Lefthander Antonio Bastardo pitched 6 1-3 no-hit innings Tuesday, lowering his Dominican Winter League ERA to 2.01 in five starts.
Along with Walter Tejeda, a 23-year-old lefthander who pitched in the Sally League last season, Bastardo, also 23, is the Phillies’ lone representative in the six-team Dominican Winter League. Bastardo was the hottest hand in the minors for a short time and was fast tracked from Clearwater to Reading to mixed results, struggling with his command before suffering an arm injury. Easily a top 20 prospect within the organization, Bastardo's good stuff/bad command tale is a cautionary one, echoed in the careers of many of his compatriots currently pitching in the Dominican Winter League. A couple of hot months in the Dominican often translates into a marginal showing in Double or Triple-A the following season.
Nevertheless, the league, which includes players of all ages and levels of experience, is worthy of light scouting. Two winters ago, the Phils followed the advice of a scout and took a flier on Antonio Alfonseca, who became a serviceable late-inning option during the first half of the 2007 season. Alfonseca, allegedly 36, has appeared in four games this fall, and has been hit hard.
The list is actually quite long with ex-Philadelphia flameouts currently pitching in the Dominican: Francisco Rosario, who the Phils cut ties with after the season; Fabio Castro, traded to the Jays for Matt Stairs, Anderson Garcia, Pedro Liriano, Ezequiel Astacio, Eude Brito, Robinson Tejeda, Alfredo Simon, Aquilino Lopez, Julio Mateo, Elizardo Ramirez, among many others, have participated this winter.
There's value out there if you can find the right guy to resurrect. Aquilino Lopez gave the Tigers 78 2-3 pretty good relief innings in 2008. His resume isn't all that different from many of the players awaiting their next assignment in the DR.
For a full list of the Dominican League pitching leaders, click here.
The Chestnut Hill Academy and University of Delaware product spent the entire 2008 season pitching for the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate, going 2-1 with a 3.46 ERA and 46/18 K/BB ratio in 54 2-3 innings. He also represented the United States in the Beijing Olympics. Originally a 29th-round choice of the Diamondbacks in the 1998 draft, his best seasons occurred with Arizona early on before arm problems derailed his career. In parts of seven Major League seasons, the sidearm righty is 15-7 with a 3.82 ERA and 175/103 K/BB ratio, all in relief, with his last significant action occurring in 44 appearances for the D-Backs during the 2005 season. The agreement is reportedly a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.
Cervenak, a right-handed corner infielder, went 2-for-13 in three stints with the Phils, the first Major League action of his career. The 32-year-old hit .311/.336/.452 with 10 homers for Lehigh Valley. Tracy, a left-handed corner infielder who turns 35 soon, went 0-for-2 for the Phils before suffering a broken hand on Sept. 10. A veteran of 13 minor league season and parts of four Major League seasons, he hit .288/.382/.521 with 22 homers for Triple-A Lehigh Valley last season. In addition, catcher John Suomi, 28, who split time between Reading and Lehigh Valley, will also return to the club.
Swindle, 25, was called up twice and pitched three games for the big club. At the time, the Phils were in a pitching bind and needed to use Swindle in a couple blowouts, essentially leaning on him like a mop-up man instead of the situational left-hander he’s always been in the minors. Without the mix and match, it got ugly in a hurry. In 4 2-3 innings, he gave up a couple of big homers to Mark Reynolds of Arizona and David Wright of the Mets, with Wright taking him deep in Swindle’s very first Major League assignment. It was the first homer he surrendered all season.
In keeping with the holiday spirit, Beerleaguer sets aside some real estate for the good folks at baseball’s business relations office, who overnighted a copy of the Phillies World Series DVD that arrived on my doorstep yesterday. The disc is getting raves and I can’t wait to watch it. It’s hard to believe that on Friday it’s one month since it all happened. A lot has changed since then: an election; a sharp economic downturn; the government committing close to $7 trillion, total, in economic bailouts, including another $800 billion rescue plan announced today to buy up bad mortgages, making it roughly $1 trillion in government commitments since Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske. A lot of people are getting burned by this, but at least there’s baseball. At least there’s a pennant. We can all take comfort in that.
They say relievers pitch better when they know their roles. If that’s the case, then Chad Durbin was an exception to the rule in 2008. Splitting time between the rotation and bullpen with Detroit in ’07, the Phils devoted Durbin to middle relief with no set blueprint and the results couldn’t have been better. With his ERA hovering below 2.00 through mid-August, the 30-year-old right-hander embraced a freelance role that balanced back-to-back games and multiple innings, anytime, anyplace. He performed so well that Charlie Manuel auditioned him for the set-up vacancy in August, and only then – assuming his first clearly defined role as a Phillie – did he stumble. With his inning count rising, he never seemed right after that, finishing with a 4.32 ERA in August and 6.94 in September after pitching excellent ball for four months.
Aside from a few coaching changes, front office moves and the announcement that Chase Utley and Pedro Feliz will require surgery, it’s been a slow news month for the Philadelphia Phillies. As for the hot stove, last week, one report suggested the Phillies have some interest in Marlins outfielder Jeremy Hermida, a former first-round pick yet to blossom into the player Florida had hoped. Soon to be 25, there’s some thought that Hermida, entering his fourth full season, is what he is. The Phillies, who discovered that Jayson Werth, another former first-rounder, could grow into more than just a fifth outfielder, would appear to be a the type of club who would gamble on Hermida’s potential during his arbitration years, rather than lock into another expensive free agent deal with an aging outfielder, like Raul Ibanez. 
From a Phillies news release: Mackanin, 57, spent this past year as a pro scout for the New York Yankees after managing the Cincinnati Reds for the final three months of the 2007 season. Under his supervision, the Reds went 41-39 (.513) and had the second-best record in the National League Central Division during his tenure. In 2005, Mackanin was interim manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates for the team's final 26 games of the season. Before that, he spent seven seasons on the Major League coaching staffs of the Montreal Expos (third base coach, 1997-2000) and the Pirates (bench coach, 2003-05). As a player, Mackanin appeared in 18 games for the Phillies over the 1978 and 1979 seasons. With Mackanin's hiring, Sam Perlozzo has been named the third base coach. 
Mayberry, 24, split the 2008 season between double-A Frisco and Triple-A Oklahoma and hit a combined .264 with 38 doubles, 20 home runs, 71 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 135 games. A right-handed batter, he is the son of former Major Leaguer John Mayberry, who had a 15-year career (1968-82) with the Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. The Phillies have added him to the 40-man roster and have assigned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Utley, 29, has undergone several offseason diagnostic tests on his hip and team physician Dr. Michael Ciccotti reached the conclusion that surgery was necessary. According to the report, Utley could be cleared to resume baseball activities in three or four months, but full recovery could take an additional two. Utley was having an MVP-caliber season until early June, when his production went south and news leaked that the all-star second baseman was playing through a hip injury.
The Phillies purchased the contracts of RHP Carlos Carrasco, RHP Drew Naylor, LHP 
According to FoxSports Ken Rosenthal, both the Rockies and Mets, considered active shoppers for right-handed pop in left field, want no part of Burrell, who turned 32 last month and ended the 2008 season in a wicked slump. The life-long Phillie has already turned down a 2-year, $22 million offer to stay in Philadelphia, according to an Oct. 31 story in the Daily News. Burrell is seen as an ideal candidate for DH duty, although at least one report says he’d rather play the field. In limited interleague chances, has not performed well in the DH role. In a related story, according to Ken Davidoff of Newsday, the Mets, Phillies, and Dodgers have expressed interest in free agent outfielder Raul Ibanez.
One reason this offseason will be especially enjoyable is being able to reflect on all the unique little moments from the Phillies’ championship season. Without getting into too much detail, there’s a difference between great moments and Beerleaguer moments, and only Beerleaguers would know what that means. My favorite moment occurred in the Phillies’ unforgettable 8-7, 13-inning comeback victory over the Mets on Aug. 26. The game saw a dozen memorable moments, the highlight being Charlie Manuel using Carlos Ruiz at third in a game that featured a flurry of tactical triumphs. Another example of a fine Beerleaguer moment also came against the Mets, when R.J. Swindle spun Carlos Delgado in circles in his first Major League appearance. Of course, it occurred in a 10-9 loss and after David Wright had sent Swindle’s eephus pitch deep into the left-field seats.
Only once in the history of Beerleaguer has the Arizona Fall League revealed useful information as it pertains to a Phillies prospect. That was Scott Mathieson, who, in 2005, was named best pitcher in the AFL, a precursor to the breakout season he had with Double-A Reading beginning that spring. But for every Mathieson, whose career would be derailed with Tommy John surgery later that season, there’ve been many more Arizona stints that offered no hint of future performance.
-- The Phillies are looking at 
The votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America will be revealed today to decide whether Ryan Howard’s scorching September is enough to fight off another solid, full-season performance from Albert Pujols. Typically, voters tend to poo-poo candidates from non-contenders, and although the Cards’ 86-76 final mark isn’t terrible, they still finished fourth in their division. Meanwhile, Howard’s name didn’t enter the MVP conversation until the final few weeks, while the Phils mopped up 17 wins during the weakest stretch of their schedule. Before that, Howard was entrenched in a fight just to get anything going, sinking as low as .227/.317/.477 as late as Aug. 26, while finishing with a career-high 19 errors at first, which led baseball at the position. Pujols committed just six of them.
As steady as he was in 2008, and the job he does mentoring the young players, one could argue that Jamie Moyer deserves as much credit for exorcising Philadelphia’s title demons as anyone. If father time catches up with the 46-year-old, than the Phillies will have lost their bet against the clock that the man who went 16-7 with a 3.71 ERA (118 ERA+) can still contribute at a high level next season. Age isn't enough reason to believe he can’t. As long as the Marlins, Nationals and other National League mediocrities fill the schedule, Moyer, a unique breed who hasn't missed a turn with the Phillies yet, represents an attractive, comfortable option for the Phils. There’s risk, but there’s always risk when signing pitchers. Worst case scenario, Moyer breaks down and becomes a second pitching coach. There isn't a lot to lose here. Expect the two sides to draw up a plan that makes sense. 
According to an interview with his hometown paper, Perlozzo revealed that Ruben Amaro Jr. and his team wanted to make a quick decision and that he had been in the Phils’ sights for some time. Amaro, along with assistant GMs Chuck Lamar and Benny Looper, who spent 23 seasons with the Mariners, met with Perlozzo for over an hour Thursday and quickly inked him to a two-year contract. Perlozzo spent last season as Seattle's third-base coach. He and the other Seattle coaches were encouraged to look elsewhere for their next assignment as the organization planned a massive overhaul.
If Adrian Cardenas wins MVP and Josh Outman collects a Cy Young, the Blanton deal will forever be an excellent one since Blanton delivered immediate help and earned two postseason wins, directly contributing to a title. It’s an amazing thing, really, to witness a trade pan out perfectly with the Phillies on a winning side, something only teams like Boston and Florida ever seem to connect on. Blanton’s postseason performance was unquestionably the most underrated of any player the entire postseason, outperforming fellow deadline acquisitions CC Sabathia and Rich Harden and silencing critics who argued that the Phils had, once again, settled for less.
Taylor, a Stanford product who bats from the right side, made great strides this season at the single-A level, bulldozing his way to the top of the prospect charts. After mastering the Sally League, he spent the second half of ’08 in Clearwater, and after a slow start, had a blazingly good July and August. Between Lakewood and Clearwater, the soon-to-be 23-year-old posted a .346/.412/.557 line with 19 homers, 88 RBIs and 15 steals, along with a very agreeable 89/50 K/BB ratio. In 92 plate appearances, Taylor’s hitting .244/.333/.415 with a pair of homers with the Sharks.
According to Baseball America, the list includes: Jason Anderson (AAA), Matt Childers (AAA), Steve Green (AAA), Travis Minix (AAA), Justin Pope (AA), Scott Vander Weg (Hi A), Brian Mazone (AAA), Stephen Randolph (AAA), Matt Smith (Hi A), R.J. Swindle (AAA), Anderson Alvarez (VSL), Kevin Nelson (AA), John Suomi (AAA), Scott Thomas (AA), John Urick (Hi A), Carlos Leon (Hi A), Steve Smith (AAA), Mike Cervenak (AAA), Brian Finegan (Hi A), Orlando Guevara (AA), Joey Hammond (AA), Brennan King (AAA), Anthony Mansolino (Hi A), Mike Rouse (AAA), Jake Blalock (AA), T.J. Bohn (AAA), Jesus Granado (VSL), Jon Knott (AAA), Mike Spidale (AA), Brandon Watson (AAA).
Atkins hit .286/.328/.452 in 2008 with 21 homers and 99 RBIs, substantial drops over his 2007 totals and good for only a 97 OPS+, seeing much, much higher production at home just like Matt Holliday. The 28-year-old former teammate of Chase Utley at UCLA can cover the corner infield spots and is considered only a mediocre defender, and although he’s never played left field, Beerleaguer readers are encouraged that his bat, plugged into the fray somewhere, would be enough to overcome the possible loss of Pat Burrell:
The first win of the postseason, Game 1 against the Brewers, happened because Cole Hamels was brilliant, but also because Milwaukee gift wrapped all three of the Phillies runs in the third inning because of mishandled plays. Then in Game 1 of the championship series, another Hamels gem, the Phils followed Rafael Furcal’s wild throw with a pair of home runs, scoring three. Furcal would later suffer a three-error meltdown in the series clincher, enough to reward another fantastic start by Hamels all on his own.
Beerleaguer: Considering the age and nature of the loogy beast, there’s no good way to accurately predict how Eyre, who’s a better version of Aaron Fultz, will pitch in 2009. I’ll guess he won’t match what he did for the 2008 champs, but that’s what the crystal ball sees for basically the entire 'pen. The good news is that he’ll probably pitch so infrequently, and in mostly low-leverage frames, that it won’t matter. He actually didn’t pitch all that much in ’08 due to injury and his only bad regular-season stretch came in three consecutive games between Jun. 19 and July 31. Cut loose by the Cubs as more of a roster casualty than anything else, he proved to be a very important addition coming right at a time when the Phils’ bullpen was starting to leak oil. His $2 million is $1.8M less than he made last season, but deserving since he’s definitely fallen into more of a mop-up role. The value is in having a reliable second lefty Charlie Manuel can trust, right out of the chute, in the occasional big spot.
SI.com is reporting that Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday, believed to be on the Phillies’ radar, is headed to the Athletics, making it one less marquee right-handed, power-hitting left-fielder available on the open market. Details on the proposed trade are limited. The Phils and Cardinals, along with the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays, had been mentioned in rumors for Holliday, the 2007 runner-up in National League MVP voting.
Reading the scouting reports these last few years and there’s this notion that Carrasco’s high side would be as a big league No. 3. It’s starting to look like the young Venezuelan might have even more upside than that. In five abbreviated starts this fall, the increasingly imposing 6-3 righty is 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA and 19/4 K/BB ratio, building on the vastly improved control he ended with at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Armed with a plus fastball, plus change and improving breaking ball, scouts were initially concerned about his performance with runners on base, a problem blamed on inexperience and made worse by the possibility that he was brought along too fast. Since then, the last report I read came from a rival scout wondering how Carrasco wasn’t already in the Majors.
Beerleaguer: As Ruben Amaro’s cabinet takes shape, it serves as a reminder that baseball decisions aren’t made in a vacuum. Ultimately, Amaro signs off, but consider the size and seniority of his baseball operations staff. Pat Gillick has been retained in an advisory role and Amaro is looking to add another assistant GM in the next few days to handle the Major League end. Dallas Green (senior advisor to the GM), Charley Kerfeld (special assistant to the GM), Gordon Lakey (director, Major League scouting), Steve Noworyta (director, Minor League operations) and Marti Wolever (director, scouting) are all remaining with the organization. Only Arbuckle is out.
A reminder that posting will be light until at least next week as I continue to decompress following the Phillies season. There’s no better time since there’s absolutely nothing happening, even though baseball headlines continue to anchor Philly.com. The latest focuses on the team's interest in 22-year-old Japanese right-hander Junichi Tazawa. Click on the link to reveal this breaking information: "We know of him," Ruben Amaro Jr. said yesterday before departing the general managers meetings. "We've seen him, but we haven't made an offer." Yeah. I think I’m good for another week. 
This was discussed in a previous thread and merits its own header. What do the Phillies do now that they’re champs? Well, if you’re the Florida Marlins from five years ago, you sell the farm and build toward the future. If the Phillies were so inclined, they could do the same, or they could retool and go for it again in 2009. The Phils may be in the opportune position to do both thanks to a favorable combination of money coming off the books, a possible bump in payroll and plethora desirable contracts, including several short-term commitments to players coming off career years.
(From a Phillies news release) Despite missing 25 games due to injury, Rollins, 29, led
all NL shortstops with a .988 fielding percentage in his 132 starts. In
593 total chances, Rollins committed only seven errors, the fewest
among shortstops in the league. Victorino made a career-high 138 starts for the Phillies
(134 in CF, 4 in RF), leading the team's outfielders with a .994
fielding percentage. The 27-year-old, who also missed time this season
due to injury, committed only two errors in 337 total chances. Among
all NL center fielders, he ranked fourth in fielding percentage, tied
for fourth in assists (7) and sixth in total chances and putouts (314).
Smith had a rocky two-year tenure as coach, a job that was originally set aside for Art Howe two years ago. Howe was allowed to take a better offer as bench coach for the Texas Rangers and Smith was brought in as a late replacement. The move marks Manuel’s first staff firing, as the Oct. 2006 coaching shakeup, which ushered in Smith, Davy Lopes and Jimy Williams, was orchestrated by the front office. Aside from coaching third base, Smith was responsible for instructing the infield, working closely with Ryan Howard, who committed 19 errors. Smith received most of his criticism early in his tenure for several overly aggressive green lights, in many cases, resulting in runners being thrown out at home by 15 feet or more.
Beerleaguer: Some would be surprised to know I’m a little disappointed to see Walrond go. I don’t think you hurt yourself having someone like him stashed in the high minors, but logistically it’s tough to set aside the space. Walrond has never stuck around one organization for very long, so the proof is in the pudding that he doesn't cut it. But in the right situation, and if he gets into a groove, he could become someone’s second-level specialist as his splits are actually quite good. To the naked eye, he showed decent stuff in limited chances with the Phils, especially against the lefties. The problem comes from poor command and the fact that he has nothing for the righties. With the Phils – the defending champs that they are – there’s simply no room.
The Washington Nationals outrighted the 29-year-old utilityman to Triple-A Syracuse last week and he opted to become a free agent instead, news that triggered Chris Wheeler’s Student of the Game Google Alert and opened the door for Phillies PR officials to resurrect their “Our scouts had their eye on him” press release, last used when Matt Kata was acquired for Tim Worrell. According to one report, the Phils are in mix for Orr, a .261/.290/.333 career hitter who made 49 appearances this season with Washington and hit .253 with seven RBIs, seeing most of his action with Washington’s Triple-A affiliate. The Phils have seen plenty of Orr, who's spent most of his career with Atlanta.
Don’t let the all-in-the-family hiring fool you. The appointment of Amaro represents the biggest Phillies front-office shakeup in years, as Arbuckle, assistant general manager of scouting and development, cleaned out his office the day of the parade in heartbreaking fashion, according to Randy Miller of the Bucks County Courier Times. A guest of the WIP morning show, Miller also reported that Marti Wolever, scouting director since 2002 and Arbuckle’s right-hand man, could follow Arbuckle out the door. 
