Odds And Ends: Pedro, Milton, Halladay

Today I'm thinking Halladay will remain in Toronto.

Tomorrow I'll be convinced he's gone.

How many more days left of this?

Baseball can be a cruel game. Ask Eric Milton.

The Jays have a boatload of their starting pitching coming back next year. It might not be enough to win in that division but I think they're gonna take one last shot at competing with Doc next year.

After looking at Pedro's stats the last 3 years, I'm not exactly quaking in my boots at the prospect of him pitching in Citizen's Bank Park. This isn't the move that is going to let the Phillies run away with the division.

Anthony Gargano on 610WIP in Philly was just saying a little bit ago that the Phillies are offering J.A. Happ, Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and an unspecified mid-level prospect for Roy Halladay.

Was this gargano report just speculation by his part or actual real reporting?

Are you serious? Why in the world would you give up Happ and Drabek for Halladay? I am on board for getting the guy, but Happ has been AMAZING of late. Also being near to the Phils AA Club, I have seen Drabek pitch on multiple occastions and he should be MLB ready by next year! Also, Micahel Taylor seems to hit a homerun any time I am at a game, this kid is amazing! YES to Halladay, but not to all of the prospects that the gargano report is claiming...

"J.A. Happ, Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and an unspecified mid-level prospect for Roy Halladay"

I think you have to consider it, it is what they are asking for - but I agree on Happ and would probably rather have Brown then Taylor.

Taylor has become a fan favorite already, there would be a bunch of bummed fans if he left. Send Brown, Carrasco, Knapp, and throw in cheesesteaks for life for Halladay. Although we do need Halladay now, if we are far enough ahead as philsWSchamps mentions, we can try for him in the offsesason when he is less expensive.

Taylor has become a fan favorite already, there would be a bunch of bummed fans if he left. Send Brown, Carrasco, Knapp, and throw in cheesesteaks for life for Halladay. Although we do need Halladay now, if we are far enough ahead as philsWSchamps mentions, we can try for him in the offsesason when he is less expensive.

Posted by: PhilsPhan331 | July 15, 2009 at 11:31 AM

Yes, let's not trade away prospects because they're fan favorites... in Reading, PA...

These "send Brown, Carrasco, Knapp" type trades are too funny.

This is a team that went 11-15 in June, got pummeled in interleague play, and guys like Moyer, Blanton, and Rodrigo Lopez pitching in their rotation.

Their rotation is so bad, they signed a 37 year old pitcher who gave up 19 homeruns in 100 innings last year... in a pitchers park.

Any proposal that does not include at least two of Drabek, Brown, or Taylor is not going to work. Period.

carini,

nice. So you'll be watching Bucholz' start really closely friday?

IF he flops there can we then equate him to Ian Kennedy of the Yankees?

carini,

nice. So you'll be watching Bucholz' start really closely friday?

IF he flops there can we then equate him to Ian Kennedy of the Yankees?

Posted by: philsWSchamps | July 15, 2009 at 12:00 PM

Yes, since you're the one who likes to make knee jerk conclusions after one game (i.e. Brown went 3 for 3 in the Gulf Coast League against 17 year olds!!! woooo hooo!!!)... you can make whatever assessment of Buchholz you want after 1 start.

The way I look at it, Buchholz can't pitch much worse than Hamels did a few starts ago against the Jays.

carini,

haha. exactly where did I say his GCL game was meaningful? The only meaningful thing about it was that he was back from injury. it was BA (not me) that has Brown pegged as the 17th best prospect in all of MILB. Complain to them. Oh and while you're at it ask them how Lars Anderson's doing. Oh yeah that's right he had a bad back. I forgot.

And ya Hamels has been bad lately but he got us a ring last year pitching well over his +30 innings so who am I to complain. If we don't win this year I'm fine with that as long as we win in the next several years with a base of what we have that is admittedly aging and Taylor, Brown, Drabek, Knapp et al for the future that will replace the stars of our current team.

carini,

haha. exactly where did I say his GCL game was meaningful? The only meaningful thing about it was that he was back from injury. it was BA (not me) that has Brown pegged as the 17th best prospect in all of MILB. Complain to them. Oh and while you're at it ask them how Lars Anderson's doing. Oh yeah that's right he had a bad back. I forgot.

And ya Hamels has been bad lately but he got us a ring last year pitching well over his +30 innings so who am I to complain. If we don't win this year I'm fine with that as long as we win in the next several years with a base of what we have that is admittedly aging and Taylor, Brown, Drabek, Knapp et al for the future that will replace the stars of our current team.

Posted by: philsWSchamps | July 15, 2009 at 12:50 PM

It's not meaningful. At all. That's my point. You shouldn't bring up what a 21 year old does in a GCL game.

I'm not complaining to BA, I'm complaining to you... someone spewing out stats from a rehab game in the GCL league.

Lars is fine, hitting .315 since June 1 and he's still not 100%. He's younger than Brown and playing in a higher, tougher league.

But beyond Lars, there's Buchholz, Kelly, Reddick, Rizzo, Tazawa, Navarro, FedEx, Kalish, and Pimentel who have all outperformed their expectations this year.

To single out one guy who was injured shows you're reaching. I could easily do the same and ask how all of your soon-to-be ML talent is doing (Marson, Donald, Carrasco)?

Phils.... you are deluding yourself...

there is no way to go back in time and correct a mistake..

eg - yankees refusing to deal Hughes, Kennedy for Santana. Think both sides would do that deal now ?

When your team is built to win you take the ring and go with it.. Drabek, Taylor etc can all be replaced.. if you trust your scouting staff to give accurate reports and target the right players the Phillies should be ok even if they trade the farm. I mean the team would be positioned to challenge for a WS this year and next at the very least.
Don't overrate prospects... especially your own.
I think the Phils will get Doc .. they seem willing to part with the prospects its just a question of who else puts in legit offers (unlike the White Sox and Cards) thus raising the stakes..
Angels really, really need an arm... Dodgers as well...

I still don't understand the reasoning. You find them where you want to, I'll find them where I want to.

"He's still not 100%". Really are you on the Red Sox AA training staff? How do you know his intimiate health details???"

No, I read from reputable reporters following the Seadogs. Crazy, right?

I am not going to get into a pissing match with a guy who compares what someone does a High A with someone who is injured and playing in a superior pitching league like the EL.

Of course Marson is doing well... you're a Philly homer. Marson is Vmart, Donald is Hanley, Carrasco is King Felix.

It's just no one knows it yet. Except you.

carini,

sounds like you're pissing right along with me, LOL.

Marson is actually (and i've said this before) a good OBP guy but won't seemingly hit for any power but again is very young for his league. I'm fine with a catcher as long as he's solid defensively and has a high OBP hitting 8th in our lineup. He'd be an improvement over Ruiz offensively although isn't close to him defensively yet although he just turned 23 in AAA and had a Sept callup last year.

Donald is nothing more than a utility player. he's got no set position. He's got little if any value.

Carrasco is decent but while we believed him to be a 3 possibly a 2 last year he's probably a 3 at best but again he's very young too.

See I don't overvalue my teams prospects as much as you think I do.

Now Michael taylor, him I overvalue admittedly. While he's a bit older I think he can be very very good. Its hard not to overvalue a triple crown candidate.

Okay, great. But Lars Anderson can't play anything else but first base, while Dominic Brown projects to be a solid defender in center or a plus defender in right, not to mention that Brown is much faster.

Considering the positions that they play, and how dependent on offense Anderson is to succeed in the majors, I would at least consider Brown to be an equal prospect to Anderson.

It's not like Anderson did way better than Brown in High A when he was there at a similar age.

And by the way, Brown is 22 days younger.

Sorry, but Brown is all of the stud that Lars is.

Posted by: scribbletone | July 15, 2009 at 03:35 PM

I never said Lars is head and shoulders better than Brown... I was simply stating it's unfair to judge an injured 21 year old kid who has "can't let this guy beat us" labeled on his back when playing the opposition in what is widely known as perhaps the best pitching league in the minors.

Now, call me biased, but I do think Josh Reddick is every bit as good as Brown or Taylor... and I would be interested to hear why I shouldn't think so based on performance.

Carini26-

I agree that Josh Reddick is probably a bit underrated given his track record so far, but Dominic Brown was always regarded as an elite athlete who could fit the Adam Jones mold if he ever figured it out at the plate and in center.

All accounts are that he's making major strides in doing this, and while Reddick is also a good CF prospect, his raw tools and upside can't quite match Brown.

And Taylor is a whole different animal, more of a middle of the order slugger with 30-40 HR upside that could play a plus right field.

They're both better than Reddick based on sheer upside, and each had shown major development in the past year.

Reddick is great but just not quite on their level.

carini,

alright i'm done being antagonistic towards you and the Sox. Reddick looks pretty good but was he injured in May?

Also what's with the low RBI totals? no decent players around him that get on base for him to drive in?

As for Taylor (who IMO will be better than Brown) he's already at those numbers and while speed isn't everything, he's 6'6 250 and has stolen 18 bases already. that's off the charts.

plus his OBP is higher as well as his SLG and OPS. He's regularly sat at around a 1.000 OPS all year long. Yes he's a bit older but he also had to spend almost a year older but as i've said before I'm fine if he comes up when he's 26 and plays 7 years on the Phils and goes FA to somewhere (maybe boston??) when he's 33 and on the downside. To me he's the entire package with no disrespect to Reddick or Anderson.

philsWSchamps -

Reddick's RBI numbers are low because the Sox brass has him batting leadoff. Not because they see him as a future leadoff guy, but because they want to get him as many at bats as possible. Something like 10 of his 12 HRs have been solo shots.

He missed over a month with an oblique injury. Came back in mid June.

The knock on Reddick prior to this year was his plate discipline...

He tried hard at the end of '08, but with mixed results and finished with a tough line of .214/.290/.436 in a small 34 game sample size.

It's been a different story this year, as just about every meaningful statistic has improved (K%, BB%, FB%, and GB%)... he was already a plus defender... so now he's projecting to become a very good everyday player.

He does have some speed, but nothing compared to either Taylor or Brown.

I am not sitting here claiming Reddick is better than either, I am simply making the point that Reddick has at least shown, at age 22 in AA, that he's a legit prospect who may have leapfrogged Anderson as the best positional prospect in the system.