Comments on: Elbow gloom

By: egrissom

egrissom — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 14:10:28 +0000

I agree that 4/48 doesn’t sounds like enough to me.

I having a lot of trouble getting excited about the Orr, Bocock, Rivero and Sardinha moves.

I agree with Jim’s point above that I’d be a lot happier seeing Brown take over in left for Ibanez in 2012 than Werth in right in 2011. The Phils need to fill two big corner outfield spots in the near future. So let’s hope Brown gets going with the slugging .505 really soon.

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 02:49:46 +0000

SI says the Red Sox are after Crawford for right field.

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 01:59:41 +0000

Yeah. If he goes for 4/$48 I will once more believe in Santa Claus. I think 5/$75 woul dbe about as good as it gets, 5/$90 more likely as a base.

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:29:18 +0000

There’s actually a lot of money coming off the books in later years for guys that aren’t likely to be resigned, or if they are, at lesser nubers.. Halladay, Oswalt, Ibanez, Blanton, Polanco, possibly even Rollins.. I think 2011 is just kind of a nexus year for some of these contracts, and there will be plenty of flexibility left.

.. Now if Werth wants to sign for 4/$48, well, that’s even better. But that would have happened by now if that was happening. I’m not sure what the number is where having Werth becomes worse than not having Werth, but I think it’s pretty high. (And that, of course, is the number Boras is aiming for.)

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 22:08:35 +0000

94 days till pitchers and catchers. I’m just sayin’.

I do not know about the truth of modern baseball; is it really the truth that throwing money at players is the way to win? Throwing money at players who are not worth the money one pays them does not seem to me to have worked for the Mets, the Red Sox, the Yankees. If it did work, there would not have been the wide range of teams in the Series that we have had over the past few years. With Ryan Howard’s new contract, we will see if it works for the Phillies. All it seems to do is to tie one’s hands so that needed moves cannot be made.

I want Werth back. Make no mistake. But unless the Phillies have the kind of income stream the Yankees do, and I do not think that they do (just owning their own broadcasting resources places the Yankees ahead of everyone), I cannot see how they can do it without hamstringing the team’s ability to have quality players in a couple of years. We are already struggling with Ibanez’ contract implications. We will also have to bear Howard’s last years under massive expenses. To add Werth at $20 million at the same time? Doesn’t that guarentee not being at a championship level? Yikes.

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:32:41 +0000

Juan Samuel joins the ranks and moves to the 3 bag. Perlozzo moves to first bag. Anyone think he puts the stop sign up for Oswalt coming into first?? Zing!! I know, really lame, but there isnt much of substance to talk about as of late. Sardinha is signed, I guess thats good for the IronPigs. Pete Orr is in the folds, bye bye Bocock. I am a little intrigued as to what they do with the 40 with the Rule 5 picks coming up. Ehh, who am I kidding. Can we fast forward to pitchers and catchers please?

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:05:31 +0000

Greg, just caught the tail end your comment. Brown’s proven the minor leagues aren’t a challenge to him. He needs major league pitching to up his game. I’d move Gload or Francisco to make room as the 4th outfielder if I had to.

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:02:55 +0000

One of the truths of modern-era baseball is that, if one wishes to compete annually at a championship-caliber level, one must occasionally overpay very very good players as though they were the best players ever to avoid having to replace them with whatever dregs are laying about.

No, I don’t think Werth is worth $20M/year. Yes, I would sign him for that if that’s what it took and there was a way to pay for it that didn’t involve the Hicks plan. In the alternative, an unproven rookie who nearly choked on his cup of coffee becomes the designated starter next year (or platoons with a career backup), and the following year there’s another glaring outfield hole to fill with no reasonable plan in the organization, assuming the rookie/platoon works at all. In this scenario, given the state of the rest of the division, we could drop out of 1st in the NL East as soon as 2011, and out of wild card contention in 2012 as the pitching ages or retires and too few stars are left on offense.

I guess there’s other options as well.. trading, say, Cole Hamels for Jason Bay. I’d rather not go that route either.

It pretty much comes down to what lengths the Phils are willing to go to in order to have Yankee-like perennial success.

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 20:05:52 +0000

Guys, I just do not think that Jaysen Werth is worth $20 million a year. I do not think that anyone else does either. Maybe somebody can over pay him and land him at that cost, but they will be overpaying him. At that pay he needs a much better average with guys on base. A Gold Glove would be nice too. 20 a year is monster money, and while Werth has been a seriously good player, he is no monster.

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:40:15 +0000

I think a lot of this is going to depend on Werth. If he is willing to sign a back-loaded contract, I think the Phillies have a legitimate shot. Of course, what does that do to the finances in 3-4 years? I would *LOVE* it if Werth resigned, keeping Brown as your 4th outfielder until next year when he can take over for Ibanez. Of course, you also have Francisco and Gload on the team, so maybe Brown spends more time at Lehigh Valley.

Anyway, just sign Werth and be done with it already.