Barajas deal expected to be 1-year, $2.5M

According to this morning's stories, the eight-year veteran will take less than he was reportedly set to earn with Toronto, who offered him a two-year, $5.25 million deal last month to be the starter.

According to the Phillies Web site, the deal is designed to take pressure off Carlos Ruiz and shift Chris Coste into a pinch hitter, backup infielder role. Barajas reportedly chose the Phillies over the Rockies and Rangers.

December minor league transaction update
In addition to the non-roster invitees from last week, the Phillies added a shortstop and first baseman.

Here are the complete signings, as listed in Baseball America: Signed RHP Ryan Cameron; RHP John Ennis; LHP Jim Crowell; C Jason Hill; SS Andrew Beattie. New additions, that weren’t included as non-roster invitees include 1B Juan Tejeda and SS Peter Shier.

Shier was a 9th round draft pick of the Orioles in 1999 and has never made it past Double-A. In seven minor league seasons, he’s a .264/.345/.364 hitter. Tejeda signed as an undrafted free agent by the Tigers in 1999 and saw action at Triple-A Norfolk last season, hitting .217/.271/.289 with two home runs in 152 at bats. Over his career, the right-handed Dominican has shown more power than that, hitting 23 homers for Double-A Erie in 2004. In eight minor league seasons, he’s a .287/.356/.452 hitter.

Shier and Tejeda figure to round out the rosters at the Double-A level or lower.

Roberson picking up the slack in Mexico
After a horrible start, Chris Roberson rode a hitting streak this month to lift his batting average to .275. The switch-hitting backup is hitting about .400 in his last 10 games.

Castro, Simon missing bats with Cibao
Fabio Castro, the pint-sized Rule 5 pick of last season, might be more familiar to Phillies fans, but his fireball Cibao teammate Alfredo Simon, a Rule 5 acquisition of the Phillies this season, has been equally impressive this winter. That’s no small feat. After 29 innings, the live-armed Castro is 1-2 with 30 strikeouts and a 1.86 ERA, having allowed 21 walks. Opponents are batting just .165 against him.

The 25-year-old Simon, who’s being used in a similar role as a short-inning starter, has matched him pitch-for-pitch. After 28 1-3 innings, Simon is holding a 0.86 ERA with 17 strikeouts to just 8 walks, with a .177 BAA.

Ciabo’s roster is filled with farmhands past and present, including Travis Minix, Aquilio Lopez, Martire Franco, Julio de la Cruz, Juan Sosa and others. Sosa, an infielder, is having a monster winter, hitting .321 with a .372 OBP.

Brito not shabby, either
(Update from this a.m.) Left-hander Eude Brito is having his own big winter in the Dominican. Pitching with the Azucareros del Este, Brito has a 0.96 ERA over 18 2-3 innings. Phillies.com also ran their winter update today: [Link]

Book Swap
Following last week's spontaneous discussion, a new and used book section has been added to the right sidebar, compiled with your recommendations.

Comments

[Lake Fred]

The shift of Coste away from catching to a pinch hitter backup infielder role may be designed to prolong his career and save his knees. Maybe the Phillies actually do like Coste. It's hard to get a read on this.

Simon's numbers sound awesome. Castro's walks numbers concern me, unless there are a lot of intentional walks in that number.

I still need to attend baseball terminology school. The last post had Bisenius throwing cheese. Is that like throwing cookies? Now I find that Simon is a short inning starter. What's that? Is that a short guy who is a starter? Is it starting innings that only include two outs? Is it a middle reliever who will only pitch an inning or two? I thought Castro was the short guy. Shouldn't he be the short inning starter?

[J. Weitzel]

Short-inning starter: I didn't know what else to call it. They're both starting, but only for two or three innings.

Cheese, gas, fire. All the same.

[joe]

Bisnesius, Simon and Castro.

I like having fireballers in the pen. It changes the game.

Imagine catching up to a Zumaya fastball, after having Moyer start. Thats what the Rule 5 guys can give ya.

[Lake Fred]

Thanks, Jason. For lunch, I have a ham and fire....er, I mean, gas....uh, I mean, cheese sandwich! Bring on the cheese!

In the hot stove league it's hard to project prospect guys like Castro and Simon as major league players. It'd be pretty cool if next year's pen consists of a bunch of new unknown quantity guys that bring on the cheese. (I learned if you use a new word a few times, it becomes part of your vocabulary.)

[martin]

according to MLB, Baseball Lingo.cheese--also "good cheese", or heat--also "heater". or pea--a ball travelling at high speed, either batted or thrown.

[J. Weitzel]

Castro truly doesn't fit any of those descriptors. He's more of the "live arm," variety, who can "make it dance." Simon, from reports, "brings heat." Tom Gordon can be "nasty," but not necessarily "filthy." Vicente Padilla was "filthy," but not "crafty," like Jamie Moyer. Greg Maddux is a future HOF because he "picks his spots." In order to be that good, you need to "have command of four pitches," which is why scouts like Adam Eaton. According to Clout, the minor leagues are filled with thousands of "junkball left-handers" who throw nothing but "garbage." Sometimes, southpaws like this can "get too fine" with their pitches, as Larry Andersen would say of Randy Wolf. Sometimes, it's better to "bore in" on hitters, like Curt Schilling or Jon Lieber when he's on his game. Big pitchers like these tend to throw a "heavy fastball," like Brandon Webb. You can also be tall and throw a "snap-dragon curve," like Gavin Floyd. Some pitchers, like Robinson Tejeda, and several hundred other products of the Dominican Republic, are "effective wild," which is a relatively new term. Tejeda will be OK, just as long as he stays away from "fastballs, middle-in" or "hanging fastballs," which is Ryan Franklin's specialty.

[kdon]

Man, I miss a couple days and all sorts of things happen.

I'm sure I'm repeating what was already said, but this is an OK move as long as Barajas doesn't get more than 25-30 starts. It's also possible that both Ruiz and Coste flame out, but I can't imagine either of them would put up OBP numbers like R-Bar. If Barajas does get a lot of starts, this is an absolutely terrible move, GIllick doesn't seem to value OBP at all, which is a little worrisome. It would be nice to have a patient 8-hole hitter so that we could clear the lineup every once and a while.

If I were in charge (Ha!) I would have stuck with Coste/Ruiz and used the 2M given to Werth/Barajas to lure Huff or Nixon, but I don't think that's happening.

[joe]

Jason,

You also have to include guys that can throw smoke, or get by with smoke and mirrors, like Moyer.

Then you've got guys throwing BB's, or shooting peas. As opposed to the guys like Ryan Franklin who throw beach balls or watermelons.

And of course, how can we forget our good friend Tom Gordon, who throws a curveball that drops off a table.

[martin]

And, Greg Maddux could "paint the black." Sal Maglie got his nickname " The Barber", for giving hitters a close shave with some "chin music"

[zach]

Man, I miss a couple days and all sorts of things happen.

You kiddin? This counts as "all sorts of things"?

[Billy Mac]

We used to call opposing pitchers who had good fastballs as throwing "heaters" or "aspirin tablets". There must be 50 names for a good fastball.

[voice of reason]

...and sometimes the hitters turn those "heaters" into "seeds" or "frozen ropes".

[joe]

yeh, its not te frozen ropes that got me, it was the damn texas leager singles.

[joe]

... and luckily, i had outfielders that could turn the ropes into cans o' corn.

[Tony]

Back in the day I used to hit "piss missles".

[RickSchuBlues]

Jason, have you been hanging out with Chris Wheeler?..seriously, though, that post was great.

Also, the Book Swap is a terrific touch. If I may offer a few more recommendations:

- I Never Had it Made, by Jackie Robinson
- Stranger to the Game, by Bob Gibson
- Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball, by Robert Hall
- Red Smith on Baseball
- To Every Thing a Season, by Bruce kuklick (history of Connie Mack Stadium)
- My Turn At Bat, by Ted Williams
- Only the Ball Was White, by Robert Peterson (history of the Negro Leagues)
- Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks, by Bob Wood (chronicle of a road trip encompassing all MLB ballparks in 1985)
- My Life in Baseball, and
- The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant, both by Robin Roberts
- Beyond the Shadow of the Senators, by Brad Snyder (regarding the integration of baseball via a history of the Negro League Homestead Grays and their relationship with the Senators and Washington, DC)
- Baseball As I Have Known It, by Fred Lieb (terrific accumulation of decades' worth of stories and anecdotes by veteran sportswriter)

[JZ]

Hey everybody on here... Happy Holidays to you and yours.

Jason, finding this blog has been awesome. Your insight, and the passion of the posters, makes it a little easier to (still) keep rooting for the Phillies, throughout the many downs and, um, downs.

[krub16]

Why would Barajas take less playing time, and less money to come here? Is there any word on that?

[RickSchuBlues]

krub, it's a bit of a mystery why Barajas (and his new agent) backed out of the Toronto deal. At the time, I remember Ricciardi getting all despondent about it, saying something to the effect of, what kind of world was it when someone's word and signature didn't mean anything anymore. I assume he's in a little better mood these days after having secured Wells through several more Blue Jay uniform design changes.

[The Doctor]

I have a question regarding Coste's status, hopefully someone can answer for me. Is he currently signed? If not, why is he the Phillies property? I don't think he's arbitration eligible or anything. Wasn't just a non roster invitee last year? You'd think another team would have taken a flier on him at this point based on what we saw after a half season last year, plus the Phils are obviously showing no commitment to him.

[joe]

i think that Cost got his first MLB contract last year, so that he is "under control" of the phillies until arb/fa eligible.

He is, however, a 7/10 guy, so he has to approve all trades.

I think.

[Tony]

Conine traded to the Reds for 2 minor leaguers???

http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/spring/

[gr]

AQUALUNG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gr]

conine fetches two A/AA roster fillers. both are 24yr-olds with no power whatsoever.

[J. Weitzel]

Called it.

[joe]

woohoo, we got rid of a stiff, for stiffs.

w00t w00t!

[Tony]

Who cares what we got back, we at least got rid of him.

Now we sign Huff or Nixon?

[staub]

niner to the Reds for 2 prospect arms

cant say i am too unhappy about that one..

[martin]

Javon Moran is an ex-Phil, teamed with Bourn
in a fast outfield in Lakewood, then traded to Reds..who did the Phil's get?

[RickSchuBlues]

Signing Werth makes more sense now. Niner, we hardly knew ye.

[martin]

it was the Lidle trade with the Reds

[rob]

rotoworld reported that they think Barajas plays "no more than 60/40" w/ Ruiz.. If that's true then Coste is the new Greg Gross/Del Unser..