Phils’ Attempted Starter Acquisitions

Remember about a week ago, when Pat Gillick mentioned that the Phillies’s deal for a #1 or #2 starter had fallen through?  I’m received a fair amount of emails on this topic, so I wanted to address it.  I talked my Phils source, and he gave me the lowdown.  He mentioned that most if not all of these names had previously appeared in the media linked to the Phillies, but I’ll present the information anyway.

Mark Prior was never the Phillies’ number one choice.  They’ve always been lukewarm on him due to his health record.  Had the Cubs parted with Carlos Zambrano, the Phillies would’ve happily dealt Bobby Abreu.

The Phillies like Erik Bedard quite a bit.  The problem is that the Orioles are actually looking to acquire a starting pitcher, not give one up.  So although the Orioles have soured on Bedard somewhat, trading him probably won’t happen unless a couple of excellent young pitchers are coming back in the deal.  I don’t even know if such a deal would make sense for any team.

Philadelphia was close to acquiring Derek Lowe during the winter meetings, but of course that fell through.  No word on what the club offered.

The last name on the radar is Matt Clement.  The Phils really aren’t thrilled with Clement whatsoever, but they would at least consider acquiring him in the right deal.