Unsung Fultz found success in Philadelphia

Left-hander Aaron Fultz, 33, has found a new home with Cleveland after signing a $1.5 million deal with an option for 2008. It was made possible following two good seasons with the Phillies.

For every criticism of the Phillies bullpen, Aaron Fultz is one example of a pitcher who flourished under Charlie Manuel and Rich Dubee, and was used appropriately. In 2005, he finished 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA in 72 2-3 innings, over two runs lower than his previous career-best. Never truly a left-handed specialist, nor a big-inning pitcher, Manuel limited his use to low-to-mid-pressure spots, and he responded well. The stout left-hander was at his best in B-list action, along with pitchers like Geoff Geary and Rheal Cormier, while Ryan Madson, Ugueth Urbina and Billy Wagner carried the load in save situations.

After '05, Fultz accepted the Phillies arbitration offer and returned for another season. He performed closer to his career line, finishing 3-1 with a 4.54 ERA during a tumultuous season for the bullpen. Due to the shortage, he was forced into key spots, with less than spectacular results. He also missed time with a dead arm late in the season.

The Type-A free agent now lands in Cleveland after the Phillies declined arbitration, but his two-year stay was nothing short of a success. The Phils originally claimed Fultz off waivers from the Twins two weeks after the 2004 season. Now, they go in search of another scrap-heap jewel like Fultz, and hope they aren't too late.

Comments

[Verdeforce]

Especially now that the Reds look to be signing Weathers, I get the feeling the Phils may have weakened the market for Borowski so they could eliminate the competiton and get him to sign a one year deal. Adding Borowski and using Madson for Manuel's set 7th and 8th inning AL style of managing looks to be what they are trying to do, even though Batista and Embree would be a more versatile pair to go after. Rowand and Lieber to the White Sox for Freddy Garcia and a prospect (please not Luis Terrero) would improve both the rotation and CF for the Phils. Victorino should be in CF and then they could focus on right-handed protection for Howard and Utley out of RF. Burrell seems worth keeping at this point. He is not as bad as the Philly media likes to claim.

[Verdeforce]

Especially now that the Reds look to be signing Weathers, I get the feeling the Phils may have weakened the market for Borowski so they could eliminate the competiton and get him to sign a one year deal. Adding Borowski and using Madson for Manuel's set 7th and 8th inning AL style of managing looks to be what they are trying to do, even though Batista and Embree would be a more versatile pair to go after. Rowand and Lieber to the White Sox for Freddy Garcia and a prospect (please not Luis Terrero) would improve both the rotation and CF for the Phils. Victorino should be in CF and batting 2nd everyday and then they could focus on right-handed protection for Howard and Utley out of RF. Burrell seems worth keeping at this point. He is not as bad as the Philly media likes to claim.

[Verdeforce]

Especially now that the Reds look to be signing Weathers, I get the feeling the Phils may have weakened the market for Borowski so they could eliminate the competiton and get him to sign a one year deal. Adding Borowski and using Madson for Manuel's set 7th and 8th inning AL style of managing looks to be what they are trying to do, even though Batista and Embree would be a more versatile pair to go after. Rowand and Lieber to the White Sox for Freddy Garcia and a prospect (please not Luis Terrero) would improve both the rotation and CF for the Phils. Victorino should be in CF and then they could focus on right-handed protection for Howard and Utley out of RF. Burrell seems worth keeping at this point. He is not as bad as the Philly media likes to claim.

[Verdeforce]

I'm not obsessive - but my computer apparently is... sorry.

[Verdeforce]

I'm not obsessive - but my computer apparently is... sorry.

[Tim]

wow - never saw a triple post followed by a double post.

i was upset that the phil's didn't offer fultz arbitration. even if he accepted and gillick didn't want him he could have been traded. oh well. i'm waiting for the manny bomb to drop, so jd drew can sign and the rest of the offseason can start.

[ae]

yeah, I'm kind of disappointed Fultz wasn't offered arb. seems unlikely that he would have brought that much, given that he was only at $1.2M last year and his 2006 was not particularly impressive - does anybody with a better understanding of the process have an estimate of what the decision would have been?

I have seen that the Red Sox may be interested in Borowski, which is probably bad news if we were hoping to get a bargain on him. on the other hand, if Borowski is smart he should probably avoid pitching for Boston...trying to close against the AL East is a bad career move unless you're Mariano Rivera.

my money is on management targeting scrap heap-type guys, since indications appear to be that they're not interested in losing draft picks. I'm very much in favor of that kind of strategy, with guys like Fultz as exhibit A why it's a good idea.

[Willard Preacher]

Is this our indication that perhaps the bullpen will be used as training grounds for some of the young farms hands, to see what they have (hopefully in situations similar to Fultz's in '05, rather than '06)?

[ae]

on second thought, I'm seeing on TGP that Fultz could've gotten $2M-ish, in which case I have to agree with no arbitration...

[ae]

Rocky Mt. News says Phils are potential suitors for Zito...just guessing on their part, or real info?

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/mlb/article/0,2777,DRMN_23924_5188718,00.html

[J. Weitzel]

He did a nice job for the Phillies, but it's not a great disappointment to see them take a pass. I actually advocated for letting him walk back when he was named a Type-A free agent, but assumed the Phillies would have been more agressive so far in the reliever market. He's an older guy and teams are familiar with him. Plus, it's possible they saw something they didn't like physically.

[Carson]

david weathers 2 years 5 million to re-up with the reds. we need bullpen help pronto! all the relievers are being scooped up...c'mon gillick!

[MG]

I am not too sad to see Fultz go. 2005 was an aberration if you look at his career numbers.

Still, Phils need to get a decent Lefty out of the pen. I would love to see Steve Kline here but their is no way the Phils pay him $2-$3 million/year.

[joe]

Zito to the Phils? Err... I guess that would presage a trade of Lieber, but I just can't see it.

Besides, can he handle a bat?

[That Dude]

Regardless of whether Zito is any good anymore or worth what he will likely get, can any rotation win in a small park with THREE lefties?

[ae]

- any good any more? seriously? the guy is under 30 and one of the most consistent starters in the AL. I am pretty sure he could handle the NL East.

- I really don't understand the problem with three lefties in a rotation, especially given how bad NY was against them last year. you don't even have to go back real far to find a WS team with three lefties - the 2000 Mets had Hampton, Leiter, and Rusch (although they did move Rusch to the bullpen in the playoffs).

- if our biggest problem in the offseason is our pitchers (still) can't hit, I will feel pretty good.

of course this is all likely irrelevant as I lean more toward RM News making up the Phillies' interest in Zito. but I have a real hard time seeing how that theoretical interest is a bad thing.

[Verdeforce]

Never mind my earlier triple/double post - the Phils signed Kane Davis - the bullpen is now complete!?!

[Jon]

I am not sorry to see Fultz go. He did have a nice 2005, but last year was a different story. His dead arm hurt this team.

I am also not sorry to see Weathers re-up with the Reds. Let him serve up his late inning homers in Cincy. Good teams hit him.

That being said, Gillick does need to get on the ball here with regard to relievers. This team never seems to value relievers. There is never a sense of urgency to sign anyone. It would be nice to add a Foulke or Embree or Villone. A pair of them would be great, adding all three would be outsanding! Come on Pat, the clock continues to tick!

Zito? I just can't see it happening. Schmidt I could see, but he wants to go home to Seattle

[J. Weitzel]

Verdeforce: Kane Davis link por favor.

[ae]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2685697

(scroll down to last bullet at 12:50.)

[Verdeforce]

Yeah that's where I saw that - now this - no more Borowski either - looks like we may get relievers we like better by default:

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061204&content_id=1749984&vkey=hotstove2006&fext=.jsp

[Tim]

my original post wasn't to say i wanted fultz back. i just feel if we offered him arb we easliy could have traded him.

i have no idea who kane davis is???

[CY]

Kane Davis = our new 8th inning guy

rest easy everyone.

oh - and he can close too, and protect howard in the lineup.

[CY]

on a side note, did anyone see Pujols backing off his MVP comments?

He said that the traslation from Spanish to English wasn't accurate.

I call BS

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2685770

[gr]

new fan club: "kane's candy canes"

[ae]

Davis is a prototypical reliever gamble. pitched well in AAA (1.15 WHIP, 2.44 ERA, 61 IP) and the majors (1.20 WHIP, 2.70 ERA, 16 IP) for Milwaukee in 2005, then was released and did poorly in the independent leagues last year (1.87 WHIP, 4.20 ERA, 15 IP). he costs us nothing but a minor league contract, and might be able to fill the Rick White role in 2007. if not, we lose nothing.

also he has a pretty cool name.

[Carson]

somebody mentioned alan embree above...great guy, but looks to be heading to the A's. now weathers and borowski is gone too...patty g better be brewin' something magical for bullpen help.

[RickSchuBlues]

Jon, I agree with your take on Fultz and Weathers. I don't think Phillies fans need to be shedding tears about those two not coming in from the bullpen next year.

Kane Davis? Somebody fill me in, please. I've never heard that name before. Is he a major-league possibility or merely one of the Ottawa Options?

[Oisin]

Minor League Option. The article states that its a minor league deal.

[That Dude]

As to Zito being any good anymore...I probably mispoke a "bit", but you cannot deny BZ is not as good as he once was and you canot deny he will be vastly overpaid this offseason.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/z/zitoba01.shtml

[Will]

Very strange. Gillick states directly that BP help will probably come via trade and you're all shocked that we haven't signed any FA relievers.

Like I said before, I'll wait till the GM meetings are over to panic about the BP.

[ae]

Zito will be vastly overpaid by contract standards of four or five years ago. by contract standards of 2006, he will be paid about what he deserves - barring some ridiculous Mets/Yankees/whoever else bidding war. the fact is, a guy who will pitch 200+ innings of 4-4.5 ERA baseball every year is very, very valuable, even if he's not a Pedro/Clemens/Santana-style ace.

also, while I have no idea what the financial landscape of the 2007-future MLB will look like, even if there is a slight downward correction over the next season or two, I think it's safe to say that all but the most outrageous contracts will look pretty reasonable in a few years (case in point, look at Ramirez, Rodriguez, or even - gasp - Burrell).

[Tim]

harry the K back for three! i'll miss scott graham (really) but i look forward to getting to know Sarge a little better. i have no recollection of his playing days.

http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20061204&content_id=1750144&vkey=pr_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi

[clout]

At age 31, Kane Davis is organizational filler, nothing more. He was a borderline prospect at best about 7 years ago with the Brewers, then hurt his arm and has bounced around ever since.

[Davthom73]

Borowski sign with the Phillies? Hey, if I were Borowski's agent, after that stunt the Phillies pulled after they performed his his "physical examination", putting out a line suggesting that Borowski's shoulder had essentially failed inspection, I wouldn't touch the Phillies with ten-foot pole -- one-contract or multi-year deal, whatever. It may be that once FA negotiations with Borowski got down to brass tacks last month, the Phillies realized that Borowski's sticker price/requested contract term were more than the Gillick crew wanted to sign on for. IMO, that "questionable shoulder" thing was simply put out by Gillick, et. al., for fan consumption, to take the heat off the Phillies for the team's cheapskate "stick-to-a-budget" MO, while the bullpen cupboard was all but bare. I tend to agree with the posts above that suggest that Phillies actually were (and still would be) interested in Borowski for a one-year deal at what Gillick would consider to be the right numbers. But again, after the Phillies damaged Borowski's FA value to other clubs by gratuitously leaking the "questionable shoulder" stuff, if I'm Borowski, or his agent, the Phillies are the very last team I would ink with.

[Davthom73]

Wow! Just saw this headline on the Indians' mlb.com site: "Cleveland targets Borowski as closer: Nearing a deal, free-agent reliever to take physical on Tuesday"
link: http://indians.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp? ymd=20061204&content_id=1749984&vkey=hotstove2006&fext=.jsp

The story begins:
"LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Joe Borowski's failed physical with the Phillies last week might have put him in a position to become the Indians' closer.
The Indians and Borowski are close to finalizing a one-year contract that is contingent upon the results of a physical the free-agent reliever will take in Cleveland on Tuesday, according to a baseball source.
Borowski and the Phillies reportedly had a two-year deal in place last week, until Philadelphia received an unfavorable medical report on the 35-year-old's right shoulder.
The Tribe is in need of some back-end relief support. Over the weekend, the club signed veteran right-hander Roberto Hernandez and left-hander Aaron Fultz to one-year contracts, but neither player is expected to take over the closer's reins.
Ever since the July 20 trade that sent Bob Wickman to the Braves, the Indians have been a team without a true closer. They tried rookie Fausto Carmona in that role, with poor results, then used a by-committee system headed by rookie Tom Mastny."

If the Indians go ahead and sign Borowski to a one-year deal after the Phillies' physical examination stunt referenced in my post above, IMO, the onus is properly on Gillick & Company, for team's failure to sign the guy.