Tag Archives: Red Sox

Would Adding Oswalt Make a Difference?

19 May

Over the last few days it’s become apparent that Roy Oswalt is looking to get back on the mound, and he already has a list of suitors.  One of them is the Phillies.

The Phillies, Rangers, and Red Sox have all seen Oswalt throw.  From what we know of Oswalt in the past, it’s pretty apparent that he doesn’t have much interest in playing for Boston, especially since they look as if they are in turmoil.  Oswalt is looking for a chance to win a ring, so Texas and Philadelphia make the most sense.

But who has the room?

The problem in Texas is that they don’t really need another starter.  They have converted Neftali Feliz into a starter, and have  Scott Feldman and Alexi Ogando in their bullpen, who can come out of the bullpen as starters.  They also have Colby Lewis, who they could trade, but I’m not sure if they think of Oswalt as an upgrade over Lewis.

With Philadelphia, it’s a similar situation to the one in Texas. The Phillies are expecting Vance Worley to return from the disabled list when he’s able to be activated, and Joe Blanton is healthy and pitching well. One could say that the Phils could consider trading Blanton for some offensive help, and take on Oswalt, but I don’t know if I like that idea considering the Phillies are really starting to hit. The Phillies would need to eat some of Blanton’s deal, and then they’d need to pay Oswalt, so they’d likely break even there.  Adding Oswalt would make it more difficult if they needed some extra cash at the trade deadline.  The Phillies are just about $4MM short of hitting the luxury tax of $178MM.

Not to mention that Oswalt is always a health risk.  His back has been known to flair up at a moments notice. We learned that one the hard way.

Right now, I’d chalk this up to the Phillies doing their due diligence.  If something arises, than at least they know where Oswalt stands. Other then that, I don’t really see him returning.

Not yet at least.

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For Hire – Roy Oswalt

23 Feb

Photo: Pool/Getty Images

Unless something arises, Roy Oswalt has decided to wait on signing with a team, and plans to stay in shape and offer his pitching services to a team midseason. Ala Roger Clemens, and Pedro in 2009, Roy would be willing to come to a team (likely a contender only) and pitch in the stretch run.

Oswalt was interested in coming back to Philadelphia, but the Phillies wanted to go in a different direction.

It was rumored that Oswalt only wanted to pitch for a contender, and that he was looking for something in the $8-10MM range.  There were also reports that Oswalt was very particular about where he would and wouldn’t pitch, which may be part of the reason that he’s in the spot where he is… Although I think that’s kind of what he wanted. But let’s be honest, Roy has a few health concerns and I don’t blame teams for thinking that his asking price is a little steep.  Not to mention that the final few months of 2011 were not very good for Oswalt.

To be honest I think this is the best thing for Roy.  It’s pretty obvious that he’s had his share of health issues, and the grind of a full season may not be the best thing for him.  I also think that last season showed that he may not be entirely committed to baseball anymore.  It seems to me that Oswalt wants to spend more time with his family, which is understandable, and that a full season of baseball does not leave much time for that.  He came across as fairly tormented throughout last season, and hinted that he had been considering retirement, so I don’t really know.

Do I think that Oswalt is a fit in Philadelphia?  No, not really.  Say one of our pitchers went down… I think it’s safe to say Ruben has his number.

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Proven Smoke in the 9th

15 Nov

As you know by now Ruben Amaro Jr. has made another splash in the free agent market inking closer Jonathan Papelbon to a 4-year, $50 million dollar contract.  I’m pretty thrilled to have a closer that throws gas like Pap, the length of the deal scares me a bit.

I’m pretty mixed when it comes to taking Pap over Ryan Madson.  Sure, Papelbon has been closing for years in Boston and has a pretty solid track record, but he relies pretty heavily on his fastball, and I worry that in a few years when his velocity dips we’re going to be upset that we have a guy that throws mostly fastballs.  Ryan Madson had a repertoire of pitches to work with, but that does not mean that he would have any more success in the end.  It’s pretty well documented that guys who throw hard like Pap do, tend to have a tougher time lasting into September and October as they age.

So we’ll see, and time will tell…

Pap does have the edge when comparing the two, having been Boston’s everyday closer.  219 saves (37 per year average) over the past six seasons with a 2.33 career ERA.   2011 probably was  the best year of Papelbon’s career. He was 4-1 with a 2.94 ERA in 63 games, converting 31 save opportunities in 34 chances.  However he blew a pretty big save at the end of the season for the Red Sox that knocked the Sox from playoff contention.  (To be fair the whole team played like garbage down the stretch)

Madson converted 32 saves for the Phillies in 2011, but only started to fill in as the closer in May after Jose Contreras went down with an injury. He does appear to be on the upswing.

With the Aces we have on the mound, I’m just happy the Phillies have a sound closer locked up for some time.

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Madson Talks Heating Up?

8 Nov

Well, so they say.

It seems that the Phillies seem to value a few things heavier then their talks with Jimmy Rollins. Last night there were multiple reports that the Phillies are getting a little more “aggressive,” and honestly I feel they have to.

You can’t have three aces like Halladay, Hamels, and Lee going eight strong innings an have some goofball come out for the ninth and blow it…  These three deserve a legitimate, slam the door, closer.

Todd Zolecki reported last night that he gets the feeling that if the Phillies can’t work something out with Madson then they will look at names like Jonathan Papelbon, Heath Bell, and Joe Nathan.

That was reaffirmed by a few others in then know…

@SI_JonHeyman - #phillies also have had talks with papelbon. Seem determined to sign either pap or madson. like their style.
@jaysonst - #Phillies are making “strong push” to re-sign Ryan Madson. More to come inESPN.com Rumor Central.
@jcrasnick - Source tells ESPN.com that #Phillies talks with closer Ryan Madson are “advancing, but not complete.”
However, it’s worth noting that almost everyone has stated that the Phillies prefer Madson as their first choice, and that everyone else would be a secondary to him.

Ryan is also drawing some interest from the Red Sox, Nationals, Rangers and Marlins.  The Rangers have thoughts of putting Neftali Feliz into their starting rotation, and the Red Sox are unsure if they are going to be able to retain Jonathan Papelbon.  The Marlins and Nationals are basically linked to every free-agent out there, so I wouldn’t put too much stock into that.

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Phillies Trade Buzz 7/21

22 Jul

There has been a little buzz around Hunter Pence that involves the Phillies, and it leads me to believe that the Phillies don’t have much of a chance to acquire him.

Rumor has it right now that the Astros asking price is so high that he’ll probably end up staying put in Houston.  It’s believed that the Astros are interested in both Vance Worley and Domonic Brown.  To me that’s just crazy talk.  Brown was considered untouchable in both the Halladay and Lee trades, and even though we’ve gotten to see a little more from him I believe that the Phillies are not ready to give up on him just yet.  Personally I’m not ready to part with Worley since it’s unknown how soon Roy Oswalt will return to the rotation, and I haven’t a clue who could be a starter if he doesn’t come back, or God forbid something should happen to one of the healthy aces.

If the playoffs were tomorrow, I’d say go for it, but there is almost 2 1/2 months left in the season and the Braves are just 4 games back from the Phillies.  That’s not that big of a gap.  The Astros are not looking for a package of unproven prospects.  I don’t think a combination of Singleton, Cosart, and you pick the others, would do it.  They are going to want someone that they can throw out on the field right now.  I was at the Lakewood BlueClaws game on Thursday to watch Phillies first round pick Jesse Biddle, and I encountered a scout from the Houston Astros that was there to watch him pitch, so I can’t say with certainty that they wouldn’t take accept a collection of prospects, but I still doubt it .

I’m interested in a “Rental” player if we don’t have to give up very much, but I don’t necessarily think that’s the long term answer.  The Phillies desperately need some protection for Ryan Howard.

The teams linked to Pence right now are the Phillies, Pirates, Red Sox, and now the Braves.

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Phillies Weekly Report

12 Jul

Here’s a look at my column I write for PhilaPhans.com.

I’m posting it here so you can check it out, but if you want to read this in the future, I have a new addition every Monday morning on PhilaPhans. Consider popping over to PhilaPhans and even becoming a member.  I’m usually hanging around in the Game Day Thread during Phillies games.  Come join in!

The Phillies Weekly Report

By The Phanatic Addict

It was another 4-2 week for the Phillies. Two more series wins. One against theMarlins, and one against the hotAtlanta Braves. The series win over the Braves sure felt good with them right on the Phillies tail, and the 14-1 pounding we handed them made it that much better. .666 Baseball is nothing to be sorry about.

I do worry a little about the Phillies second half schedule. They played plenty of teams with losing records in the first half, and a lot of their second half games are on the road. The Phillies are 34-15 (.693) at home, but just 23-19 (.547) away from Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies have recently been known as a second half club, but it would be nice not to have to

The Offense – The Phillies offense showed up for five out of their six games this week. I can’t explain what happened on Saturday, but we do have to give a little bit of credit to Tommy Hanson, who pitched well. Cliff Lee managed to hit a homer off him, why didn’t anyone else? A head scratcher indeed.

As much as I see everyone complaining about how bad this offense is, the Phillies scored 39 runs this week. Yes, 28 of them came in two games but we scored these runs off of some pretty good pitchers.

The biggest blow to the team was losing Shane Victorino after it appeared tat he would be coming back pretty quick. Shane should return as soon as he is eligible when the Phillies face the Cubs next week.

Starting Pitching – Heading into the All-Star break things are looking really good. Sure, We’d like to have Oswalt up and pitching well, but the guys that are here are pitching like studs. The Phillies have three of their starters heading to the All-Star game in Arizona. It is the first time in the last 25 years that a team has had three pitchers with more then 9 wins, and ERA’s below 3.00 at the break.

I’m sure that Cole Hamels enjoyed the 28 runs of support that he got this week. It’s probably more then he got in 2010.

The Pen – I’m excited to see that Ryan Madson is closer to making his return. Antonio Bastardo has been just brilliant in his turn as the closer for the Phillies, but the possibility that Madson could be back next weekend is really big for the bullpen.

Brad Lidge has had some rehab appearances this week in his road back, and all have been rather positive. I’ll take a healthy Lidge over Andrew Carpenter any day.

Two straight scoreless appearances for Juan Perez have earned him the right to hang around a little longer in my book. He’s made the Braves hitters look just silly on Friday night, and you can never have enough lefties in your pen.

The Bench – This bench seems to become more important to the success of the Phillies every single game. With Shane Victorino, and Placido Polanco on the shelf the bench players have stepped onto the field and have almost flawlessly filled in.

Michael Martinez turned in seven hits in his last five games. Not to mention four runs, four RBI and a couple of really great catches. John Mayberry Jr. has also been really great in his last few starts. Six hits, Seven RBI, and three runs score. His three doubles on Sunday are proof that he may just have the tools to be considered for a starting job, if not at least as a platoon player in 2012.

Managers- I’d say that my only surprise of the week from the managers would be their decision to pull Kyle Kendrick out of a game that he was winning after just five innings. They turned the ball over to the bullpen and the game was over. The Phillies committed three errors in this game which cost them, and Kyle was the scapegoat.

After a 14 run game, you want to get right back out on the field and keep playing, but let’s be real. This team needs some rest. With the injured players we have sitting, and Chase Utley’s knee problems I think that a four day rest is just fine and dandy.

Again, the Phillies ended this week with two more series victories, and you can’t ask for too much more then that.

On a personal note, I’ve kept this a little shorter then usual, but with a wild work week, and a new addition to our family, I’m pretty spent. Congratulations to my sister and her husband on the birth of their new daughter. Welcome to the family Erin.

If you have time stop by my blog The Phanatic Addict, and I’ll see you in the forums.

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Do We Really Need to Make a Trade?

1 Jul

Ruben Amaro has obviously made a few splashes in the the trade and free agent markets, but some of the trades I hear people talking about are just getting a little ridiculous.

There is so much talk about making a trade for a right handed bat, and I get it. We sure could use a few more runs every now and then, but I’m not quite convinced that it needs to happen with the urgency that so many need to seem to be crying for.

When I talk to people about winning in the playoffs I like to point out that most of the time it doesn’t matter how good your lineup is, it just matters whether you’re team is hot or not. In 2007 the Phillies were cut up by the buzz saw that was the Colorado Rockies. In 2008 the Rays were the hot team all season long but they ran out of gas by the time they got to the World Series and met a Phillies team that was hitting their stride. The 2009 Phillies were surely a better ball club then the Yankees, but they seemed pretty taxed and fell to a team of veterans that at the time were playing great baseball. I think we all can agree that we were a better club then the Giants last year, but again the Phillies went cold and we were beat by good pitching.

The regular season record means almost nothing when you get to the playoffs, but right now the Phillies are still the best team in baseball, and are 20 games over .500. We just won 17 games in the month of June, which is the most they have won in the month since 1993. They lead the Braves by 4 games, and even thought that will fluctuate a little bit before the end of September we are still, in my mind, a lock to win this division.

Sure, I’d love for the Phillies to find a bat that can add a little bit more run support in the lineup, but I don’t want them to make an unnecessary trade that might cost them in the future. How anyone can be saying that they would be willing to trade Vance Worley or Domonic Brown in beyond my comprehension. Right now Vance Worley is pitching great and showing that he’s worth keeping up here, and the little bit we have seen of Dom Brown is not enough for us to be deciding his future.

I’d imagine that a deal finds a way of getting itself done, but I wouldn’t expect anything of the caliber that we have grown accustomed to.

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VANIMAL!

30 Jun

Alright the nick name is kinda stupid, but in case you haven’t seen it, it’s stitched on his glove, so I didn’t give it to him.

Vance Worley pitched a fantastic game against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night.  He got the well deserved win, and Michael Stutes and Antonio Bastardo locked it down in relief.  Phillies 2, Red Sox 1.

I like the way Vance carries himself.  I’ve seen other sites saying that he has a chip on his shoulder, and that he looks like he has an attitude, but seriously he just held the best offense in the Major Leagues to one run.  If he wants to walk with a little swagger, it’s OK with me.  The composure that this kid has is great.

The Phillies are looking for the sweep today as they send Cole Hamels to the mound to face Jon Lester.  Lester and Hamels are both sitting on 9 wins.  Hopefully the Phillies can muster up the offense to finally get him to 10.

In a rush today… Sorry.

Enjoy the game!

 

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Lee Knocks The Sox Off Boston

29 Jun

That may be the corniest title I’ve give to a post yet, but that might just be because Cliff Lee has put me in a spectacular mood.

Why wouldn’t I be?  Cliff Lee kicked some serious butt on Tuesday night.

In what some were calling a preview of the World Series Cliff Lee out pitched the Red Sox’s Josh Beckett, and allowed just two hits to the Major Leagues most dangerous offense.

It was Cliff’s third consecutive complete game shutout, and in June 5-0 with an 0.21 ERA in five starts. He had allowed just one run in 42 innings and is in the middle of a 32-inning scoreless streak.  Cliff is a lock to be named the N.L. pitcher of the month.

Still, Lee manages to stay humble.

“I’m not going to pat myself on the back right now. I have to stay in my routine and prepare for each start. This one is over. I have to move on and prepare for my next start.”

That may be what I like best about this pitching staff.  In Spring Training the Aces were bombarded with questions about being the greatest starting staff ever, and they kept their cool saying that they haven’t accomplished anything yet.

Let’s not let it slip that Lee also earned himself another RBI in the game, and his 5th of the season.

Lee is now 9-5 with a 2.66 ERA, and will surely get the nod for a spot in the 2011 All-Star game.

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Bats VS. Arms

28 Jun

World Series preview or not, this is going to be a great test.

The Phillies have the best ERA in baseball at 3.05, and the Red Sox have some pretty great bats.

Here is just a few things to put in to perspective just how good their offense is.

• Adrian Gonzalez leads the AL with a .361 batting average.

• The Sox lead the Majors with 409 runs scored.

• They Lead the Majors with a .277 batting average, 741 hits,  and 391 RBI.

• They avererage 5.31 runs per game. Yes… That leads the league, too.

The Phillies have pushed up Cole Hamels day so that he will pitch on Thursday, so the series looks like this.

Tuesday – Cliff Lee 8-5, 2.87 ERA VS. Josh Beckett 6-2, 1.86 ERA

Wednesday – Vance Worley 2-1, 2.83 ERA VS. John Lackey 5-6, 7.36 ERA

Thursday – Cole Hamels 9-4, 2.49 ERA VS. Jon Lester 9-4, 3.66 ERA

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