Phillies Rumors

Odds And Ends: Peavy, Cards, Strasburg

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 2, 2009 at 4:40pm CDT

Odds And Ends: Red Sox, Peavy, Indians, Torre

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 1, 2009 at 2:59pm CDT

Heyman On Phillies Rotation Options

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 1, 2009 at 12:44pm CDT

SI.com's Jon Heyman spoke with Ruben Amaro Jr. and heard that the Phillies GM is after "depth at the top of the rotation." Here are the specifics of Heyman's analysis:

The Phillies want a "more established" player than Antonio Bastardo to replace the injured Brett Myers.
Amaro admits that swinging a deal is "tough to do" even with expendable young players like John Mayberry Jr., Lou Marson, Carlos Carrasco and Jason Donald.
Jake Peavy remains a logical fit, but there's no indication he'd accept a deal to Philly.
Erik Bedard, at $7.75MM this year, fits within the Phillies' budget.
Heyman agrees with Buster Olney: there's no guarantee Roy Oswalt will be dealt, but he would interest the Phillies.
Cliff Lee hasn't hit the market and Blue Jays people maintain that Roy Halladay isn't available, but Amaro isn't shying away from any top pitchers that become available. He says he wants "the best [he] can get." It appears that Brad Penny would not be enough for Philadelphia.
Chris Young and Aaron Harang are names to watch out for, as they could become available.

Olney On Oswalt, White Sox, Phillies

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 1, 2009 at 12:00pm CDT

ESPN.com's Buster Olney discussed the market for pitchers on ESPN Radio; here are some bullet points worth passing along:

Teams believe they could deal for Roy Oswalt, it would just take a whole lot of talent to acquire the pitcher, who's a favorite of Astros owner Drayton McLane.
Pitchers perceive U.S. Cellular Field as a bandbox, which makes it less attractive to them. This is a problem the Yankees could face if the new Yankee Stadium continues to be so hitter-friendly.
Olney predicts the Phillies will trade for a starting pitcher "at some point."

Odds & Ends: Penny, Yankees

By Nat Boyle | May 31, 2009 at 11:03am CDT

Some bullet points from around the internet:

Despite immensely enjoying his experience with the Red Sox, Brad Penny is not letting the trade rumors distract him, says Rob Bradford of WEEI.
Chris Gimenez was promoted to replace Grady Sizemore who hit the 15-day disabled list today. Gimenez can play corner outfield and serve as a backup catcher, says Anthony Castrovince.
River Ave. Blues takes a look at the Yankees 25-man roster and suggests better options for the bench.
The Mets and Phillies are both seeking a starting pitcher. The Phillies want a front-of-the-rotation guy while the Mets want a bottom-of-the-rotation guy. New York Post columnist Larry Brooks wonders in jest which role Pedro Martinez could fill.

Odds & Ends: Ibanez, Pettitte, Fontenot

By | May 30, 2009 at 3:40pm CDT

Your Saturday evening links, with more to come…

ESPN's Keith Law has made some significant changes to his Top 100 MLB Draft Rankings. It's subscriber-only, but a great read for those looking to catch draft fever.
Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times asks (and attempts to answer) a popular question: "What is going on with Raul Ibanez in Philadelphia?"
Benjamin Kabak of River Ave. Blues takes another look at Andy Pettitte's incentive-laden deal with the Yankees.
Cubs manager Lou Piniella is high on Mike Fontenot at third base. "Fontenot is honestly our best option there," Piniella told the Chicago Sun-Times. "When we get Aaron Miles back [from the disabled list] it will help the situation too. But we feel very comfortable with Fontenot at third, and we can use [Bobby] Scales and [Andres] Blanco at second."

Odds And Ends: Rangers, Brewers, O’Dowd

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 30, 2009 at 9:26am CDT

A few links for Saturday morning…

Nolan Ryan could buy into the Texas Rangers according to this MLB.com article by T.R. Sullivan.
ESPN.com's Buster Olney points out that the Rangers have the resources to "out-bid others for the likes of Erik Bedard" if they decide to trade for pitching help.
Brewers GM Doug Melvin said once again that he's not looking outside the organization for second base help, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Melvin said he's happy with Craig Counsell at second in the absence of Rickie Weeks.
Now that the Phillies hope to acquire an impact pitcher, Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog.com wonders whether the Mets might decide to get in the Phillies' way and go after an arm, too.
As Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe reports, the Red Sox aren't about to implement a six-man rotation. The Sox will still have arms to spare so we'll continue to hear Brad Penny's name in trade rumors.
Dave Krieger of the Denver Post says the next four months will be a "referendum" on Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd and his front office.
As MLB.com's John Schlegel reports Stephen Strasburg struck out 15 in his most recent start, walking no one and allowing two earned runs on eight hits.
Check out a discussion I had about the Jays and other MLB teams on TorontoSportsMedia.com.
Newsday's Ken Davidoff likes the Lance Broadway–Ramon Castro swap for the Mets.
Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle takes a look at Ed Wade's Kaz Matsui signing and doesn't like what he sees.

Phillies To Pursue One Impact Pitcher

By Tim Dierkes | May 29, 2009 at 9:44pm CDT

Brett Myers is out for the season with hip surgery. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports spoke to Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr., who said the Phillies don't have the money to add multiple starters. Instead they'll aim high, with names like Erik Bedard and Roy Oswalt speculated by Rosenthal. So, not a Brad Penny type. SI's Jon Heyman wrote about Bedard's appeal earlier today.

Rosenthal also wonders if Myers' surgery could restore some lost velocity, making him an intriguing free agent after the season.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Peavy, Braves, Penny, Francoeur

By Cork Gaines | May 29, 2009 at 4:00pm CDT

On this date 20 years ago, Mike Schmidt announced his retirement 42 games into the season. He was still voted to the National League All-Star team, but did not play. Schmidt retired with a career line of .267/.380/.527, 548 home runs and 10 gold gloves. As we approach the 50-game mark of the '09 season, teams are starting to recognize needs and make changes. Let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

The Fightins make a case for the Phillies going after Jake Peavy.
When Sid Slid highlights players the Braves might be able to target in a trade, including Luke Scott, Josh Willingham and Brad Hawpe.
Center Field Gate takes a look at a Manny Delcarmen-Nick Johnson swap from a Nats perspective and finds things not to like. Nats GM Mike Rizzo said the rumor was a fabrication, anyway.
The Bottom Line puts together a list of catchers the Red Sox might target in a trade involving Brad Penny or Clay Buchholz.
Capitol Avenue Club says it is time for the Braves to shake things up and moving Jeff Francoeur is the key.
The Ghost of Moonlight Graham sees a Matt LaPorta for Michael Bowden trade as good for both the Red Sox and Indians.
DC Sports Plus takes a look back at the Nationals' recent draft history.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.

Olney Speculation: Penny For Donald?

By Tim Dierkes | May 29, 2009 at 11:15am CDT

This is 100% speculation on Buster Olney's part, but it makes for a good discussion topic. Should the Phillies trade infield prospect Jason Donald for starter Brad Penny? (I repeat – this is not an actual trade rumor).

The first question is how much Penny would help the Phillies. He's rung up a 5.96 ERA in nine American League starts, and has a 5.47 xFIP to match. Olney discounts Pedro Martinez for the Phillies in part because he's a flyball pitcher, but Penny's groundball rate this year isn't impressive at 38.4%. Olney's other argument against Pedro is that he does not go deep into games, but Penny's averaged only 5.37 innings per start this year. So if the Phillies like Penny, shouldn't they like Pedro almost as much? (They actually have no interest in Pedro, by the way).

The other question is whether six years of Donald is too much to give up for four or fewer months of Penny. Does Donald profile as a super-utility player in the future, as Baseball America wondered in their '09 Handbook?

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