Phillies Rumors

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Utley, Matsui, Yankees, Lee

By Mike Axisa | March 5, 2010 at 11:35am CDT

On this date 44-years ago, Marvin Miller was elected as the first full-time president of the Major League Baseball Players' Association by the player representatives. Miller, who was previously the assistant to the president of United Steelworkers, negotiated the first collective bargaining agreement with the owners in 1968. Within his first ten years on the job, Miller was able to get salary arbitration included in the CBA and helped eliminate the reserve clause, ushering in the age of free agency. He is the reason the MLBPA is as powerful as it is today, but Miller has yet to be enshrined in Cooperstown.

Here's a looking at what's being written around the web…

Crashburn Alley looks at how much Chase Utley stands out from the pack of 2000 first round picks.
The Ghost of Moonlight Graham says the Angels are playing with fire if they plan on letting Hideki Matsui see some action in the outfield.
Bronx Bombers Beat wonders what the Yankees will do with their abundance of long relievers.
Around The Majors hosted a roundtable discussion of this past offseason.
The Friarhood says the Padres would be foolish not to trade Adrian Gonzalez to the White Sox if they offer Gordon Beckham.
Jorge Says No! thinks the Cubs are smart to hold off contract negotiations with Derrek Lee.
Viva El Birdos previews the 2010 draft.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Odds & Ends: Hernandez, Zito, Mateo

By Mark Polishuk | March 1, 2010 at 9:24pm CDT

Some news items from around the majors on this Monday night…

MLB.com’s Bill Chastain profiles left-hander Carlos Hernandez, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2004 and is trying to return with Tampa Bay.
While it’s very unlikely that Barry Zito will live up to his $126MM contract, Craig Calcaterra of NBCSports.com notes that the left-hander is still a solid starter.
The Braves have no interest in teenage prospect Wagner Mateo, reports MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. Mateo was originally signed by St. Louis last summer but the Cardinals voided the contract due to concerns over Mateo’s eyesight.
The signings of Jason Jennings and Brett Tomko shouldn’t cause any concern about the health of other key pitchers on the Oakland staff, says Tom Singer of MLB.com.
Philadelphia has become a prime destination for free agents and stars looking to be traded, writes MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. Back-to-back NL pennants and a World Series title will tend to do that.
Chris Young struggled in his first season of a five-year, $28MM deal with Arizona and has yet to have a true breakout year after three seasons as a major league regular. John Sickels of MinorLeagueBall.com, however, thinks it’s too early to write Young off.
MLB.com’s Bill Ladson answers fan questions on a variety of topics, including how prospect Chris Marrero (Washington’s first-round pick in the 2006 June Amateur Draft) could be affected if the Nationals re-sign Adam Dunn.
Speaking of mailbags, Baseball America’s Jim Callis answers some fan questions about prospects and also looks ahead to the 2011 June Amateur Draft.

Odds & Ends: Ramirez, Sheets, Cardinals, Reds

By Zachary Links | February 28, 2010 at 10:33pm CDT

Sunday night linkage..

Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner tweets that it'll be interesting to see which sabermetric-friendly team will ink recently-DFA'd pitcher Edwar Ramirez. Cameron's bet is on Tampa Bay.
Jason Churchill of ESPN (Insider subscription required) explains why second basemen aren't often selected in the first round of the amateur draft. He writes that the best athletes usually play center field and shortstop in high school and college. The second basemen typically come from the shortstops who cannot keep up with the position defensively.
Ben Sheets threw live batting practice for the first time with the A's and impressed the coaching staff with his velocity, according to the Associated Press. Sheets inked a one-year deal with Oakland worth $10MM plus performance bonuses in late January.
Felipe Lopez's arrival may mean less at-bats for Julio Lugo, writes Matthew Leach of MLB.com. Lugo sounds less-than-thrilled about a reduced role but said that his agents have not approached the Cards about a move.
Dusty Baker isn't worried about his contract situation, writes Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. The Reds skipper is entering the final season of a three-year pact.
Todd Zolecki of MLB.com writes that despite trading away several highly-rated prospects in the last 19 months, the Phillies still have talent in their farm system.

Odds & Ends: Royals, Fielder, Cameron, Park

By Luke Adams 2 | February 28, 2010 at 2:12pm CDT

Some Sunday links to browse….

The Royals agreed to terms with Brayan Pena and Chris Getz, according to a team press release. Terms of the contracts were not disclosed. With Pena and Getz sorted out, the team now has four unsigned players remaining: Billy Butler, Alberto Callaspo, Luke Hochevar, and Carlos Rosa.
In his most recent blog post, ESPN.com's Buster Olney writes that Prince Fielder ought to consider a long-term extension with Milwaukee, since "it's still unclear whether any team would value him as much as the Brewers."
Mike Cameron considered signing with the Mariners before he landed in Boston, according to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times.
Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that the Phillies were Chan Ho Park's first choice heading into this winter, but that the two sides just couldn't work anything out.
If Josh Beckett's last contract was any indication, he won't be concerned about "setting the market" when he signs his next deal, writes John Tomase of the Boston Herald.
Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle defends the Astros' offseason bullpen signings, explaining how the team evaluated Brandon Lyon and Matt Lindstrom.
Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch passes along comments from Tony La Russa about how the club's infield rotation will work with Felipe Lopez now a Cardinal.
Blaine Boyer played a major part in recruiting Adam LaRoche and Kelly Johnson to Arizona, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.

Discussion: Best Move Of The Offseason

By Mike Axisa | February 27, 2010 at 5:20pm CDT

With Felipe Lopez finally catching on with the Cardinals, essentially every big name free agent is off the market (no disrespect to Jermaine Dye and Jarrod Washburn). That allows us to sit back and reflect on all of the offseason's moves, and try to figure out which one was the very best.

Here are some candidates…

Mets sign Jason Bay to a four-year, $66MM contract.
Yankees acquire Curtis Granderson for three prospects.
Phillies acquire Roy Halladay for three prospects.
Red Sox sign John Lackey to a five-year, $82.5MM contract.
Mariners acquire Cliff Lee for three prospects.
Rays acquire Rafael Soriano for Jesse Chavez.

There's certainly no shortage of candidates, but one has to be the best of the best, right? What do you think it is?

Phillies Links: Payroll, Jesus Sanchez, Bench

By Luke Adams 2 | February 26, 2010 at 9:03pm CDT

Let's check out some Phillies-related Friday night links….

Todd Zolecki of MLB.com breaks down the club's 2010 payroll, projecting that it could eventually exceed $140MM, based on potential bonuses and buyouts.
Zolecki also looks at the last remaining piece of the trade that sent Bobby Abreu out of Philadelphia: Jesus Sanchez. Zolecki writes that the Phils "just might get some talent in return for Abreu after all."
In a team preview for Yahoo! Sports, David Brown presents five burning questions facing the Phillies, including whether the team sufficiently improved their bench this winter.

Odds & Ends: Thames, Manzella, Royals, Marlins

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 26, 2010 at 4:03pm CDT

Links for Friday…

Chad Jennings of The Journal News reports that Marcus Thames can opt out of his contract with the Yankees if he doesn't make the team out of Spring Training. Thames signed a minor league deal earlier this month that would pay him $900K in the big leagues.
Alyson Footer, the Astros' Sr. Director of Social Media, tweets that the team has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with infielder Tommy Manzella worth $400K. He's expected to be the team's regular shortstop in 2010, and he has less than a month's worth of service time.
Mike Aviles and Anthony Lerew agreed to terms with the Royals according to a team press release. Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star tweets that both deals are expected to be worth less than $500K. Both players are not yet eligible for arbitration.
Meanwhile, the Marlins also agreed to terms with six of their pre-arbitration eligible players, reports MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.
Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun reports that Orioles' lefty Brian Matusz has changed agents, and is now represented by CAA Sports. He had a 4.63 ERA in 44.2 innings last year, and is widely considered to be one of the two or three best pitching prospects in the game.
Nationals' GM Mike Rizzo spoke about the Livan Hernandez signing to MASNSports.com's Ben Goessling, and said that the righty isn't guaranteed a rotation spot.
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports polled nearly 20 baseball people about Carl Crawford's next contract. Many of the agents and executives expect Crawford to command a five-year deal worth $12-16MM per season, but some think the left fielder could make as much as $18MM per year when he hits the open market, probably after 2010.
Scott Rolen was happy to restructure his contract so the Reds could "free up some money to go out and be more competitive," according to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Nationals pitcher Rafael Martin tells MLB.com's Bill Ladson that he agreed to his deal on February 8th (Twitter link).
Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd told Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports that he wants his players to be driven by "more than money." O'Dowd also told Ringolsby that he did not shop Brad Hawpe this winter.
The Mets are still looking at lefty and righty relievers, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff (via Twitter).
Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt tells Scott Lauber of the News Journal that he expects Placido Polanco to make a smooth transition to third base.
Marlon Byrd tells USA Today's Bob Nightengale that he's uncomfortable being compared to friend and former teammate Milton Bradley.
Big market clubs sent $433MM to small market clubs last year, according to Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball.
The Red Sox don't generally use insurance on their long-term deals. Principal owner John Henry tells Rob Bradford of WEEI.com that "it isn't always easy to get paid," even once players are injured.
Jose Julio Ruiz may be close to signing, but it won't be with the Nationals, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
Astros owner Drayton McLane, who has "a huge amount of confidence" in GM Ed Wade, would consider selling his team for $600MM or more, according to Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Adrian, Howard, Jeter

By Mike Axisa | February 26, 2010 at 8:47am CDT

A year ago today, the Giants renewed reigning Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum's contract for $650K. One year and a second Cy Young later, San Francisco bought out Lincecum's first two years of arbitration eligibility for $23MM. I'm sure they enjoyed paying him just six figures while it lasted.

Let's take a look at what's being written around the baseball blogosphere…

The Friarhood looks at what some other teams could offer the Padres in exchange for Adrian Gonzalez.
Crashburn Alley breaks down the possibility of the Phillies trading Ryan Howard so they could re-sign Jayson Werth.
Meanwhile, TAUNTR thinks it's going to be tough for the Phillies to retain their right fielder.
Statistician Magician says that letting Derek Jeter walk is an option for the Yankees.
Mets Paradise takes a look at the Mets' catching situation with Rod Barajas now on board.
More Hardball constructed a 25-man roster out of players that were signed to minor league contracts this offseason.
River Ave. Blues wonders what CC Sabathia will do with his opt-out clause following the 2011 season.
Baseball Bloggers Alliance challenges readers to put together Toronto's 25-man roster.
The Sports Banter ranks each team's offseason, with two AL East powers leading the way.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Brad Wilkerson Agrees To Deal With Phillies

By Tim Dierkes | February 23, 2010 at 1:53pm CDT

Outfielder Brad Wilkerson agreed to a minor league deal with the Phillies, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Wilkerson was thought to have retired in April of '09.

Unlike fellow minor league outfield signings Chris Duffy and Dewayne Wise, Wilkerson will not participate in the Phillies' big league camp according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.

Jayson Werth Discusses Next Contract

By Tim Dierkes | February 22, 2010 at 3:45pm CDT

Phillies outfielder Jayson Werth will be eligible for free agency after the 2010 season. The 30-year-old's '09 season featured career-bests in plate appearances, home runs, RBIs, runs, and slugging percentage. He also qualifies as an above-average defensive right fielder. Werth signed a two-year, $10MM extension in January of '09.

Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer was part of the group questioning Werth about the future today. Asked if he sees himself as comparable to Jason Bay and Matt Holliday, Werth said he feels he's "a season away from something like that." Keep in mind that 2009 was the only time Werth reached 500 plate appearances in his seven-year career.

Werth says he's only had very preliminary talks with the Phillies about an extension. He wants to stay, and deferred to his agent when asked if he'd negotiate in-season. GM Ruben Amaro Jr. raised the topic a month ago, saying "there will be some difficult decisions down the road."

It seems feasible that Werth will exceed the three-year, $30MM range occupied by Raul Ibanez and Milton Bradley the previous offseason. Werth has advantages over both players, and given a strong 2010 he should be able to command four or five years at at least $12MM per.

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