The Phillies announced on Monday that former big leaguers Kevin Frandsen, Kevin Jordan and Kevin Stocker will join their broadcast team. According to the announcement, that trio of former Phillies will rotate through road games and serve as color analysts alongside play-by-play broadcaster Scott Franzke. The 35-year-old Frandsen is the most recent member of the group to have suited up in the Majors, appearing in seven games for the 2015 Giants. Frandsen seemingly never made a formal declaration of his intention to retire as a player, though he has not appeared in a professional game since that 2015 season. It seems fair to assume, then, that he’ll embark upon a new career as he breaks into the media world.
A couple more notes on the Phillies and some other east coast clubs…
- In less pleasant news, third baseman Maikel Franco was suspended from his team in the Dominican Winter League for “violating the organization’s discipline code,” per Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes. Franco and teammates Moises Sierra, Garabez Rosa and Eduardo de Oleo were photographed partying at a Dominican club as late as 6am on the day of one of the team’s playoff games, per the report. It was a disappointment for both his DWL team and the Phillies alike, prompting an apology from the third baseman: “I apologize to the team, the fans and our sponsors, it’s something that will not happen again,” said Franco. The 25-year-old Franco, who impressed mightily as a rookie in 2015, has regressed in each of the past two seasons and is coming off his worst MLB campaign to date. In 623 plate appearances, Franco slashed just .230/.281/.409 with 24 homers.
- Orioles skipper Buck Showalter is overseeing what Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com calls a “delicate situation” on the left side of the infield, where Manny Machado has reportedly indicated a desire to move to a shortstop position that would otherwise be occupied by Tim Beckham. While Showalter isn’t tipping his hand, he says there’s been progress in resolving who’ll play where — assuming, at least, that Machado is ultimately retained by the O’s. The manager says he has “positioned us to maneuver regardless of what happens between now and the season starting.”
- Showalter and Kubatko also cover a variety of other topics of interest to the Baltimore faithful in that as well as another post, focusing in particular on a trio of lefties. Rule 5 pick Nestor Cortes has drawn early praise from the skipper, though of course he’ll still need to earn and keep an active roster spot. Elsewhere, the general prognosis on key reliever Zach Britton seems to be positive, though that’s not to say there’s any change to the mid-summer timeline for him to return from his Achilles tear. Kubatko also held an interesting chat with Richard Bleier, who recognizes that his sparkling 1.99 ERA from 2017 doesn’t guarantee him anything entering camp.
3 Kevins? Does Scott Franzke have trouble remembering names so they made sure everyone he’s partnered with has the same name?
Franny, nooooo! He’s been awesome on KNBR filling in for Tom Tolbert! Hope he comes back one day.
Agreed. I liked his different take on things and he was very humble. I hope he is not done on KNBR.
I think he is staying, just taking a few shows off. I listen to him online because I moved away from SF and really like him. So glad he is hanging around and quite sure he will do a great job for the Phillies.
a 1.98 ERA in 80 plus innings over two years should guarantee something
A goodly arbitration salary.
Assuming of course he can keep it up for two more years.
Phillies gonna sell low on a guy like Franco now after this incident coupled with back to back mediocre seasons?
I would check around the league to garner interest and then take the best package available. If Philadelphia really wants to sell high on Franco before the possibly collapses they could get a team to offer Headley and Perdomo for him.
Whats the point of trading him now? Might as well gamble on him until midseason. Then if he bombs, they can just hand over the ABs to Kingery
Send him to Cleveland…
No thanks
What an absolute joke offseason. Coming off the World Series I was on a high and hoping to get right into the offseason deals. Hardly anything has happened. It’s really deflating and makes me consider abandoning baseball totally. Unreal the total lack of activity.
Justin Upton signing an extension happened right away then nothing else then the winter meetings happened which contained just about everything else that happened
Wow! Coming off the World Series you were on a high but cuz of the lack of offseason activity you are thinking of abandoning the sport all together? Addictive personality?
No just a guy who expects baseball to throw you a bone to keep the momentum going. Thus far it hasnt.
Baseball the entity?
thing is each of these teams need to do what’s best for them it’s not their job to entertain you their offseason moves
Yes, Mr. Baseball. You don’t know him?
The 1992 Tom Selleck movie?
You know baseball existed well before free agency right?
You know there is no literal hot stove anymore, either.
A stove is an enclosed space in which fuel is burned to heat either the space in which the stove is situated, or items placed on the heated stove itself.
There are many types of stoves such as the kitchen stove which is used to cook food, and the wood-burning stove or a coal stove which is typically used for heating a dwelling.
Due to concerns about air pollution, efforts have been made to improve the stove design over the years.[1] Pellet stoves, for example, are a type of clean-burning stove, and air-tight stoves are another type that combust the wood more completely and therefore reduce the amount of the resulted combustion by-products.
In the U.S. since 1992, all wood stoves being manufactured are required to limit particulate emission.[citation needed]
So do you actually even watch the games or do you just like playing fantasy GM? It’s called the off season for a reason, If it bothers you that much, go watch some hoops and come back in a month or two.
Son, I watch thousands of games on mlbtv
Dad, you millennials have been spoiled by the off-seasons of the last decade..
Math???
30 days a month for 6 months is 180 days. 5 games a day is 900 games. How do you watch thousands of games?
Probably the short cuts. Could really fly through those if you wanted I reckon.
But you can watch 4 at once. 4 games twice a day times 162 iterations is over 1200 games.
First off, 1200 is not “thousands” it is one thousand plus. That is if anyone actually believes that you do that.
Second, If you are “watching” 4 at once, then you obviously aren’t able to focus on any of them. Less is more in this case.
Thirdly, if you are even attempting to watch 8 baseball games in a day even once during the year, you might want to re-check your priorities in life. Unless you are an actual GM, which you are not and probably never will be,.
Lastly, my father is dead and my mom doesn’t like baseball, so there is no one here that is allowed to call me son.
He watches some games twice. It’s called multi-tasking and he he’s a Pro.
over years
Son, I’ve done it many times. Many many times. I’ve had mlb.tv for 11 straight seasons. Usually there’s 1 o’clock and 7 o’clock games. You can watch 8 of them. I’ve done it many many times. I’ve seen thousands of games. Even milb.tv I have. I watch full minor league games too when there’s no mlb games.
And how does your wife/girlfriend feel about…oh, who am I kidding.
More math – 162 games per season per team, 30 teams, 2 teams per game, 2430 games per season, 3 hours per game, 7290 hours of baseball per season, 24 hours per day, 304 days of watching games 24/7.
If you watched all 2430 games, not including playoffs, on shortcuts that is 1215 hours of baseball watching per season. Or about 152 eight hour days watching baseball.
So 2 sessions of just over 3 hours each, 6-6.5 hours per day for 6 months. There are other game times, so let’s step that up to 8+ hours per day in front of his computer watching baseball. Obviously, he doesn’t work. Obviously, he doesn’t really see much of the games since he has 4 on at a time. Even on a 60 inch TV, something I doubt he has since he doesn’t work, that is a small screen he is watching them on and you can’t divide attention and really tell what is going on. Try watching DIRECTV MLB Mix sometime. up to 8 games at a time and they are tiny. You also can only listen to one game at a time.
I think he is just lying.
It’s just a figure of speech folks, meaning he watches a ton of baseball and has for 11 years. And, yes, I know a ton is 2,000 pounds, and you can’t measure his activity in weight!
@ Blake…this makes as much sense as your Mejia/Ortiz comments
Ok but mejia himself made an official statement saying the same.
@ Blake….what he was busted for was the anabolic–androgenic steroid Boldenone…it is an injectable and has never been marketed for human use, only horses and his excuses have the smell of what comes from the south end of a north bound horse. He was either accidentally injected 3 times or he lied.
Considering all tests are performed by the World Anti-Doping Agency
certified laboratory known as Laboratoire de Controle du Dopage
(INRS – Institut Armand-Frappier) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada it is ludicrous to think they would be willing to lose their standing and reputation for such foolishness.
Please cite a source where Mejia said anything remotely like your statement “Basically, mlb used Mejia to set an example. To say, this is what will happen to you if you dont tell us who is providing steroids, who is doing drugs, etc.” because that too is horse s–t
NY Times: Mejia said that baseball officials told him that if he appealed the punishment for the second doping offense, “they will find a way to find a third positive,” Mejia, who is from the Dominican Republic, said through an interpreter. “I felt there was a conspiracy against me. I feel that they were trying to find something to bring me down in my career.”
He admitted to doping the 1st time. He worked with Latin groups who dope players that MLB knows about and doesn’t like. So they made an example out of him. To send a message to the doping group.
So even if everything that you said is true it would still mean that Mejia was extremely stupid for just putting himself in that situation. I have no pity. You can’t complain that the stink sticks to you if you continually roll around with crap.
Thanks for the source but I have to ask…. you believe him why?
Do you realize that Laboratoire de Controle du Dopage would be risking everything to falsify reports? When a player files a grievance those tests results are admitted as evidence. You really, really think a lab…a lab that has one job…dope testing would risk losing WADA certification and their entire business to “frame” one player? They wouldn’t.
Do you really think the M:LBPA, lead by a former player, would “abandon” him as he claims and not one single person in the union would leak info? Do you realize that he only admitted to the first failed test when it benefitted his story? When something reeks of horse s–t there is a reason.
Need examples…try Ryan Braun…”It was the drivers fault” until of course it wasn’t and he admitted everything he said was a lie…it’s called CYA.
Remember A-Rod…all of his lies and threats…he claimed he had evidence to prove he was being framed. Did you ever see it? No, no one did because it didn’t exist. Of course there are are those who still stand by A-Rod, despite his vast history of lying. He even lied during his 2009 mea culpa and then lied to hundred if not thousands of kids face to face afterwards. Lying comes easy to those who cheat and are trying to cover the body part they sit on (and where their brains are likely located)
It’s much easier to claim others are at fault…it’s a bit harder to have 3 organizations MLB, MLBPA and Laboratoire de Controle du Dopage all engage in a massive conspiracy. Use a little common sense.
What he was busted for is only available in an injectable form. He stuck a needle in his behind over and over and over and is so stupid that he got busted 3 times.
This is the off season that owners are waiting till the last day possible to make trades and sign FA’s.. Baseball players agents have forced this by demanding all the guaranteed multi year contracts.
Someday baseball will finally get to the point where the league will set minimum and maximum spending figures. The large market teams simply destroy the sport and not every club has the ability to purposely tank 2-3 years to grab 1st round picks to hopefully build a club with a players still under control.
The only people that lose are the fans.
I can see why so many fans have become bandwagon fans.
People aren’t spending the fans money with reckless abandon and players aren’t signing their lives and families to cities immediately. I quit!
Blake Camden……I’m tired of the waiting too, but……
You had better start taking your “Heart Medication” today……
When the Top Finally Does Blow Off…….It’s Going To Be NUTS!!!!
1. Over 30 of the Top 50 FA’s are unsigned.
2. There’s about 5 weeks until ST starts.
3. The frenzy will be “The Most Fun We’ve Had All Winter!!!
Wait For It…….Wait For It……..
I’m really looking forward to all the signings when they do finally come! It will be awesome
134 FA are still on the market. Pitchers and Catchers report Feb 13th. When the FA start signing it’s going to be 3-4 per day.
Someone has no patience.
Blake needs to move to a 420 state like Oregon. The heavies at Fangraphs just sit back burning bowl after bowl of indica with no care if MLB ever restarts.
every state is a 420 state, just not all do so legally.
Don’t come back in April
Lol you would abandon the sport entirely because no ones been signed? You do realize at some point between now and spring training all of these guys will be signed. There will be a flurry of activity. We may even see some players sign crazy one year deals because of the lack of activity
Sounds like you’re not really a true fan then.
I love when there’s a lot of activity on the market, but it’s baseball. It always has moments in the off-season when it gets slow. Love with it and just be excited about the next season. Things will slowly work their way out.
*live
Trade Franco to the White Sox for Davidson
that doesn’t benefit the Phillies
If Buck was smart he would move Beckham to 3rd and let Manny play SS. beckham will always be the league leader in errors and at 3rd base he has no time to think which a plus for him.
Same holds true for Castro. If the Yanks played him at 3rd they never would have traded him.
Wrong Tim. That would be Tim Anderson.
Tim Beckham graded as a positive defender at SS. Moving Manny to SS and Tim to 3rd only helps Manny. Not saying that Manny wouldn’t be as good as a SS but I don’t have the same hopes for TB at 3rd. I think it’s possible or maybe even more likely that Schoop would move to 3rd and beckham would shift to 2nd. Don’t really agree with either since Manny will be walking out the door at season’s end or sooner.
For those of us who wondered who was being replaced in the Phillies’ booth: link to nbcsports.com
Listening to LA was like listening to a die hard Phillies fan (not Phillies employee). he called it like he saw it and didn’t let the garbage that’s been the Phillies the last bunch of years get away with it. Scott and LA are a match made in heaven and I hope the 3 Kevins took some lessons on how to deliver interesting, insightful commentary from LA and not from goober McCarthy (on tv). I like my announcers to be of the human variety, not robotic
Not a betting man but I imagine Machado opens the season with the Orioles and if he moves it won’t be until the deadline and that’s an IF he moves.
They will get LESS for him at the deadline…….but probably MORE than just a draft pick….lol
I would agree the number of teams at the deadline willing to make a trade for Machado will be a lot fewer. Right now probably 2/3rds of the MLB teams think they have a chance at the postseason at the deadline it will be less than half and even fewer than that that need a 3B at what the O’s will want for him even then.
On Manny Machado, does he have experience in the minors playing Short? Because his playtime in the majors at SS is limited.
And if he is looking towards next year’s Free Agency and the Yankees, is shortstop really a position he needs to be playing. The Yankees needs are 3B & 2B.
He played SS in the Majors before.
Look up his stats, and click on the “Splits”…..and it will reveal where he played year-by-year.
He hasn’t played a lot of SS in the ML’s. most of his experience in the Majors has been a 3B. Personally I would rather have Donaldson on say a 4 year $100MM deal than Machado on a 10 year $300MM+ deal next winter.
Why would Donaldson settle for a 4 year contract. Think you might have to rework those numbers chief.
He came up as a SS, moved to third in the bigs because the Os had Hardy entrenched.
Josh Donaldson is not getting a long-term contract next offseason because he will be 33 years old. He peaked at 29 and has been in decline the last 2 seasons. 4 years might be at the long end of his offers. He may get $25 million per season, but he won’t get more than 3-4 years.
He peaked at 29? Maybe so. But that doesn’t mean jack sht. He was 7.5 win player in 2016 and in an injury shortened 2017 he was a 5 win player. The guy still rakes. No shot in this world you get Donaldson on a 3 year deal and I doubt he has to take a 4 year deal either.
Machado only played 3B in the minors for a grand total of 2 games to learn the position because the Orioles had a defensive gaping hole there in 2012 between Wilson Betemit and Mark Reynolds. The rest of his minor league time was all SS except a 2 game rehab stint in 2014.
link to baseball-reference.com
Machado started his pro career as a SS. He played 203 games at SS in the minors compared to only 4 games at third. He was always a great SS prospect and moved to third only because it was a way to get to Baltimore quicker because they had opportunity at thirdbase. I’m guessing that many fans forgot that.
Machado has also played 52 games at SS in the majors 2 defensive runs saved. There is absolutely no reason why anyone shouldn’t consider Machado a very capable major league caliber SS.
Machado wants to play SS this season because it could drive his FA price even higher. SS > 3B on position value and I think him and his agent know that.
Franco needs to go.
It doesn’t seem quite bright to me that the Orioles are trading Machado. He won’t re-sign with them in 2019. Why not take a trade that will give them 2-4 players that could not only help them now, but in the future too!!!
Only thing to do is hope Franco has a June like he did in 2015 and you deal him. Why sell low at this point. Maybe throw Tommy Joseph in at 3rd during Spring Training… smh.