Gload-ing Over Moves But More To Come! (Phillies Dec 10)

December 10, 2009   ·   philliesmania   ·   Jump to comments

  Who is ROSS GLOAD for $300 Alex?

Yeah boy! The recently signed former 34 yr old Florida Marlin is now a Philadelphia Phillies bench player. I wonder what that means for Greg Dobbs although Phillies.com is presenting the bench like this, including Dobbs. 

 

• OF – Ben Francisco

• OF – Ross Gload (Gload has apparently played 1B also)

• INF – Greg Dobbs

• INF – Jaun Castro

• C  - Brian Schneider

 

It appears that the recent time Dobbs has spent at 3rd is now what he is viewed as, he can play 1B also. You could do worse. Of course in 2008 Dobbs was a huge impact off the bench but last year was not so effective. Although the underlying consensus is he struggled with nagging injuries.

 

Overall that is a solid bench if they meet expectations. How about our new boy?

 

Gload – 34 yrs old? – for a bench player that is not an enormous problem. In 2009 he hit .261 with six home runs and 30 RBIs in 230 with the Marlins. His average was .318 as a pinch-hitter in 2009. Not monster power numbers but power is not a problem on this team. If he gets hits with men on, that will be all that matters.

 

 

2009 Season Stats and Career
SPLITS	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Season	125	230	33	60	10	2	6	30	23	30	0	0	.261	.329	.400	.729
Career	608	1432	176	405	77	9	28	192	96	186	11	9	.283	.328	.408	.736

 

MORE MOVES? – Well they will come but what about the players who could return?

• Chan Ho Park – he is interested in coming back and is okay with his role in Philadelphia. The Phillies want him back in that role. I want him back in that role .. well okay so that doesn’t matter but what is the latest? Reuben Amaro said the other day on Comcast Sport Net from the Winter meetings that is simply a money issue. The Chan and his agent see numbers and the Phillies have offered different …. I mean lower …. numbers. It is what we in the business call perception of value. In this case, I would guess that the Phillies offer is not a bad offer. They have no reason to low ball him and no reason to over pay him either. Think about it if the Chan does get a better offer, which is not impossible considering other teams could use a mid to late arm, the Phillies are not totally without options. They do have some youth they feel are big leaguers. You gotta give them some opportunities to prove their value. Who are they? Candidates would include left-handers Sergio Escalona and Antonio Bastardo and right-hander Scott Mathieson. Remember Mathieson was on the fast track for a future starter shot. He has come back from 2 Tommy John surgeries and he has done well up to this point. A relief role is his best option for now. I do believe the Phillies will continue to look at veterans available nevertheless.

• Scott Eyre -  Amaro kind of hinted that the Eyre situation was also a money disagreement. Of course Eyre is coming off some medical issues. There will be more talk I believe concerning his status and the Phillies signing him as we move forward.

 

Amaro made an interesting comment though as to where he stands with the bullpen and pitching in general.

 

“You’d like to have guys who are veterans — guys who have been through the wars and have dealt with the adversity,” Amaro said. “In a perfect world, you’d have young starters and have veteran-type relievers. But that’s just a perfect world. We have more young players in our bullpen this year. We’ll probably start off with [Kyle] Kendrick as a guy who will be pitching and fighting for a job in the rotation, but if he doesn’t make the rotation, maybe he’ll be pushed into the bullpen.”

 

I think it is more imperative to have a mix in the rotation and the bullpen of youth and veterans. But your key primary components should be battle tested. But I think you need to develop some of your kids at the MLB level if they have earned the shot.

 

DREAM MOVES? – Roy Halliday would be icing on the cake!

 

THE PROS:

• Phillies have the depth and quality on the farm that Blue Jays would want. When was the last time you said that?

• Yankees and Red Sox do also but the Granderson trade may have taken some of the Yankees trade bait out. Although I thought the Yankees got Granderson for bums.

• Theoretically the Phillies could make the moves to create their self inflicted cap space. And they may be prudent enough to break the bank a little for someone of Halliday’s stature.

• Halliday has a no trade clause so he does not have to go anywhere he does not want to. Reportedly he likes the Phillies because of their potential to win another World Series and the fact that he lives down the street from the Phillies training camp in Clearwater, FLA.

• The Phillies could offer a desired extension.

• HALLIDAY, LEE, HAMELS, ?, ? – need I say more? The Holy Phillies Trinity would be awesome!

 

THE CONS:

• The Phillies will not and should mortgage the farm for just a 1 year run. Happ and Michael Taylor I would consider.

• The cost may be a factor. Or at least a complication. If you trade Happ and then move Blanton for financial reasons then you are down 2 starters to get 1. Yes admittedly a stud, but 1 guy for 1 year and losing 2 solid starters? Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t though.

• He is 32 so do you want to give him 4 or 5 years? I would offer him 2 on top of the 1 he has. Maybe you could work a deferral payment plan. LOL

• Werth deal ends in 2010.

• You are going to need some cash for 2011 with Howard, Madson , Lidge, Ibanez, and Rollins coming to the end of their deals. Although Ibanez is out for me. You have Dominic Brown and/or Michael Taylor in the waiting room. And you should have a Lidge replacement by then.

 

GENERAL CONSENSUS:

• I think they could make it happen with persistence but I don’t honestly see it happening.

• Some baseball insiders do see it happening though.

• The Phillies talk like a club that will make it happen. They are giving it the old “we’ll see, but we doubt it” treatment. Which downplaying usually means you are hot and heavy on it. For example the financial demands may make Blanton expendable and suddenly subtle rumors are is he is avialable when before he was not. The old “sly as a fox” position.

• Philly area fans are not expecting it but they are praying for it!

 

Last thought for the day:

Credit Reuben Amaro for taking the best direction. He has clearly said he will consider any move that would improve the team and their chances to win. Hey, it’s not his money so he can line things up and see if ownership will pull the money strings. And he does it in a way that he respects the financial realities.