PHILLIES CHATTER (Nov 25)

November 25, 2009   ·   philliesmania   ·   Jump to comments

  

Congrats to Ryan Howard for his coming in at #3 in the NL MVP voting!

 

Utility man? Reports are Juan Castro is ready to sign as the new “Eric Bruntlett” for the Phillies.

Plus: He can play 2nd, 3rd, SS, and LF. At 37 he has plenty of big league experience. Hit .277  in 112 at bats for the Dodgers in 2009.

 

Minus: 37? He is “Eric Bruntlett” basically. Maybe a little better in the field overall. But he is a lifetime .230 hitter. Yes Bruntlett was horrific at the plate last season and no I do not want him back. But I would have hoped for a better upgrade than Castro. However if he can give you what he gave the Dodgers that would be an upgrade. The contract is reportedly under a MILL for 2010 and 2011 is an option for the Phillies to pick up.

 

Who’s on 3rd?

No, who is on 1st ………….

Okay seriously let’s take a look at the candidates so far:

Pedro Feliz (34 yrs old)- Yeah, why not? I thought about it. This was option from the beginning even though they let his $5.5 Mill 2010 option go. Which at the time I thought was stupid. I figured Pedro would not want to come back for less. But lately I’ve been thinking why not? Yeah maybe some one would offer him $5,000,000 but will they be a contender? Phillies would probably give him $2.5 to 3,000,000 to come back. It’s a realistic possibility and I would be okay with it.

 

Chone Figgins (31 yrs old) - lifetime .292 hitter, .298 in 2009. To get Figgins you may need to offer him a 4 year deal at $40,000,000.  A little pricey for him, I think. But he is a legitimate lead off guy. So if you can sell Rollins on batting second and Victorino on batting 7th I would love this deal. Think of the speed and how you would bolster the bottom half of your line up? And Rollins is really not a true lead off hitter. I love you J-Roll but your on base percentage is not Figgins like.

 

Mark DeRosa(34 yrs old) - lifetime .275 hitter. Hit .250 between Cleveland and St Louis in 2009. He hit 23 HR’s and 78 RBI’s in 2009. The Phillies tried to sign DeRosa last winter. Reports are they talked about DeRosa before the 2007 season and chose Wes Helms. Not a great Gillick moment. He could be had for the $5 to $7 Million per range which makes him better than Figgins. DeRosa is also an interesting fit because he can play 2nd, 3rd, SS, and Outfield. With DeRosa you could hit him in the Feliz spot and bolster that spot and move him around to give guys rest. And with Juan Castro you would have 2 guys with legit multi position experience. He is from NJ and went to U of Penn. I love the DeRosaa option also. Heck I would take DeRosa and Figgins if the Phillies had that kind of cash.

 

Adrian Beltre ( 30 yrs old) - lifetime .270 hitter. Potentially a nice bat at #7. I think he is declining too fast for my taste. He did miss a lot of time in 2009 also. He is a Gold Glove 3rd baseman though. He made $13,400,000 in 2009! No way I am paying a declining player that much. If you can afford Beltre you can afford Figgins.

 

Placido Polanco (34 yrs old) - .303 career average. .285 in 2009. 8 – 12 HR type. Would be great in #7 hole in line up. A Gold Glove 2nd baseman with 3rd base experience. Played in Philadelphia from 2002 – 2005. One of Ed Wades worst moves was moving Polanco. With Utley emerging Polanco was out at 2nd and understandably so. But with David Bell at 3rd, the Phillies should have put Polanco there and said adios to Bell! I said that then by the way! Placido made a modest $4,600,000 in 2009 and probably would come back to Philly. This would be an okay and stable move. You could put him at 2nd to spell Utley and have Juan Castro play 3rd at those times. Problem with Polanco is he is a A class Free Agent so it will cost a draft pick.

 

Troy Glaus (33 yrs old) - I do not know why this name ever comes up for anyone anymore. This guys is a shell of who he was in California with the Angels years ago. He is a chronic injury problem. He has become David Bell for crying out loud. If Amaro thinks this is an upgrade I demand Reuben’s resignation! Seriously folks.

 

Miguel Tejada (35 yrs old) - he hit a healthy .313 in 2009. He is a .289 lifetime hitter with solid to very strong power numbers. Could hit at 2,3,5,6,7 spot.  He is a converted SS who can play 3rd. Maybe a drop off defensively but not by enough to worry about it. Made $14,800,000 in 2009 however. He knows he is not that player anymore. That contract was off the MVP type years he had in Baltimore. Had some monster years in Oakland also. Again he has declined from those years but has leveled off to a point where he is still an impact player. If his desire to win will let him take a significant pay cut, I would like him at 3rd. 2 years at $18 to $20,000,000? Sold!

 

More NEWS:

The Phillies selected the contracts of speedy center fielder Quintin Berry, left-hander Yohan Flande and right-hander Jesus Sanchez on Tuesday, thus adding them to the 40-man roster, which currently stands at 30 players.