Phillies Still Want Pitching; Few Arms Available
David Murphy and Rich Hoffman, both of the Philadelphia Daily News, believe the Phillies need pitching. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. seems to agree with them. But, as Scott Lauber of the News Journal reports, there's very little pitching available.
Heyman: Ten Teams That Could Add Payroll
Jon Heyman of SI.com provides a list of ten teams that could add payroll. He adds the Angels, Brewers, Red Sox and Brewers to the list we assembled last week. Here are his ten teams:
- The Red Sox could add payroll, but they don't have significant needs.
- The Mets could add payroll and they need a hitter who can play first, the outfield, or both.
- The Phillies could add payroll to acquire pitching.
- The Angels, with several contracts expiring this year (Vladimir Guerrero, John Lackey, Chone Figgins), could add salary.
- The Giants could take on payroll to add a bat.
- The Brewers and Cardinals could both free up money to add a pitcher or hitter.
- The Tigers, White Sox and Dodgers round out Heyman's list, but he warns us not to rule out the Yankees.
- Don't look for the White Sox to deal prospects away to increase their playoff chances, even though they trail the Tigers by just 5.0 games.
- On another note, no one's called the Mariners about Adrian Beltre.
Odds And Ends: Webb, Doumit, Blanks
Links for Friday morning…
- Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News argues the Phillies should declare prospect Michael Taylor off-limits.
- Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post says the 2009 Rockies are nothing like the version that stunned us with a late-season surge two Septembers ago.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports argues the Nationals need to fire Manny Acta or assure him that he'll manage all season.
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says Brandon Webb had a setback and could miss the entire year.
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wonders whether the Pirates have considered moving Ryan Doumit to first base or right field when he returns.
- The Padres called up their top prospect, Kyle Blanks, according to Baseball America's John Manuel.
- Ben Klayman and Megan Davies of Reuters report that the Ricketts family has a rival in its bid to buy the Cubs, as an old bidder is again involved.
Don’t Expect Phillies to Pick Up a Bat
There are two factors working against the Philadelphia Phillies picking up a bat, even with Raul Ibanez sidelined with a groin injury, Jimmy Rollins languishing in the low .200s, and a three-game sweep by the Blue Jays now complete.
First is that the Phils may have that replacement bat during Ibanez's recovery in John Mayberry Jr., who homered Thursday afternoon. Mayberry posted an .808 OPS during 210 Triple-A plate appearances in 2009, suggesting he can be an adequate bat in Ibanez's absence.
But the bigger issue is the Phillies will need to save their prospects for a deal or deals for arms. Joe Blanton, after Thursday's start, has a 5.28 ERA. Considering he is Philadelphia's de facto number two starter, that won't get it done.
Worse still is the bullpen situation. Brad Lidge is sidelined with a knee injury, and now Ryan Madson, who had been dominant, has hit a rough patch at exactly the wrong time, blowing up in two of the three games against Toronto.
So which should be the priority right now for Philadelphia: starter or reliever?
Teams Willing To Add Payroll
Deep-pocketed teams like the Cubs and Yankees say they'll have trouble adding salary this year, and they're far from the only ones. Here's a quick list of teams that could add payroll:
- Mike Ilitch's Red Wings just made it to the Stanley Cup final and he says the Tigers can add salary if it'll make them winners, too.
- Earlier in the week we heard that the Phillies can take on payroll.
- The Cardinals are in a position to add salary as well.
- The Dodgers are spending $2.7MM less than expected this year because of the Manny Ramirez suspension. This could give them the flexibility to take on a contract.
- The White Sox would have taken on payroll in the failed Jake Peavy trade.
- The Mets have about $5MM in payroll flexibility.
Add any teams I've missed in the comments and we can flesh this list out.
Odds And Ends: Yankees, Cubs, Red Sox
More links for Thursday afternoon…
- Jorge Arangure of ESPN.com says the Yankees could make a "splash" on July 2nd, when the international signing period begins.
- Adam Kilgore of the Boston Globe compares Brad Penny and A.J. Burnett. Kilgore says Burnett has an advantage, "but not an 82.5-to-5 edge." That's how much more Burnett signed for last offseason.
- A spokesman for Tom Ricketts says the family's deal to buy the Cubs is still on, according to the AP (via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
- David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News has a gut feeling the Phillies will make a deal "in the very near future." He points out that Pat Gillick and scouting director Gordon Lakey are in Philadelphia.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Brewers signed four more picks, including second rounder Cameron Garfield.
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Danny Knobler of CBS Sports heard that the Red Sox front office has wondered the same thing most of us have: how would this season look if Mark Teixeira had landed in Boston?
Pitching Market May Mean Phils Add To ‘Pen
It's still possible that the Phillies will add the top starter Charlie Manuel covets, but the weak market for starting pitching could force them to improve their bullpen instead, according to Danny Knobler of CBS Sports. With Erik Bedard and Jake Peavy on the disabled list, there's a shortage of top starters available. The Phillies are watching Brad Penny, who, along with Jarrod Washburn, may be the best starter available.
But pitchers such as Jason Marquis, Zach Duke and Paul Maholm "don't excite" the Phillies, so they may look to improve their pitching by adding a reliever, even though it's not their first choice.
Brad Penny Rumors
Brad Penny pitched well enough to win his 100th career game last night. Today, he’s the subject of many trade rumors. Here they are:
- David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News reports that the Phillies had a scout in Boston watching Penny’s start last night.
- The Rangers appear interested as well, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports.
- Cafardo heard from one NL scout who believes Penny is “the best name out there” for teams in search of starters.
- The Red Sox have fielded offers on Penny but they value their depth and may not make a move.
- Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald says Penny was throwing as hard as 98 mph.
- Penny would prefer to pitch every fifth day, but he’s open to pitching in a six-man rotation, according to Don Amore of the Hartford Courant.
Manuel Wants Arms for Phillies
Scott Lauber at the Delaware News-Journal got a hold of Phillies manager Charlie Manuel and asked if the manager would rather obtain a starter or a reliever. Manuel says he wants both, but would probably prefer a starter.
"But what I'm talking about is a horse. I'm not talking about a guy who's just going to fill out our rotation," Manuel said.
Lauber surmises that Manuel wants a Jake Peavy or Roy Oswalt-type, though Peavy is hurt and probably isn't an option, and the Astros aren't completely out of it just yet. Do the Phillies need a bullpen or rotation arm more? Or something else? Who should they go after?
Phillies Looking For Pitching, Can Add Payroll
Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the Phillies are working towards adding to a pitching staff that's been weakened by the absence of Brad Lidge and Brett Myers. The team has enough financial flexibility to add payroll, but there's no guarantee Ruben Amaro Jr. will be able to acquire the pitching he covets.