Jayson Werth told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark that he doesn’t hate the Phillies at all and hopes for a warm reception when he returns to Philadelphia for the first time since signing with the division rival Nationals as a free agent. Here’s the latest on Werth's new team plus other rumors from around the league…
- The Nationals would like to add a veteran to the back of their bullpen.
- When teams ask about Nationals backstop Wilson Ramos, they’re hearing that the Nats don’t want to deal him because they believe he’s nearly ready to be a regular catcher.
- The Red Sox have been “quietly poking around” to determine which catchers could become available.
- The Phillies are looking for an affordable backup outfielder who can play center field and they have targeted Cardinals outfielder Jon Jay.
- There are no indications that the Phillies plan to deal for a second baseman to replace the injured Chase Utley, however.
- Though the Mets don’t appear to want Luis Castillo to win the second base job, scouts say he’s their best option by far.
- The Twins are open to adding relief depth.
Yes, Jayson Werth. You can safely expect to get a standing ovation from the philly fans. Afterall, you helped lead them to two pennant titles and a world series title. You only took more than 100M to play for a lesser team, anyway.
are you on drugs?
You don’t seem to understand…That_MLBTR_User is just repeating what Scot Boras said to Jason Werth after he signed with the Nationals.
Are you on drugs?
No why?
Do you want to be?
so now drug dealers advertise on this website. great.
Now just to figure out how to safely ship it…
i know a guy in arlington
Schweet!
Find it odd that the Phillies want a backup center fielder, considering that Francisco, Mayberry, and Valdez can all play all three OF positions.
Even if the Phillies are actually interested in Jay (which I agree with Frank Costanza and don’t buy at all), I don’t see the Cardinals dealing him. The odds of Berkman playing a full season in RF are rather minimal.
Plus, the Cards wouldn’t have anyone capable of playing CF if Rasmus needs time off.
Adron Chambers could fill that position.
Allen Craig could fill that spot, and I’m sure he could play CF.
Very true, although my gut feeling is that they will have Craig in AAA again to start the season to get him frequent ABs. I also forgot that TLR’s mantra “anyone can play the outfield” resulted in OF playing time for Tyler Greene…
Jon Jay+Salas for Joe Blanton?
Why would the Cardinals deal for Blanton? They are already low on funds and what’s the point for the Phillies to deal Blanton if they have to eat most of the salary? The Phillies are looking to cut payroll by trading Blanton and that won’t happen if they deal to the Cards because the Cardinals can’t take on money right now. Not to mention that Blanton isn’t that good and not worth give up an up in coming elite relief pitcher like Salas and let alone giving up Jay at the same time. I don’t get why everyone is trying to get the Cardinals to give away young talent, we are going to it in a few years. The Cards just need to let this year play out and see what happens. Lohse and McCellan are having great springs and the last thing we need is to get roped in on some rumor that we are looking for a starter and have them lose their confidence because they start thinking they will lose their spot in the rotation. I don’t see an addition of Blanton making that much difference for the Cards rotation and I really don’t like the idea for giving up two talented young players like Jay and Salas who are not only good, but CHEAP.
Back to my point, Blanton has a career 4.30 ERA…how is that really any better than the numbers that McClellan and Lohse will post?
Lohse sucks… I can see McClellan doing well.. the guy worked his ass off for the past 3 years for a starting spot.
Why? McClellan is soild right now.. Id wait till the season starts and maybe deal Jay during the break. There really is no reason for the Cards to deal him right now.
so are the Jays getting Emaus back or what?
does it matter?
Why relief help? There are only two open spots. Slowey or Baker are taking one (unless traded..probably for relief help which won’t be worth it).
Then Perkins, Diamond (needs to cut down on walks), Hughes and Neshek are all doing well enough to earn the other open spot. We don’t need more relievers, right now we have too many who are earning it. We’ll see in another week or so if they’re all still doing well, but that’s five guys (one makes the rotation) fighting for two spots.
Rumors say that Manship has the inside track on a spot. Probably won’t keep all 3 lefties. I hope they figure out something with Diamond, but unless they figure a trade with Atlanta so they can send him to AAA, I don’t see how they can keep him on the 25-man for the entire season. I am not sure Gardy is sold on Neshek yet…
I dont mind Manship but the others have been better so far. I feel Diamond could be too good to lose. As for Neshek, I am not sold yet either but he has done well so far.
I am hopeful that Neshek can regain some of the magic he had in 2006-8. His funky delivery is what makes him special, so he should be able to get by with a 87 MPH fastball with that nasty sidearm slider.
I keep hearing that the Twins organization is looking at Manship as a “Matt Guerrier circa 2006-7” type pitcher. He could pitch 2 innings and then come back the next day and throw another. He even has similar stuff (unimpressive fastball that sets up his slider, curve and change).
Best case scenario is 1) Anderson fixes Hoey’s control problems and his mid-90s gas can give the Twins BP the much needed power arm they have never had, 2) Mijares takes his new 2-seam fastball and finally achieves his full potential, 3) Joe Nathan is at least 80% of the pitcher he was prior to surgery and 4) the others (Perkins, Hughes, Neshek, Burnett, etc) fill in where needed.
Neshek’s delivery is why I am not confident. He’s all elbow. TJ surgery pitchers usually have to change their delivery and succeed based on how strong there shoulder gets. Neshek is and always will be all elbow.
I’ve read that about Manship too. I just don’t see that happening. That’s a lot to live up to as Guerrier was pretty rock solid. Unless I am missing someone he was right behind Nathan in importance to the pen, but that’s my opinion.
I think Hoey needs AAA time. They’ve got a great pitching coach down there too. I think Mijares turns the corner, gut feeling. And I feel i’ve been the most confident Twins fan about Nathan, at least that I have seen. I feel he will pull a Billy Wagner or as close to it as you can get.
I agree completely. Neshek does put a lot of torque on his elbow, so we will see how long that lasts. Manship does have a lot to live up to if “Guerrier-esque” is the goal. Hoey should start at AAA, and I think you are right about Nathan (he is definately determined to get back).
Could be dangerous asking for a warm reception in Philly. Instead of throwing batteries, they might throw blowtorches.
Since the playoffs last year, I rarely come across a Phillies fan who says anything good about Jayson Werth, despite leading the team in OPS and games played, and being second in OBP and SLG over the past two years combined.
I do see this a lot though…..’He’s not clutch!!!!’
He wasn’t good with the fans or at least, that was the impression given. In comparison, a player like Pat Burrell who had a very up and down career in Philly (much more so than Werth) is pretty universally well-liked. Why? He was good with the fans and seen as much more “approachable” than Werth was. People will forgive a whole litany of sins if you can do it with a smile.
Just my opinion anyway.
He was the worst in the NL w/batting avg with runners in scoring position. He hit in the damn 5 hole and only had 85 RBIs. Come on man Ibanez, who spent time on the DL, had 84 RBIs hitting 6th or 7th.
I can promise you that he is going to get booed when he comes to town. The stupid things he has said since he signed in Washington is reason enough. Not even counting how he treated fans when he was here. I may try to get some right field seats to taunt him.
Yeah, Werth struggled in that extremely small sample size last year. Doesn’t mean he can’t hit with RISP. If I remember correctly, he didn’t hit nearly as bad in those situations last year and for his career is something like a .260 hitter in them with a .385 OBP.
How did Ibanez spend time on the DL if he managed to get into 155 games anyway?
That works out well since “clutch” situations have been rare in DC.
of course werth won’t be getting a warm reception from philly. his comments after the signing were irritating. he kept saying the phillies didn’t do it right and they had the money to sign him. if the phillies chose lee over werth, you can’t blame them. well, unless you’re werth. he kept saying it’s a business. but he won’t stop talking about it. phillies fans have moved on and are thrilled about lee. werth can’t let go. it’s also been reported that werth agreed with wsh gm that he hates the phillies too. myfoxphilly.com/dpp/sports/phillies/022711-jayson-…
i just tried to post a comment and it said a moderator had to approve first. did anyone else have this?
Curse words, or words resembling curse words seem to spark that most of the time.
thanks. i didn’t put in any curse words. it’s annoying bec the post was a little lengthy and took a while to write. i put in a link too to a story about werth. the gist was that werth will likely get a mixed reaction. he has repeatedly made sour grapes comments after the signing. he’s upset that people are so happy about lee being chosen over werth. can you blame people? werth has even been reported to say he hates the phillies after the wsh gm said it. the wsh gm has denied this though.
Wouldn’t surprise me if the link caused the delay. That’s what spammers post.
Yeah, it was the link
Is the Red Sox’ interest in a catcher simply a question of depth? Or is there some concern about Salty’s ability to be the primary catcher?
There’s pretty much universal concern about Salty as a primary catcher for a contender. I pray he fails and the Sox and Yankees are tied just before the deadline, so that Ellsbury/David Ross trade can finally happen.
David Ross is 33 years old and has been a starter exactly once in his career. Not even close to a feasible trade proposal.
Um, he was joking. I hope he was wrong about Salty too.
Was indeed joking, and I really do wish Salty the best. Incredibly polite, appreciative player. Hopefully he’s just a relatively late bloomer…
Pudge will be the BoSox starting catcher by the ASB.
Fisk?
Absolutely! Bill Lee has been working out with him getting him back into game shape again.. Hasn’t anyone heard this?!? lee will be the lefty out of the pen by the AS end and Fisk catching.
Instead of them receiving their Social Security and baseball Pension checks, Theo will give them the MLB minimum instead.
He gave you the name “Pudge” and then you asked if it was Fisk?
Um, yeah. Fisk is the only Pudge to Red Sox fans. That was the joke.
Who are the Red Sox sending to the Nats in this deal?
“Though the Mets don’t appear to want Luis Castillo to win the second base job, scouts say he’s their best option by far.”
yep, that sounds like the mets
I’d rather them give Edgardo Alfonso another shot before I see Castillo!!!
The Twins are ALWAYS “open to adding relief depth.” That’s not even news anymore lol.
Rick Anderson, Twins Pitching Coach, has said he wants “a Jesse Crain” for the bullpen. I am assuming he means a “big strikeout guy” that could put out a fire late in the game. Unless that is the type of “depth” this report is referring to, I don’t see them adding someone. The only guy they have that fits that bill is Jim Hoey, but he is eratic.
The Red Sox should trade Navarro or Lowrie to the Mets or Phillies for somebody promising. I know Cameron is going to have a good year if he’s healthy, but I think that the Red Sox should trade him too before he goes down with another injury. We can lean on McDonald and Nava as the backups who give Drew a break once a week. BTW Kalish will be a 20/20 player for the Red Sox next year, .288 22 86 and 25 sb… can’t wait for Drew to be gone.
Philly doesn’t have a person to fill a hole that Boston needs worthy of Lowrie. He is far to useful as a super utility, or starting SS to move IMO. If Boston can somehow move Scutaro and his salary, or maybe Navaro.. Fine, but not the very useful Lowrie.
Salty is in good hands, in Boston. As long as he remains healthy, he will be the BoSox #1 catcher, with Veritek backing him up…and serving as his personal coach…
The RedSox front office want to have a 3rd catcher, with major league credentials, available in the event either Jason or Jarrod injure themselves…
I’m sure they would love the opportunity to improve that position if the chance arouse
I hope Theo isn’t getting aroused by potential trades…