Here are some items of note and musings coming out of the East divisions as Phillies interim closer Jose Contreras hits the DL …
- Mets reliever Pedro Beato, a Rule 5 draftee this offseason, is pitching well, writes Thomas Boorstein of MLB.com. "I've been impressed ever since he walked into camp," Mets manager Terry Collins said. Earlier this week, the Mets returned second baseman Brad Emaus – their other Rule 5 pick – to the Blue Jays, who flipped him in turn to the Rockies, but it looks like Beato has a good shot of sticking with the Mets throughout the season.
- Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez is struggling, as is Philly's lineup on the whole, and David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News wonders how long the Phils will continue to start Ibanez. Should the Phils choose to divvy up starts between John Mayberry Jr., Ben Francisco and Domonic Brown, it would be interesting to see whether they would look into trading the 39-year-old. Ibanez is past his prime, sure, but he posted a triple-slash of .272/.347/.552 as recently as two years ago, and his contract expires at season's end, so he could draw interest at a cheap price. However, he does have no-trade protection.
- The Blue Jays will place second baseman Aaron Hill on the DL, writes Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. We'll never know the answer, but I wonder whether the Jays would have held onto Emaus to fill in briefly with Hill, Jayson Nix, and Edwin Encarnacion being banged up. Of course, it seems pretty clear that the Jays had made the decision that Emaus didn't factor into their plans, but they are stretched thin now, as John McDonald and Mike McCoy started at third and second base, respectively, on Sunday.
- The Nationals signed infielder Tug Hulett to a minor league contract, according to NBC Sports. Hulett last appeared in the big leagues with the Royals in 2009. He was with the Rockies earlier this season but was let go after Colorado acquired Emaus.
Beato, the next Mets closer?
if they can get anything of any sort of value for k-rod..i wouldnt mind seeing that this season
Why the hell did we give him a no trade clause in his contract?!?!?
The Phillies love to give out extra years and no trade clauses into their FA contracts.
Ah, the Ed Wade special. It must have been his opening salvo in negotiations — “Look, we really want you in Philly. How about a no-trade clause and a helicopter?”
(I do realize that Wade didn’t sign Ibanez, he was just notorious for the no trade clause.)
Why the hell did we give a three year contract to a 37 year old?!?!?
Look, two things could happen IF the Phils are smart about it:
A) Mayberry platoons with Ibanez all year.
B) Mayberry platoons with Ibanez until Brown shows that he’s 100% back and tears up AAA. The Phils bring Brown up and send Ibanez down, but he has to clear waivers first, which he will b/c who the hell would want him considering his age, production, cost and impending free agency? When baseball expands the roster near the end of the season, they can both be on the team.
Ibanez started off slow last year too. He’s one of the most notoriously streaky hitters.
As a Phils fan, I hope my pessimism is misplaced and he starts doing well. However, he hasn’t had a start this slow since 2001. Furthermore, it isn’t like starting slow is the norm for him. Even if you include this year’s abysmal performance, .277/.344/.457 career totals for March/April isn’t much off his overall numbers. Perhaps I’m wrong, but just watching him on a day-to-day basis he looks like he’s deteriorating rapidly at the plate.
What makes you think Ibanez would accept an assignment to the minors? He has over 5 years of Major League service, therefore he is allowed to refuse an assignment to the minors. I can’t see why he would want to do that honestly.
If he’s still hitting like this in July, and Brown is tearing up AAA, what makes you think the Phils should care? If he doesn’t accept it, then just cut him. It doesn’t help the major league club to have Brown destroying AAA pitching while Ibanez hits weak ground balls to second base day after day no matter what they’re paying Ibanez. He comes off the books at the end of the season anyway.
700Level you are getting way a head of yourself with this post IMHO. What has Dominic Brown done at the big league level to prove he actually belongs to be playing for this ball club?
How am I getting ahead of myself? I said *IF* Ibanez continues to fail and *IF* Brown continues to clobber minor league pitching, then they should bring Brown up. I’m not sure why this is so difficult to understand.
As for what what Brown has done at a big league level – well he’s done what any young player coming up through the minors has done – played extremely well in the minors. Yes, he had a short time in the majors last season (only 70 PA) where he struggled, but that has happened with a number of All-Stars and even Hall of Famers, so judging him based on how he was misused at the major league level in 2010 would be absurd and unfair.
Furthermore, *IF* Ibanez continues to struggle as badly as he is right now, I don’t see how Brown can do much worse, especially since he’s a better fielder and baserunner.
Ibanez is getting Old..it happens to us all
Say it ain’t so
Well, not all of us.
“…so he could draw interest at a cheap price.” From who? You just wrote how he is struggling. Who is going to trade for a struggling outfielder even at a cheap price? And you really can’t expect to get anything of use or value for him.
SF likes to collect OFs…
Emaus wasn’t on the Jays 40 man roster (hence him being available for the Rule 5), so it would have been much more difficult for the Jays to call him up