Beerleaguer - Phillies Blog, Baseball News, Trade Rumors & Spirits

Saturday thread: Links to the Phillies' rumor mill

Aside from a few early reports on the Phillies' pursuit for a third baseman, there's been no new hot stove information since midweek. In the meantime, I've got nothing to add and will be taking a break from the blog for the rest of the weekend. If something comes up, chances are it will pop up on these two threads from FoxSports and ESPN. And if you see anything, be sure to share it with the group in the thread below. Have an awesome weekend.

Need for bullpen, spare closer, can’t be taken lightly

Brad Lidge, who had a dreadful season, underwent flexor tendon surgery and his recovery could set him behind schedule. Meanwhile, J.C. Romero could also miss the early going. Bottom line: bullpen is a major issue for the Phillies.

While the third base debate continues, here’s the dire situation in back of the Phillies’ bullpen. Brad Lidge was the worst closer in baseball last season. He just had elbow surgery. Ryan Madson again demonstrated his limitations as strictly an eighth-inning option and pitched 1 million innings. J.C. Romero is breaking down. Chan Ho Park and Scott Eyre are probably gone. The Phillies are in a lot of trouble if they can’t get help. A lot of trouble. According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Phillies “will be aggressive in signing a set-up man/closer safety net.” They must.

The good news is it’s a relatively saturated market for decent relievers, and there appear to be a disproportionate number of buyers and sellers. A report surfaced yesterday that the Phillies are kicking Fernando Rodney’s tires. More reports like these are likely to surface. Expect the Phils to add at least one, or possibly two, late-inning options.

Here’s another issue worth tracking down the road: do the Phillies make J.A. Happ, Kyle Kendrick and Antonio Bastardo permanent additions to the bullpen? Bastardo already seems like a given, Kendrick could find his way back to the majors through the middle innings, and Happ could be doomed for the 'pen depending on how the offseason unfolds.

Thursday morning: Phillies dropping hot corner hints

Baseball sources cited by Inquirer scribe Jim Salisbury believe Ruben Amaro has turned his attention toward the free agent trifecta of Placido Polanco, Mark DeRosa and Adrian Beltre. Chone Figgins and Miguel Tejada are expected to command too much for the Phillies to cover. [Link]

Beerleaguer: Polanco, at the center of this report, would not be my first choice, and I'm uncertain that a move to third, after winning the Gold Glove at second, would be the best move for Polanco. There's no question that the Polanco of two seasons ago - the one who hit .344/.388/.458 - is exactly the type of contact, situational hitter this lineup needs, but his numbers have been in decline the last two seasons, posting a mediocre .285/.331/.396 in 2009, raising a red flag, in a contract year, at age 34. Plus, it's unknown whether he has enough arm to withstand the rigors of third base; he hasn't been a regular third baseman in ages. I'm also concerned about the "you can't come home again" syndrome that seems to infect past players who tried to come back.

As much as the Phillies think they can improve the lineup by upgrading third base, I'm skeptical of all three of the aging options topping the Phillies' free agent list. Nevertheless, the Phillies have little choice but to commit to one of them, unless they can work out a trade. San Diego's Kevin Kouzmanoff, Colorado's Garrett Atkins and Pittsburgh's Andy LaRoche have been speculated upon in reports. According to the Denver Post, the Rockies may actually release Atkins if they can't find a trade partner.

Rollins, Victorino repeat as Gold Glove winners

For Jimmy Rollins, it's his third-straight award at shortstop. Shane Victorino picks up his second in a row in the outfield. Former Phillie Michael Bourn was also honored for his work in center field with Houston. Beerleaguer: No argument here. As much as J-Roll struggled at the dish, it didn't affect his play in the field. Honestly, I thought it was his best defensive effort yet.

Report: Phillies taking a look at Fernando Rodney

The 32-year-old reliever saved 37 games in 38 chances for the Tigers last season. The report, filed by FoxSports from the GM meetings in Chicago, marks the first reported Phillies free agent inquiry.

Beerleaguer: Seems like yesterday when red-hot Pete Orr rumors kicked off the post-World Series hot stove one year ago. Rodney’s peripherals aren’t strong; he finished with a 4.40 ERA and 61/41 K/BB ratio in 75 2-3 innings in his first full season as Detroit’s closer, ending the year on a down note. He was suspended three games for throwing a ball into the Tropicana Field press box on September 4 and was erratic down the stretch, saving all of his games nonetheless. In Rodney, the Phils would be hoping to land a pitcher with late-inning experience, but not necessarily an opening-day replacement for Brad Lidge. MLBTR seems to think a ballbark one-year, $6 million deal would be in order.

Interestingly, the FoxSports piece made mention of the Phillies’ budget limitations, which seems to be a running theme among the early reports from Phillies' camp. According to Cot’s Contracts, the Phils already have close to $110 million in salary commitments to the Major League team, with several players due for raises through arbitration, along with a wide-open hole at third base. Rodney is a Type B free agent and this report suggests the club would be satisfied with second-tier relief help.

Tuesday: Free agents file, Phillies formulate plans

Less than a week removed from the World Series and the Phillies' hot stove is heating up. Chan Ho Park, Matt Stairs and Paul Bako joined Pedro Martinez, Miguel Cairo, Pedro Feliz and Brett Myers in filing for free agency.

Free agents have been assigned Type A and B designation and now the stage is set for teams to talk turkey. Only Park and Eyre will garner extra picks for the Phils. Aside from a few reported discussions about Pedro Martinez, the Phillies reportedly had little interest in retaining the rest of their eligible free agents. Now, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and his team will begin to lay the groundwork this week at the GM meetings, happening through Nov. 11 in Chicago, a prelude to baseball’s winter meetings, set for Dec. 7-10 in Indianapolis.

By most accounts, the saturated market and bad economy figure to bog down the wheeling and dealing. The Phillies have addressed their needs early the last few seasons, and as a team with means, may attempt to do the same this winter. By letting Feliz go, the biggest priority is at third.  Early frontrunners include Penn product Mark DeRosa, slick-fielding Mariner Adrian Beltre and slashing leadoff man Chone Figgins, who rocked a .395 on-base percentage with Anaheim, but would cost the Phillies a draft pick. The list includes several other possibilities, including Type A player Placido Polanco. Polly, who’s 34 and coming off a ho-hum season with Detroit, hasn’t been a regular third baseman in ages, and never saw regular action there while in Philadelphia. The Phillies could be hesitant to make something out nothing, as they tried to do with Wes Helms two seasons ago.

Once again, the Phillies will hunt for a backup catcher; the list is deep with veterans who could be trusted behind the dish in the event Carlos Ruiz would go down with injury. The Phils are dry at catcher in the high minors, so they could be in the market for two. It’s a buyer’s market for relievers as well, with many good-not-great possibilities equipped to handle the eighth and ninth innings. Other areas of need include middle infield depth and more pop off the bench. Eric Bruntlett seems likely to be non-tendered. Meanwhile, the Phillies are reportedly hot after Roy Halladay. We'll obviously keep our eyes on that.

Resources: Type A and B; Team-by-team free agents; Cot's Contracts; MLBTR Top Free Agents.

Brown retains top spot among Phillies prospects

Typically a winter treat, Baseball America pulled the Phillies’ name early this season, announcing their Top 10 prospects and best tools in the organization today. [Link]

Outfielder Domonic Brown repeats as the top player in the Phillies' farm, followed by Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, Travis d'Arnaud, Trevor May, Anthony Gose, Sebastian Valle, Jarred Cosart, Antonio Bastardo and Domingo Santana. Click here for more details and the best tools winners (biggest surprise is that Gose - who stole 76 bases for Lakewood, is not considered the fastest player in their system). Only subscribers can access the full scouting reports.

Beerleaguer: Put Michael Taylor second and Kyle Drabek third and this was close to the list I presented to Reading Phillies beat writer Mike Drago back when he polled 15 writers for his top prospect piece. So I’m feeling pretty good about that. My list also included defensive whiz Freddy Galvis, who did not make the BA cut, although I did include darkhorses Antonio Bastardo and Domingo Santana in my group. So hurray for me I guess, but a bigger hurray for the Phillies, who appear to have some very good depth - including a couple of future big leaguers - down on the farm.

One one hand, it's always a great day when Baseball America announces their rankings. Bummer we were given this meaty topic only days removed from the World Series. This will be a long offseason indeed.

Beerleaguer for breakfast: Phils decline Feliz's option

The Phillies will pay 34-year-old third baseman Pedro Feliz a $500,000 buyout and upgrade the hot corner via trade or free agency. GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has not ruled out bringing him back on a lesser free agent deal.

Beerleaguer: No argument here; Feliz would have been owed $5.5 million in 2010 and the hot corner is one area the Phillies can secure an upgrade. Feliz hit .266/.308/.386 with 12 home runs and an 80 OPS+ out of the No. 7 hole, earning 625 plate appearances on the season. He came through with a clutch, game-tying home run in Game 4 of the World Series, and also homered in the Championship Series, otherwise, he had a poor showing this postseason, hitting just .167.

Still, whenever a team achieves a certain level of success, as the Phillies have these last two seasons, disrupting the nucleus should never be taken lightly. The Phillies have been sacrificing offense for defense at third for many seasons, a formula that's worked to some extent. Feliz proved to be a very solid defender, exhibiting pinpoint accuracy on his throws and converting most of the plays he needed to make, but the Phillies had been hoping for more pop. When you get past the decline in home runs, Feliz turned in nearly identical run production he had given San Francisco the previous two seasons, with an OPS+ hovering around 80. The Phillies lived with it since they received above-average run production from atypical areas like second base, but as his power vanished, so did their patience for all the bad at bats and low on-base percentage.

Nevertheless, Feliz, who battled through a back injury in 2008 and underwent offseason surgery, played an important role in last season's march to the World Series, knocking in the eventual winning run against the Rays and making a key stab off the turf in Tampa. Signed as something of a last resort, fortifying what has become the organization's thinnest position, the Phillies will feel no regrets in the $9 million he was given over the life of his deal.

The club has already made inquiries and has received trade offers regarding third base, according to the Inquirer.

Breaking news: Phillies bid farewell to Brett Myers

The Phillies have informed Brett Myers they intend to go in another direction. Myers, in turn, thanked them "for putting up with my (stuff)," according to the Inquirer's Jim Salisbury. [Link]

Beerleaguer: My eulogy to Myers was written May 30, two days after it was announced he would require season-ending hip surgery. Turned out, he was able to pitch again, but he was a non-factor, instead of an X-factor, as many of us hoped. Here's part of my piece from May:

“Even Bill Lyon would struggle to extract meaning from Myers' career. In five years of blogging about the Phillies, Myers has been the toughest player to write. Eight seasons have simultaneously felt like too much and not enough content. For a pitcher who constantly looked uncomfortable in his own body, he's still regarded as something of a work in progress, just two shocking years older than J.A. Happ. Still considered a front line starter by some, mounting evidence suggests otherwise. He never won more than 14 games, setting his career high six years ago.

“But before his career is painted in a broad brush of disappointment, recall the highlight, including two of the loudest Citizens Bank Park moments in history: the 2007 division clincher against Washington, and his amazing at bat against C.C. Sabathia in the NLDS. Ironically, neither had anything to do with starting pitching, yet he earned his World Series ring based on the two postseason wins and a stretch-run surge that guided the Phils to October.”

Back in May, there might have been some thought to bringing him back, but according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, that won’t be the case. I cannot blame them. Ruben Amaro Jr. met with the right-hander and said they won’t engage in negotiations.

Myers, a first-round pick in 1999, was 73-63 with a 4.40 ERA (99 ERA+) in eight seasons as a starter and reliever. He did right by the Phillies, too, earning a generous extension before the 2007 season that took him one-year past free agency.

Considering how slowly free agency moved last offseason, I bet Myers, with all his baggage, becomes one of the last free agent pitchers signed this offseason. On a good team, he’ll become a back-of-the-rotation starter, and as much as he likes touching the ball every day as a reliever, financially, it would be wise to market himself as a capable starter to a lesser National League squad like the Nationals, where he’d be a No. 2 at worst and could end up giving them some decent innings.

Friday: No rest, a couple of tests, for the weary

In addition to Raul Ibanez (groin/abdomen) and Scott Eyre (elbow), who will be reexamined for previously known ailments, 2009 bust Brad Lidge will also have his elbow tested for loose bodies, the Phillies announced.

In other news, the Phillies have picked up Cliff Lee’s option for 2010. No surprise there. Meanwhile, they have until Monday to decide whether they exercise Pedro Feliz’s $5 million option. Beerleaguer: You know, that really chaps my ass about Lidge, and I wish I knew where to point my finger. It’s one thing to shrug off a knee injury and spend eight months pretending it’s not bothering him. Now we get news of an elbow injury? So let me get this straight: healthy pitchers stay home; we’re bringing the guy with 11 blown saves, a 7.21 ERA and two injuries along for the postseason?

On Feliz, that's a definite pass on the $5 million option. Pocket the money and bring him back on a lesser free agent deal if the Phillies can't make a trade or lure an upgrade. There were absolutely no takers for Feliz two years and 4,000 more points on the Dow ago, coming off a year in which he had 20 homers, not 12.

Yankees dethrone Phillies as champions of baseball

The Philadelphia Phillies' bid for back-to-back world titles fell short Wednesday night in a 7-3 defeat at the hands of the New York Yankees. 

Beerleaguer: Tonight concludes a historic run by a proud Philadelphia franchise, beginning with last season's title capture, continuing with their successful 162-game and division-clinching march through the regular season and ending with their second-consecutive National League pennant. While 2008 became the year Philadelphia was given reprieve from a long title drought, 2009 carried a different meaning for this individual, one that mattered less about winning and more about the bonds the Phillies have created among us. Step back. Look around. What great pleasure, excitement and brotherhood the Phillies have stirred, at a time when unity and goodwill are in such short supply.

I'll issue my final thoughts on the Phillies in the days ahead. Meanwhile, I extend my sincere thanks to the peanut gallery for spending another season with Beerleaguer. It's been a pleasure to serve you.

Game 6: The stage they deserve

A word for Pedro Martinez vs. Andy Pettitte in Game 6 of the World Series: spectacular. And knowing the Phillies are the ones holding the magnanimous Pedro, recognizing his history in New York: unbelievable.

Tonight is just another chapter in a growing list of “pinch me” moments for Phillies fans. It's getting hard to remember what it was like to watch alternate prime time programming. Believe it or not, this is the first meeting between Pedro and Pettitte in 11 years and their first in the postseason, according to the Associated Press. Both pitchers are 3-3 in six meetings, and according to Stats Inc., the visitor has won each of them. But these are very different times. Many moons have passed. Pettitte will be taking the ball on short rest, while Pedro gets by on guile more than he did a decade ago. As much as I’d like to see a pitcher’s duel go into the books, signs point to a pair of short outings, with the game decided by the team that brings the better offense to the ballpark, and also the bullpen. So far, the Yankees have featured the better table-setters in Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon; I'd go so far as to say they've been the difference in the series, particularly Damon. Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino haven't compared. Rivera has bested Madson and Lidge, but the Yankees' middle relief has been questionable. Both squads are lacking thunder from their first basemen. Ryan Howard is a strikeout away from breaking Willie Wilson’s 1980 World Series strikeout mark with 13, and if you're like me, you've been anticipating Mark Teixeira to break out at the most inopportune time.

For better or worse, something big is going to happen tonight.

If the Phillies force Game 7, hand it to Hamels

Reliable scribe Todd Zolecki writes Charlie Manuel “sounded like a man who is leaning toward Cole Hamels in Game 7” when he spoke with the media yesterday. It’s the right move.

After the Phillies lost Game 4, Manuel took heat for starting Joe Blanton instead of playing the Yankees’ game by shortening the rotation and starting Cliff Lee on three-days rest. Now, after watching A.J. Burnett fail to make it out of the third inning, the focus has shifted toward Joe Girardi and his decision to start 37-year-old Andy Pettitte on short rest following a good, but not great, start in Game 3. Meanwhile, it sets up the standard second guess of Manuel, only to watch it work out in the end. This happened as recently as the Division Series. Believing the skipper pushed the panic button prematurely in Game 2 by using J.A. Happ and Joe Blanton from the pen, critics raged that Cholly had backed himself into a corner, forced to use Pedro Martinez in sub-freezing conditions in Game 3. Magically – or maybe not – it all worked out; Game 3 was postponed, J.A. Happ pitched Game 3 and Cliff Lee made his second of four quality starts in Game 4, setting up the epic, ninth-inning comeback.
 
Speaking of Happ, the rookie of the year candidate may be in the mix for Game 7 along with Hamels. Here’s a case where everything that’s gone wrong with Hamels, mentally, may actually help detract from the magnitude of a Game 7 in the Bronx. Hamels’ last quality start came Sept. 17 (although it isn’t necessary to go that deep with all hands on deck in a Game 7), but compare that with Happ, whose last quality start came eons ago on Aug. 27 and had a worse game in the postseason (3 IP, 5 H, 2 BB) than any of Hamels’ clunkers. In Happ’s defense, conditions were severe, but on Thursday, they may not be that much better.

But I digress. Gotta go one game at a time, which has been Manuel’s successful mantra all postseason.

What's happened to Howard in the World Series?

Beerleaguer hands over the morning post to a long-time reader, who offers his insights into Ryan Howard’s slump.

Howard regressed in hitting left-handers in 2009, with a drop in OPS from .746 in 2008 to .653 this season. This, despite the fact that he had better protection in Jayson Werth and should have seen better pitches to hit. So a steady diet of lefties from the Yankees will certainly have an impact. Yet in his seven plate appearances vs. righties, he has not put a single ball in play, walking twice and striking out five times. It's not just left-handed pitching that has him stymied right now.

Is he choking? Very doubtful. He's a big-time player and played in last year's World Series. He was extremely clutch in the 2009 postseason up until now. Has he been unlucky, hitting balls at people? No. He's not hitting balls at all.

I can offer a couple of possibilities, aside from those offered by the experts about swing mechanics and weight shift. First, this slump could simply be the law of averages bringing him back to his mean level. He was on fire through the first two rounds of the postseason, so you knew it couldn't continue for much longer. It is poor timing indeed that he could cool off at this time, but it was due to happen sooner or later.

Second, from watching the games, it looks like he has lost track of the strike zone. He is swinging at balls and taking strikes. He has fallen behind on the first pitch 15 times out of 20 PAs, with nine called first strikes. He has never had a 2-0 count. He has been 0-2 six times and 1-2 six times, 2-1 just four times.

Let me suggest that this problem with the strike zone is to some degree the fault of the umpiring. I have never seen such inconsistency in what constitutes a strike. The results work both ways, with pitches that should be strikes being called balls, and vice versa. It has been consistently bad for both teams and for both pitchers and hitters, and it inconsistent from pitch to pitch, not game to game. Players cannot adjust in such a situation. (I specifically recall a crucial at bat where Utley was facing Rivera with two men on and one out. Two consecutive pitches that were clearly out of the strike zone were called strikes, putting Utley in the hole instead of ahead in the count. That is a world of difference. As it was, he was forced to swing at another ball out of the zone and subsequently killed the rally.)

If Howard loses confidence in his ability to work the count, he cannot afford to wait for the pitches he can drive. The problem is compounded because the Yankees continue to throw breaking balls, and in a situation where there is a moving strike zone, he’s forced to swing at unhittable pitches. My guess is Howard will only break out if the pitcher makes a mistake, or tries to overpower him with fastballs (unlikely). Otherwise he will continue to have at-bats that resemble a blindfolded batter trying to break a pinata.

Beerleaguer: An inspired take. I’ll add the Yankees clearly had the Phillies well scouted, reportedly sending 10 scouts to the NLCS. It can be seen in their mindful approach, not only to Howard, but to Werth, knowing he’s taking at least the first pitch. They also refuse to throw Shane Victorino fastballs.

The Bronx is not burning

One wonders why the Yankees, who've watched as Alex Rodriguez has been hit three times, haven’t sent a message to locked-in slugger Chase Utley, who tied Reggie Jackson’s mark yesterday with five homers in the Fall Classic.

Multiple sources are debunking the Cole Hamels and Brett Myers spat, so let’s move back to baseball. After sharing our respective disdain for Nick Swisher and Shane Victorino, a colleague with New York allegiances wondered why the Yankees haven’t so much as brushed Utley off the plate. It’s a good question; if Roger Clemens was still in pinstripes, there would be no hesitation, not that he ever needed a reason. I guess it's not in this group’s Madison Avenue makeup; the Yankees all seem to carry themselves in the same, vanilla, Troy Aikman sort of way. All except A-Rod, who even drives some hardcore Yankees fans nuts for mugging it up for the camera with his staged looks of intensity. (Here’s the best A-Rod article of all time, as it relates to this topic).

Phillies stealing signs? Yesterday on ESPN 97.5 radio, Dodgers third base coach and former Phillies skipper Larry Bowa alluded to rumors that the Phillies are stealing signs via a hidden camera or having teammates tipping signs from the bullpen.
 
Today, Shane Victorino responded. "For Bowa to come out and say something like that if he doesn't know what he's talking about - if he doesn't have cold, hard facts - he shouldn't say something like that. I don't want to use the word I'm going to use, but it's just not something that should be said. That's just weak, I guess.  Obviously, if we're stealing signs, we would be doing better than what we're doing right now."

Report: Hamels, Myers engage in clubhouse spat

According to Yahoo! Sports, Phillies pitchers Brett Myers and Cole Hamels had a "short but tense" confrontation in the team’s clubhouse following Game 5, stemming from Hamels’ recent statement that he was eager for his season to end.

According to the report, as Myers walked past Hamels near Hamels’ locker he said, mocking, “What are you doing here? I thought you quit.” According to the witness, Myers was guided away by a team official before the situation escalated any further.

Beerleaguer: You know, I've often wondered how these two have coexisted in the same clubhouse all these years. Talk about opposite sides of the spectrum. That's Hollywood and ... what's the word for Brett Myers? Nevertheless, I wonder how many teammates were secretly glad Myers called him out. Maybe it's the wake-up call he needed, and I would imagine nobody on the team wants to extend the season more than Myers, after missing much of it with injury.

As for whether this will have any sort of negative impact on the Phillies, heading into Game 6, you would be selling this team well short on toughness if you thought they were this fragile. I'd imagine the majority of Phillies would prefer they just shut up and pitch. I wonder if Pedro Martinez is even aware that Brett Myers is on the roster.

Utley blasts Bombers to send series back to Bronx

Chase Utley added two more homers to his World Series total, tying Reggie Jackson's record with five, while Cliff Lee notched his fourth win of the postseason, as the Phillies staved off elimination, winning 8-6.

Beerleaguer: A victory set in motion by the short-rested A.J. Burnett, who couldn't make any of his pitches and was gone after two-plus innings. But you have to hand it to Utley, who, in addition to the home runs, played a very sharp game overall. And for the second time this series, it's Utley and Lee - competitors cut from the same cloth - who deserve the lion's share of credit for keeping the Phillies on point. These are not players who are anxious for this thing to end and have demonstrated exactly the type of effort it's going to take to win this series. Meanwhile, the relentless Bombers, who had more comeback wins than any team in baseball this season, showed why you cannot let up for a moment; with the score 8-2 in the seventh, they brought the tying run to the plate twice in the ninth. Johnny Damon ... what the hell? Uncle. Ryan Howard could ghost write Damon's memoirs with the amount of time he's spent at first base.

Truthfully, the Yankees, up 3-1, had no real reason to be at the razor's edge, and it showed; Jorge Posada's at bat after the non-time call was a perfect example of that blase attitude. Yet that same, nothing-to-lose approach by the Yankees nearly bit the Phillies in a tense finish.

Moral of the story: Phillies live to fight another day. Fans get more great baseball. Utley, Raul Ibanez and others showed plenty of life in their bats. More tomorrow ...

Not quite '93

Full disclosure: I navigated Baseball Reference today to revisit the 1993 World Series box scores. I sense I wasn't alone. I wanted to study the similarities between last night’s collapse and Game 6, just to see if it invoked the same nausiating feeling. It did. I’m unsure why I did it, why I needed to torture myself in this sick and twisted way, but I did, and I'm uncertain what it accomplished. We could talk about the missed opportunities against CC, their sloppy fifth inning, the bad throws or any number of contributing factors, but if the Phils can’t pull off a miraculous reversal, this World Series will be remembered for Brad Lidge, the way the '93 Fall Classic boiled down to Wild Thing. Nevertheless, there are two significant differences. First: the still-shining existance of 2008, and that iconic photo of Lidge, falling to his knees, after striking out Eric Hinske. Joe Carter has nothing on that. (BTW, there are good photos of Cole Hamels that series, too.) And second, the Phillies are not quite dead ... although the buzzards are beginning to circle.