team was at the end of its prime. The only two moves I really fault Amaro for are the Pence trade, which was an overpay in terms of prospects for a pretty expensive guy who is good but not great, and the Howard extension, which was inked too early for far too much money.

      Utley got old really fast but I don’t know that anyone could have expected it, and in any event Utley was so good for the first few years of his deal that even if the last few years are bad it was worth it. He’s got a spotty record signing various relief pitchers but those deals tend to be short and inexpensive, not the kind of things that cripple a team’s flexibility in the long run.

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      1. I’ve said it a boatload of times. Bourn, not Pence, should have been their target. Would have cost a lot less prospect wise. Reading Santana’s stats makes me cringe.

        You also have to throw in the iffy return from the Lee trade, which later forced them to deal for Oswalt as well.

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    3. The most disappointing player for me is Victorino. Rollins has always been streaky and was on a good little streak, but Victorino has struggled all year. I don’t know what his average is with RISP, but it can’t be good. Particularly with less than 2 outs. It feels like late in the game he can’t even put the ball in play. The rest of them, I kind of expected the kind of performance they’ve turned in. I expected Polanco to have decent average with little production, Wiggington to have some pop but lots of strikeouts and not a great average. Got what I expected out of Galvis, Sloppy Joe, and Kendrick. The bullpen and Cliff Lee have been worse. I think the Phillies were/are in a tough situation. With what they were looking to spend, bringing in a 1st and 2nd base replacement for part of the season seems to hurt the long term outlook.
      I want the Phillies to do everything they can do to work for long term sustainability. I’m alright if they don’t win the world series and I’d be disappointed if they make the playoffs, but they need to figure out how to keep the window open. I’d rather them call it a lost year and figure out how to build the team next year than ship out prospects to put a bandaid on teh team. Slowly integrate younger players. I don’t want to be like the Marlins of a few years back. Win the world series and then suck for 8 years.

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    4. Joe, the last two playoff seasons Charlie Manuel has been totally out managed despite having the superior team. Charlie has great difficulty managing a team that does not have skilled power hitters and the players are not listening to him especially Pence, Rollins and Victorino. A more innovative manager would have found ways to produce runs and find spots where this relief corps could succeed. The relievers have been totally decimated this year due to injury especially our younger ones who were counted on to contribute. Charlie will not be fired but given a chance to leave gracefully for what he has done but he needs to change his approaches.

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      1. Couldn’t agree more on your points. I’m thinking more along the lines that this season can’t hang on Charlie, but you’re definitely right that he was outmanaged the past two postseasons. Having Tony LaRussa do it is acceptable, but Bruce Bochey. Yikes.

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  3. I THINK even with his season lee has good value, he has a proven track record, teams will pay for him. tha old change of scencary thing. rollins is rollins, the part that I blame amaro for most is he knew about howard and thought wigginston would fill in,that was huge mistake imo. cuddyear was the better choice for a team trying to defend a eastern title and win a world series, qualls was another bad decision, what did he do last year that made you think,he was a good pick up?and who in the world though mayberry was a good everyday player, he is 28 i believe, and still cant hit a breaking ball, looks terrible on off speed pitches, and this is the guy you though would lead you to a another pennant run.

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  4. As much as I hate the idea of trading a 28-year-old lefty entering his prime, I think the Phils can do so without gutting the big club. Trading Hamels, Victorino and Pierre should net a strong haul of prospects in return (including a long-term answer at third base, possibly one that rhymes with “Bolt”). That still leaves a rotation of Halladay, Lee, Worley with space for Kendrick, Cloyd, and a free agent to compete for the back end. It also opens up the outfield space for Brown — when he’s healthy — to play every day and prove once and for all whether he belongs.

    I try to sign Cole a few more times, make aggressive offers, and trade if he does not accept (depending on the right offer, of course). I use savings from Cole and Shane to resign Pence. My lineup next year:

    Rollins
    Utley
    Pence
    Howard
    Ruiz
    Brown
    Mayberry
    Galvis/3B stopgap

    It should be interesting to see what happens in the next month.

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    1. People still don’t get this. THE PHILLIES HAVE FINANCIAL RESOURCES – IT IS NO LONGER 1998. You do not need the savings from Cole and Shane to re-sign Pence. You can sign Pence and still go out and either get a big name free agent and lesser free agent or a couple of mid-level free agents. I expect that, if the Phillies do not sign Hamels, they will let Victorino go and sign a very big name free agent (not sure who that would be, but it almost doesn’t matter since they have several needs) and another notable free agent on a “pillow” contract (one or two year deal like the one signed by Beltre a few years ago, Beltran this year, or Edwin Jackson or Kuroki – there are always at least 3-4 players looking for that type of contract).

      And, by the way, although I could easily see the Phillies going with a mixture of Brown and Mayberry either at a corner or in centerfield, unless Mayberry players like Stan Musial the last few months of 2012 (highly unlikely) they will not go into 2013 with both of those guys slotted for a starting position. They will sign or acquire another outfielder – there is no doubt in my mind about that.

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      1. I agree these aren’t the old “small market payroll in a big market town” Phillies, but it’s pretty obvious there’s a ceiling to what they’re willing to spend. Otherwise, signability for Cole would not be an issue.

        Also, I agree that Mayberry is not a viable long-term solution at CF. Perhaps that comes from a trade, or a FA (Upton?), but I’m not going to try to guess who they’d sign for next year.

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        2. The issue with Cole Hamels is not, and has never been, immediate dollars. The issue is contract length. He is probably asking for 7 or 8 years and probably will get at least 6 and probably 7 if he hits the open market. My guess is that, if the Phils are negotiating, they are probably guaranteeing 5 years and want some type of buy-out in years 6 and or 7. The Phillies are rightfully scared about giving that type of contract to a pitcher who has not always been healthy and who, if he loses 2-3 MPH on his fastball will be an entirely different (i.e., less effective) pitcher. It is not about immediate dollars – it is about long term business risks. The problem is that there are not a lot of really good free agent pitchers available next year so, most likely, the money will have to go to a position player which, truth be told, is not really a bad thing, particularly if the team believes it has a keeper in Pettibone (he’s the guy I am eyeballing for a future middle of the rotation slot).

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          1. Agree with your thoughts. But why doesn’t anyone like Cloyd ? Is there something we don’t know about him ?

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            1. The thinking that he is too much of a soft tosser to be anything but a 5th starter or swing man. That said, he is earning himself a chance to fail or succeed at the big league level with his consistency at AAA.

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            1. Yeah, well, not everyone is Johan Santana, wno, by the way, is no longer the pitcher he once was and was injured for 2 years – are you sure you want to go with that comparison. In any event. Zito lost 3 miles per hour off his fastball and he was toast. Ditto for Scott Kazmir. Do you want to make that kind of bet with $150 million? I can understand the Phillies’ concerns.

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            2. Johan Santana is the most comparable pitcher to Cole Hamels. I’m just saying he could live without a 93 mph fastball because of his change up.

              Zito’s not a comparable to Cole Hamels other than the fact they throw left handed. I’d take bets that he wouldn’t lose that much velocity until the later stages of his contract, if he would at all.

              If Cole Hamels signed a 6 year deal, he’d be 35 at the end of it… just exiting his prime.

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            3. Cole Hamels tried to live last year for a few starts with an 89-90 MPH fastball – it was ugly, just as it was early in 2009 when his velocity was down. Santana is similar to Hamels in some ways but we forget just how dominant Santana was at his peak. I love Cole Hamels, but he has never sniffed the territory that Santana lived in those three or four years when he won 2 Cy Young awards and was otherwise considered the best pitcher in baseball (yup, how quickly we forget, most people considered him to be better than anyone, including Roy Halladay). I could easily see Cole Hamels losing a few MPH off his fastball by age 31 and being a shell of his former self at age 33 or 34. Giving Cole Hamels a 7 year contract while projecting him to reach performance levels he has never achieved is an enormous risk – I’m not sure I’d do it if I were the Phillies. It would be a very close call, but if it’s 7 guaranteed years, I probably let him finish the season and go on his merry way.

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            6. And then the league figured him out and he was in trouble, causing him to overhaul his game after 2009.

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        3. Don’t think that “signability” for Hamels is an issue but rather its a question of how many years does the contract cover. Also need to consider that it takes 2 to agree to a deal and Hamels appears to be interested in seeing just what other offers might be out there. This is Hamel’s first bite at free agency and he appears to be interested in seeing just what other offers might be out there but I don’t just assume that he’s gone. There will probably be 4-5 teams that will have both the interest and the $$$ to sign him (Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers, Phillies).

          The Phillies can give Hamels a “Cliff Lee” type deal without causing significant long-term issues with their payroll structure. After 2013, his money will basically be replacing Roy Halladay, who’ not going to meet his vesting requirements and will become a FA in 2014. Also Chase Utley’s $15M contract will be gone after 2013.

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          1. Should add that the Cubs “may” have an interest based on how quickly Theo thinks he’s rebuilding effort is going. If he’s thinking anouther 2 years, they they won’t be interested.

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          2. After approx. 1300 IPs, and going into his 29 year season…Cole’s probabability for injury could be higher then what the Phillies want to take a chance on in a 7 year deal. Until he has avoided any big injuries.

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      2. Unless I’m incorrect, no one on this site works in the front office, so when they say that don’t want to break the luxury tax threshold, it’s pointless for us to get up in arms and say they should do it anyway

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      3. I don’t share Mike’s aesthetic distain for free agents, and of course agree that a team that relies almost entirely on home grown talent is (to say the least) facing an uphill battle to contend. Certain adoption of this approach by the Phillies at the current moment would result in at least a couple of years of 90 plus losses, and a significant period of non-contention.

        But really that’s a moot point. The Phillies clearly don’t share Mike’s preferences. IMO the real danger is the opposite – the kind of complacency represented by catch’s post. Financial resources are not a guarentee of success, and placing too much dependance on the free agent market is a mistake. Free agents are inherently over priced.* Moreover, any given year there are only so many players available in free agency, and no guarentee that a team’s needs can be met in the free agent market.

        Trading or not resigning Hamels and Victorino – and there are good reasons not to attenpt to resign them* – may mean that money is freed up for other free agents, but doesn’t guarentee that the free agents available will be good fits.

        I would not go nearly as far as Mike in terms of his suggestion for next year. But I do think that it would be a mistake to spend big in the market on long term deals, or to otherwise make “win now” moves. (Note that many “big names” are going to be available, and those that are, are going to be overpaid.) Sure, if everything broke right for the Phillies it’s possible to see them eking out another playoff spot in 2013, and once in the playoffs anything can happen. But IMO it’s time to start thinking of the future – build a new core, rather than trying to win with the current core. Though to prevent the team from being truly horrible, I do agree with catch that the team should look for a couple short term high dollar contracts of the Beltre/Beltran type.

        *In both cases, mainly length of the contracts being sought, combined with the likely fact that the team likely will be rebuilding during the peak years of both players (well, relative peak in Victorino’s case, since he may already be past his peak).

        **Of course one can argue that free agents are, by definition, paid market value. But looking at the population of major league players as a whole, they are significantly overpaid compared to the class of players not eligible for free agency, or who signed bargain long term deals before reaching free agency.

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      1. Healthy Utley, Howard, Halladay, Stutes, and maybe De Fratus plus hopefully a healthy Dom Brown. If they trade Hamels, whoever they get back in that trade. They won it with more offense, but a rotation of Hamels, Myers, Moyer, Blanton. I’ll take Halladay, Lee, Worley, and Y and Z over that rotation

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  5. Work in a little news here. See the Yankees traded for Chad Qualls for a player to be named later or cash. To adjust their 40 man roster they designated Matt Antonelli for assignment. Maybe if Antonelli clears waivers he might come back. 27 years old now, but a RH hitter who plays 2B and 3B, so maybe he can be a next season contributor if comes to Philly, of course , depending on that whole hitting the ball thing. Maybe , if in a rebuilding mode next season, they can fill the utility infield thing with Antonelli and K. Frandsen, that should cover the positions for the IF, and they can get a LH hitting OF for the bench and some other stuff as well. Never too soon to think about next season’s bench, especially if the wheels fall off.

    And to rebut something above, Don’t think Qualls was brought in to be the 8th inning guy. I think they wanted Stutes/ Bastardo for that. No predicting injuries , or subtle maybe injury based ineffectiveness.

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  6. Cheer up gang. Right now if the draft were being held we would pick 7th. Keep up this pace of losing and we could go even higher in the draft —- maybe even first. The sad fact is, if you’re going to be bad it pays to be very bad. This team is a couple of years away from being really good again so let’s get some really outstanding prospects in the next few drafts.

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    1. Lenny……and we can still sign a FA over the winter….top first round ‘lottery’ spots are protected…Nats proved that with the Werth signing a few years ago.

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      1. With the new CBA, aren’t all the first round picks protected? we lost our because we signed Pappy before it went into place. But that’s why we didn’t get a 1st rounder back for Madson, right?

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        1. There now multiple types of Type A free agents. Some you give up picks for and others you don’t (these kind the team merely gets an extra pick right in front of you), the Angels had to give up a pick for Pujols and the Tigers for Fielder. That being said Top 10 picks are protected no matter what and it is the 2nd round pick that is used for compensation.

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  7. I think a few of you said it best when you say the fight has left this team and they seem to accept losing much easier than they did when they went on their run. Character and make up are everything when it comes to championships. And it helps to have that + Great Talent.

    So while I am not a fan of knee jerk reactive behavior there definitely has to be a top to bottom evaluation of this club and where it might be headed.

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  8. First off, there is no bigger baseball/Phillies fan than myself, but I cannot watch this team. The issues are large and some have been evident going back to 09.
    1. The lack of plate discipline is glaring.
    2. The manager is ill-equipped to “manage” games without home runs, which this team does not hit
    3. The always solid defense is now below average.
    4. The bullpen is awful!
    Sometimes in baseball, things happen that you cannot explain. In 08, they had more plate discipline, but to a degree this was still an issue. The manager was challenged in-game, but had Jimy Williams to help. The defense was much better and the closer was untouchable. The team had mediocre starting pitching but caught lightening in a bottle and won a title. We are way beyond that time!!!!!

    Here is my plan going forward:
    Trade Pence, call up Brown when healthy
    Trade Victorino
    Try to trade Rollins, can’t watch him another day.
    Explore trading Lee or Hamels, preferrably Lee.
    Try to re-load the bullpen via deals, get a young 3b, and add youth and speed to the lineup. I also think we look to Ryne Sandburg or someone similar to take over the helm.
    I am exasperated with the whole thing. Having said that, we could still contend next year with a few bold moves. We need to get started in that direction.

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    1. One word on your plan – BLECH!!! It is a recipe for disaster. By the time the team gets good again, the fan base will be gone. A big part of any Phillies plan must include staying competitve enough to keep the fans who, in turn, provide money to fuel player acquisitions. It’s a HUGE deal.

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      1. I hate being the Yankees of the NL – it leads to bad contracts just to appease fans. Maybe it’s time for me to find a new team to follow, because quite frankly, I hate the direction this team has gone in the past 2-3 years.

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          1. I’m probably in the vast minority, I realize that. Buying players just isn’t fun to me. I’d much rather have a mid-market mentality and keep retooling rather than take a lazy way out and get 25M players.

            2006 & 2007 was a LOT more fun to me than 2010 and 2011. Maybe it was the newness of everything, but I think it had a lot more to do with the makeup of the club. Give me a young team that’s hungry any-day of the week than a team with bloated, complacent veterans.

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        2. Your concerns are valid, but it’s not just about appeasing the fans (again, a legitimate concern) – it’s about keeping the revenues high. Trust me, it’s the kind of problem you want to have as a baseball franchise, particularly where there is no salary cap.

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        3. Yeah watching those damn baseball games in October gets to be a real pain in the ass. No time to prepare for Halloween, always gets me, oh how I miss those Halloweens of years past.

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    2. The lack of plate discipline argument is valid but the team hasn’t changed its approach but rather the make-up of the team has changed to the point where that lack of discipline is pronounced. Rollins & Victorino were always “hackers” but they were offset by Werth, Utley, and to a lesser extent, Howard (who sees a lot of pitches because he swings and misses so much).

      Werth was replaced by his polar opposite, Pence, Howard has been replaced by Wigginton (another hacker), and Utley had Galvis (hacker), Martinez (hacker), etal filling in at 2b. With Utley being back and Howard soon to follow, I think they will start looking like a more patient team, although probably too late to help in 2012.

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  11. Whether there some or no improvement in the second half, no matter if the Phils are sellers or still buyers, it is time to freshen things up in the managerial position. Ryne Sandberg has been doing an amazing job with an average group of players. At this point, he will get more out of a team then Charlie Manual (signed on through ’13) will.

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      3. I said it before to Anonymous, and I’ll say it again. Theo had a managerial opening last year and refused to even offer Sandberg an interview. Get it through your head. He isn’t going to the Cubs.

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    1. Very excited about Cozens. I think the Phillies definitely had visions of Giancarlo Stanton in their heads when they picked Cozens. Seems like a good plan to me and so far Cozens is looking the part.

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  14. Sickels has posted a mid-season top 120. Cody Asche is an honorable mention, so he’s starting to get a little love from a national source.

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  15. Other honorable mention is Adam Morgan. I did not realize he’s sporting a 3.6 K/BB ratio and a K rate over 9. That’s actually damn impressive, despite the 2-8 record.

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  16. Did anybody else see John Sickel’s Top 120? Bide was our top prospect somewhere around 50 and then May was not far behind. In the honorable mentions (the next fourty), he also had Asche and Adam Morgan, both of which surprised me.

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  17. Saw BA article re-ranking the Astros top 10. Santana is now ahead of Cosart. Hope that PTBNL doesn’t bite us in the ass.

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    2. There are multiple parts of that trade which are going to bite us in the ass. I wouldn’t worry about just Domingo.

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    3. I think Santana has gone up but it looks like Cosart is dropping quickly as his window of being a starter closes up.

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      1. Yea, think the reranking is more a knock on Cosart’s chances to remain a started than its and indication of a big jump by Santana, who’s still striking out at a huge rate.

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  18. Yeah at least two, imo will play in the majors, singleton and cozart, how good they will be is still up in the air, think villar is a longer shot,and santana is a mystery to me,want to see him at double a, think double a seems to be the place that separates the prospect from non prospects.

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  19. I would want

    Castellanos/Turner + from Detroit
    Olt/Perez or Martin + from Texas
    Cox/Tavarez/Wong or Martinez from St. Louis
    D’Arnaud/Gose or Gose/Snydergaar OR D’Arnaud/Marisnick

    Very high asking prices, I know but we should expect at least two blue chip prospects IMO. We get draft pick compensation so we should be getting a 1st and a Supplemental Rounder equivalent. (not sure how much the draft compensation changed for us, so somebody correct me if I’m wrong). Ruben can always resign Cole if he doesn’t trade him, so it’s not like a Seattle/Cleveland type scenario. Not to mention, it’s a sellers market. The only competition is Grenkie and Atlanta’s going to get him.

    I think the Dodgers, Reds, Royals (maybe), Pirates, Indians, Nationals, and Marlins could all be suitors for Victorino.

    I think the Reds would be the best fits for Victorino and I’d probably ask for:

    JC Sulbaran or DiDi Gregorius and JJ Hoover. Maybe a guy like Soto to have as depth if Howard gets hurt again (not as a centerpeicce).

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  20. I must say that I am a little irked that the Phillies had both Jason Grilli and Brandon Moss, both of whom performed well in AAA, and they just let them go and perform well with other teams. Both players would be enormously helpful to the current team. I understand that, with Grilli, the team felt it had enough young players to make him expendable and the release occurred last year when the team was burning up the division. But still, his stuff was outstanding – he throws in the mid-90s. I find it hard to believe that there was no room for him as the 12th man on the staff. As for Moss, what you can say? He’s better than any of the miscellaneous parts the team has put at first or in left and he did well last year? Yes, I understand that the team thought Mayberry would be fine with Pierre in tow and that they did not want to block Dom Brown’s way. I get it. But, as a GM, when the ultimate outcome is far from clear, you need to have several contingency plans in place (in fact, having a good plan B, C and D was, in my view, what made Pat Gillick such a good GM – there was always, always a back-up plan in place). Why was Moss not one of those contingency plans?

    Look, if you are going to carefully acquire somewhat older prospects, you have to really watch them carefully and make sure you give them a chance if one is merited. These moves, particularly letting Moss walk, causes me to question their talent evaluation capabilities.

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    1. The minors are full of guys that bounce around from majors to minors, and perform poorly. There was really no reason to believe that either of these guys suddenly learned how to play better. The Phils really didn’t have much room in their bullpen last year — it was so solid there wasn’t a lot of need for a 35 year old journeyman who had been TERRIBLE in his last few stints in the majors. As for Moss, they felt Mayberry was a better option, and with what we saw last year from them, that was a no-brainer as well. I don’t blame them for either of these moves.

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    2. Catch, I can understand being upset about Grilli with our bullpen issues but he is having a career year and never in the past has shown the results he is now. Grilli also pitches in a far more friendlier pitchers stadium in PNC Park so his results are better than they would be in a smaller park. But Brandon Moss come on! He could not make it with the Red Sox, Pirates or Phillies and is hitting between .225 and .250.

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      1. Guys, I understand your points. This is as much frustration as anything else. That having been said, there were signs that Moss was pretty decent last year. Also, he is NOT hitting between .225 and .250. He has 10 home runs in 82 plate appearances in the majors (plus 15 homers in the minors) and his OPS is over 1.000. Obviously, he won’t sustain that, but, damned, he was probably worth keeping around, even based only on last year’s stats.

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        1. There were signs throughout his entire minor league career that he could be a good player, but when he got to the show he was below average, at best. There was little to no reason to expect him to have a big offensive surge in the majors. Also, it is still a pretty small sample size, and putting a lot of emphasis on a small sample size gets you a season of John Mayberry…

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  21. Victorino pulled from Phills lineup today just an hour or so before game time. Jason Pridie is replacing him, Zolecki reporting that Manual made the decision to pull him “not traded and not injured” Why post a lineup card then change it based on giving him bench time for a player who hasn’t played a MLB game this year for no reason?

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      1. Last word ReTweeted by Olney was Victorino was upset about batting 7th and stormed out, probably some words thrown around so Manuel pulled him….

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          1. Only team in contention I can see chasing Victorino is the Reds but he wont bring much more than we got for Thome IMO

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            1. Zach Links…MLBTR:
              Shane Victorino was a late scratch for today’s game against the Braves, but it’s apparently nothing more than a manager’s decision by skipper Charlie Manuel. However, Victorino doesn’t appear to be long for Philadelphia anyway as he will almost certainly sign elsewhere if he is not dealt before July 31st, writes Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. People familiar with the familiar with the Phillies’ thinking have suggested that while they intend to make a strong effort to keep Cole Hamels, their efforts to retain the outfielder are expected to be lukewarm at best. The Dodgers have a bit of interest in Victorino while he could also be a fit for the Pirates, Indians, and Tigers, Heyman tweets. More Sunday afternoon linkage..

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