Transactions: Former Penn Stater signed by Phillies

Baseball America released its latest batch of minor league signings today. Topping the list: right-hander Nate Bump, who was the Giants’ first pick (25th overall) in the 1998 draft.

Bump, who last appeared with Florida in 2005, split the 2009 season between the independent Camden Riversharks and the Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit), going 7-1 with a 2.38 ERA and 33/10 K/BB ratio in 10 Triple-A starts. In 11 minor league seasons, the 33-year-old Towanda, Pa. native is 49-48 with a 3.69 ERA, and in parts of three seasons with Florida between 2003-05, he was 6-7 with a 4.68 ERA in 113 appearances, earning a ring as part of the Marlins' championship club in '03. It's possible he will be invited to spring training as a non-roster player, but no word on that yet. (Incidentally, I was a Penn State student when Bump was drafted and there was quite a bit of excitement over it; PSU isn't known as a hotbed of baseball talent).

Other new additions include right-hander Jay Stephens, 25, who came up through the Yankees’ system and bounced between Tampa (A), Trenton (AA) and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA) last season. Third baseman Eric Campbell, 24, joins the Phillies after spending six seasons in the Atlanta system, his last stop with Double-A Mississippi. Entering 2007, he was rated by Baseball America as the No. 6 prospect in the Braves organization. Venezuelan utilityman Melvin Dorta, 27, spent last season with Triple-A Norfolk (Baltimore) and earned a cup of coffee with Washington back in 2006. Catcher John Suomi, who was with the Phillies in 2007-08, rejoins the club after a year in the Kansas City chain.

In other news, the club resigned right-handers John Ennis, Santos Hernandez, left-handers Jason Mackintosh, Jake Woods, catcher Kevin Nelson, shortstop Fidel Hernandez, outfielders Javis Diaz, Kevin Mahar, Mike Spidale and Brian Stavisky (the latter three are likely to rejoin Reading).

Meanwhile, Robert Roth, Dan Brauer, Esmelvin Jimenez, Brendan Akashian, Phil Aviola, Francisco Murillo, Cory Wine, Vladimir de los Santos, David Hissey and T.J. Warren were released, and thus, unworthy of boldface.

Comments

[Willard Preacher]

As a fellow Nittany Lion, also at PSU when Nate Bump was drafted, I share the enthusiasm!

[J. Weitzel]

And the Willard Building is where I would read about Bump in the Daily Collegian, while waiting for class to start, possibly the gen-ed I had with wideouts Eddie Drummond and Sam Crenshaw.

[Meyer]

Jim Farr, a future Texas Ranger, played in the mid seventies during my brief stay at Happy Valley.

[NEPP]

WE ARE...

[Sophist]

Can't forget Mike Scioscia.

Baseball Cube has a page where you can find alumni of colleges/universities:

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/teams/alumni/20348.shtml

[Ops]

Love the handle, WP. But, as a current PSU student, I didn't see the Willard Preacher once this past semester. I'm hoping it's just bad timing on my part, but he's usually there most of the day. Hope he's not gone for good.

[J. Weitzel]

Actually, Cory Wine, one of the guys released by the Phillies, is a Penn State guy, too. Maybe I should put him in boldface.

[Phillies Red]

Hey Sophist, a quick wrap up from our conversation last thread. I can understand the age and health concerns when comparing Melky to Church, but I think the lingering question is this: was the security of a healthy player and the potential upside of Melky worth the Braves' best pitcher? Could they have gotten a useful player and a good prospect?

To keep this in context, the Braves have picked up a nice pitching prospect. But they haven't really improved the 2010 team. They might use the cost savings to do that, but then again, they might sign some scrub too.

[Joe Paterno's colostomy bag]

I don't know if Pitt ever produced a major leaguer but, if you listen real close to this recording of the Pitt Victory song, there's a familiar message for the Nittany chickens.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8tJZIYAgR0&feature=related

[Phillies Red]

Also, isn't it weird that two of the NL east's best teams have bent over backwards to trade their 2009 best pitchers? as Joe Sheehan said: "I'm starting to think that the new market inefficiency is having the phone numbers of general managers in the NL East."

[Sophist]

Ken Macha went to Pitt.

[Sophist]

PR - I at least agree that we should give the Braves a chance to maybe spend the money saved. Otherwise it looks more like a salary dump and a move for the future, which is fine since the Braves have a very young team. I think they're close enough that reinvesting that money makes sense, but maybe their owners think otherwise. It doesn't make much sense for them to pick up the hot FA commodities (since they're OF).

[Sophist]

PR - Something else I read today was that Vasquez at a NTC to NL/AL West teams. Probably impacted his value (since the Angels would certainly have driven up his price).

[brad]

Eric Campbell was once the Braves 3rd baseman of the future. It's unlikely that he amounts to anything given his lack of success at AA, but at 24, maybe he can regain the former prospect status and have a big league future. At one time he had a very high ceiling. He is probably just AA/AAA roster filler, though.

[clout]

Godfather, MaxMax: Melky was a major leaguer at age 21. Think about that for a moment. Where was Gillies at age 21?

Also, Melky's SLG went from .341 to .416 last season. There will certainly be a negative effect from the shift in ballparks, but that may be offset by the move to the weaker league. Melky begins his age 25 season in 2010, which means he's just starting his peak years.

Look, I'm not saying he's a star, but he's more than a 4th outfielder. I like the Mazzilli comp. A career 109 OPS+ ain't too shabby.

[Phillies Red]

Yes, that's true about his NTC. Not to be redundant, but trading one of the pitchers seemed like the Braves' best shot at getting closer to the Phils. Frankly, I'm happy they didn't really pull it off. They'll get better once they round out their offense, but barring a Bay or Holliday in their outfield, I just don't see how they will keep pace with the Phils.

On the flip side of this trade is the Yankees, who are looking unstoppable next year. And wherever you come down on Melky, he's easily replaced for the Yanks, who now have a deep, quality rotation and a versatile offense.

I don't really have strong feelings about whether or not the Yanks are good or bad for baseball, but it will be fun to watch them battle the RSox and the Rays next year.

[CJ]

Sophist: Considering they've dumped both Soriano ($8M) and Vasquez ($11.5M) and have a 4th OF and a 19-year pitching prospect to show for it... I'm not so sure the plan is to use that money for Holliday or Bay. I'd guess they'll use a little bit of it for Marlon Byrd (who may just be an older Melky).

[Phillies Red]

In the category of relief pitchers that might have helped the Phils, I think we can add Darren Oliver. He's old and unlikely to repeat last year's numbers, but he has back end experience and would have given Romero time to get back up to speed. $3.5M seems a bit generous, though it's a better price than Buster is reporting for Rodney: 2 years and $12M (Phils' apparent interest). I'm guessing we could spend $12M better than that.

[CJ]

clout: Do hitters get the same benefit moving from the AL to the NL that pitchers do? I had always thought that was more of a pitching thing mostly due to the DH.

[NEPP]

Hitters have been shown to get a minor bump as well, IIRC.

[Robby J]

Anybody believe Cashman when he says he has no plans for "a big-ticket outfielder" (Holliday)? He said We're looking at all small pieces

[NEPP]

Nope, not one bit. Cashman knows what he's doing...same as last year with Teixeira. He played that one perfectly and he's doing the same this year.

Though it will mean a big bump in their salary for 2010 as they're already at the same level as last year $201 million. They'd have to move salary or push it to the $215-220 range PLUS the luxury tax.

[MaxMax3]

Clout,
I'll admit, I enjoy following the MiLB players often more so than some MLB players, and enjoy watching some of them fall out and some of them become stars, and I have been completely open about not liking Melky as anything other than a 4th OF. He played for the Yankees since age 21 because they had older often injured OFs. Great, good for him for playing so much at a young age and for the Yankees not really needing him to do too much. He didn't play terribly well, OPS+ of 95,88,68,99 in the last four years (each year with 450+ PAs) and didn't play horrible except two years ago. Pretty much league average. You think he'll improve. I do not.

Since he started out so young it also means that he will now start making lots more money, which would be fine for Yankees, but maybe not the Braves.

I also don't see any power potential. Last year in Yankee stadium he hit 9 HRs, on the road 4. I'm not the biggest fan of ESPN park factors, but Yankee stadium HR rate was 1.26, which is the highest in MLB(1 = average), Turner Field is one of the lowest .861.

In the context of him playing on the Braves, where is he going to play? CF? I don't think so, I think McLough is better. Is he going to platoon with Diaz? Is he going to platoon with Heyward? Are they planning on keeping him for 1 year and then non-tendering him? I don't see him blocking the way for Heyward and Schaffer long term, do you?
I don't know the answers to those questions, but if he is there everyday starter in LF next year then I think that is good for the Phils, because he won't hit for power, he won't play great defense, he won't get do anything great. I don't think he fits into their long term plans, and I don't think he'll be a valuable asset as his salary increases.

And for what its worth, for him to have a 109 career OPS+, he'll have to have something like a 120 OPS+ average over the next 8 years playing full time.

I don't see it happening.

[CJ]

The Yankees luxury tax issue is even bigger if you consider as a repeat offender, the penalty goes up!

[NEPP]

McLouth is a terrible defender...his gold-glove award was a joke.

Melky is no worse in the field than him. He's a good bit better from most metrics.

UZR/150 for CF

McLouth
2007: -15.4
2008: -14.3 (his gold glove year no less)
2009: 4.7

Cabrera
2007: -10.7
2008: 0.8
2009: 2.3

[DPatrone]

TTI~

I never was talking about a "big name" reliever. I'm talking about a Mike Mac Dougal type or the like. I said re-signing Park would be fine. I said I want guys who can pitch. I know Mac Dougal isn't the best but he can close if nned be. At least Nate Bump has ML experience and provides minor league depth.

Right now Lidge, Madson, Romero and Durbin is all. And Lidge and Romero are recovering from surgery. Am I missing something here? Everyone says that we have plenty of tome to augment the 'pen and to some extent that's true. But let's say they wait and bring in a couple of warm bodies. Are you/we gonna be happy? Probably not.

What bothers me is not the "when". It's the "who". I wouldn't care if they brought in a guy who nobody's heard of as long as he can pitch and is not ancient.

As I posted last week. I'm for getting things done. Right at the moment RAJ has not addressed the need. The reason why he hasn't is money. But he will. He has to. And I'm not talking about Escanlona or Bastardo. Right now those 2 are just call-up, fill-in guys.

If you and others think my stance on this is wrong that's ok. But I can't wait to read what others post when and if RAJ brings in a stiff.

[Marc H]

Here's what I want for Christmas...

Convince the Astros to do a sign and trade for Jose Valverde. This way, the Phillies don;t have to give up a #1 and can strengthen the bullpen

[CJ]

DPatrone: "What bothers me is not the "when". It's the "who"."

Now that right there is high comedy!

[NEPP]

Has anyone mentioned that Cabrera's #1 player comp (through Age 24) is Curt Flood?

That's a pretty strong compliment to be honest.

Considering that in Age 25, Flood exploded winning 7 straight GGs while posting a 106 OPS+ for those 7 seasons.

So perhaps Cabrera is about to breakout now that he's out of NY...and perhaps he'll become the post-child of the next labor dispute.

[TNA]

I hope to god the Phillies don't spend a lot of money (ie. 2yr/$12M) on Rodney. That would be an utter waste of resources. This guy issues walks way too cheaply. During the season, he may be useful middle relief, but during the playoffs, he'd be untrustworthy/useless. Walks kill during the postseason when the teams are so balanced and the margin for error is relatively very small. Time again during these past playoffs, walks killed losing teams. And as it is, the Phillies already have a bunch of big stuff/no control relievers in Lidge and Romero in the backend of the bullpen. The Phillies, if anything, need a guy who doesn't issue walks easily.

[goody]

Bobby Cox is predicting that Cabrera will hit 13 HR at CBP.

[G-Town Dave]

The as-yet-unmentioned benefit of the Cabrera trade is that Phillies fans will have up to 9 chances to repay the friendliness & class w/ which he treated them this past Fall. Got D-cells?

Also, there's a good article by Zolecki currently up on the Phils' website. Highlights include Rube suggesting the team still intends to sign a reliever, & indicating the issue w/ Park is not a desire on his part to start, but how much money he's worth.

[TrueGrit]

Somewhere, Wheels is rejoicing.....

[awh]

Phils sign a Prnn State alum?

YAWWWWWWN!

[Rondo]

Nepp,
Are you suggesting the Braves will bench McLouth in place of Cabrera, or are you suggesting that they should bench him? Or shuffle them around so Cabrera plays CF and McLouth plays LF?
I'm not sure where you are going with the UZR stats, since niether player really stands out.

[RodeoJones]

Penn State football = LOL ZOMG old man

[Darko Milicic]

http://ussmariner.com/2009/12/14/the-deal-as-we-know-it/

A little old, but the truth as we know it.

[Len39]

G-Town: Good point about Melkey. I bet he figured he wouldn't have to face us again. I hope the fans and players don't forget how he acted.

I interviewed Bobby Higginson when I was a sports writer at the Temple News. I don't have much more to add on that topic except for the first half of a game at the Vet it looked like TU football would beat Penn State, but yeah.

Rodney does not seem exciting, especially at that money. I'd almost rather have Chan Ho back.

Yankees are scary. They could feasibly bat Granderson 9th giving them basically two leadoff hitters. Now they can keep one of Joba/Huges in the pen too and they add another innings eater. I hope Halladay has 3 good starts against them in next year's World Series, it's the only hope.

[pb]

pb wanted to get morrow or league as part of one of our trades! and now they get traded for one another??! that doesn't make pb happy

pb is getting upset!

[MG]

Oliver signs 1 yr/$3.5M deal with Rangers. Seems like he has been around forever and he has - 16 years as a MLB veteran.

Angels supposedly are close to signing Rodney at 2 yrs/$12M.

FA reliever talent pool is getting a bit thin. Still some interesting options out there though including a few LOOGY candidates.

[fljerry]

Buster Olney
The Phillies' interest is in Fernando Rodney, at two years and $12 million. Set-up guy, plus safety net for Brad Lidge.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

NEPP: "McLouth is a terrible defender...his gold-glove award was a joke."

Have you ever watched him play the outfield? Quibble over gold gloves - they aren't terribly indicative of who is the best fielder - but, a terrible defender? Is everyone measured against Andruw Jones in his prime?

[TTI]

Oliver said on MLB Radio 10 days ago he intended to sign with the Rangers. He lives in Texas and wanted to sign close to home. There was little chance he wanted to go elsewhere.

[awh]

The Biz of Baseball has an article on the growth of players' salaries the last 10 years.

Link is also on MLBTR.

http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3867:a-decade-of-growth-examining-mlb-player-payroll&catid=26:editorials&Itemid=39

[Greg V]

2 years $12 million for Rodney is ridiculous! Great post about future Iron Pigs and R-Phils though!

[CJ]

Can't wait to hear DPatrone and G-Town Dave weigh in when the Phils overpay Fernando Rodney. They're getting their wish!

[awh]

please no. no 2/12 for a guy with that BB/9.

[G-Town Dave]

If Rube gives Rodney $12 million he's far, far dumber than I've been accusing him of being. The Phillies desperately need a bullpen upgrade, but not at that price. Cost apparently being the issue (per Zolecki's article), it also makes one wonder exactly how much money Park is asking for.

[Robby J]

Zolecki says talks arent serious between Rodney and Phils.. The Angels will be the idiots.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Dear Phillies,

Sign Chan Ho Park and tell him he can start out as a starter again...wink wink.

Love,

The Beard

[DPatrone]

BB~ I agree on Park.

I hope RAJ doesn't spend 6 million a year for Rodney. If he does that, he'll get killed here for not using money to retain Lee. And I hope for no Batisita. Not at 38.

But the other guys they are linked to (Colero, Howry) are ok but don't excite me either.

[Warren Brewsters White Rabbit]

yes don't forget Cory Wine is a PSU Guy !

[TNA]

Let's take a balanced look at his numbers...
Pros:
1. Ground ball rate: 47.7%
His line drive rate last year was an outlier at 11.1% (career: 18.8%). But his GB%, although not elite like Cla Meredith, is very good.
2. Decent K/9 rate: 8.56
Rodney's contact % of 73.3% is decent although it's not an elite figure for a closer and last year, his contact rate was near the league average of 80%. The man who leads the league in contact % over the past 3 years is Lidge at an extraordinary 65%.
3. Throws hard: 96mph on fastballs

Cons:
1. WHIP is too ugly to print.
2. Has a BB/9 rate 5.51 over the past 2 seasons. (Lidge, Durbin and K-Rod are not too far behind)
3. His xFIP for the past 2 years is a very middling 4.37, behind relieving stalwarts like Aaron Heilman and Matt Herges.
4. Batters could render him useless by laying off his pitches and taking walks, which they seemed to start doing last year.
5. Not related to Delaware and Revolution hero Caesar Rodney
6. Had shoulder and arm problems in years following significant increases in innings pitched. He almost doubled his workload to 75 IP last year so his shoulder may not hold up.
7. Average (and decreasing) infield popup rate: career - 12.2%; 2009 - 8.8%

To me, he looks like a ground-ball lite-version of Lidge. Decent stuff and misses bats but also issues tons of walks and oscillates between very good and very poor depending on how batters approach him. Elite relievers have low WHIPs, low contact%/high K/9 rates, high infield FB rates, and low BB/9.

I'm a bit annoyed that the Phillies offered Rodney 2/12, and didn't offer Gonzalez (who actually deserves and received 2/12 from the Orioles) the same. I wouldn't sign any available reliever on the market for 2/12 with the exception of Valverde and he's unfortunately a Type A. The Phillies would almost be better off signing a position player like Jerry Hairston Jr. and trading Francisco in a deal for a 2011 FA reliever like Qualls, Street, Downs, Affeldt, etc.

[TNA]

Braves' Wren says that they'll be signing a 'run-producer' soon.

Sounds like DeRosa to me.

[BPFlyers]

I'd rather sign Park than spend $12 million for 2 years on Rodney. At least we know Park can get the job done in the bullpen. Rodney issues too many walks and is just too independable. I guess you could say Rodney gets no respect! For X-mas he gave his kid a bow and arrow; the kid gave him a shirt with a bullseye on the back...yea, let me tell ya...no respect...no respect at all...Whoops, wrong Rodney!

[Sophist]

Rodney's Home/Road splits are frightening.

I like what he can do against RHB.

How could he be worth the same price as Gonzalez? I can only imagine it was his 37 saves last year. What a silly game.

[mvptommyd]

No way that the Phillies sign Rodney for 2 yrs/12 Mil. That makes no sense at all for various reasons. First, Rodney isn't worth that much. Second, Monty would never ever ever spend $6 mil per year on a reliever. Third, they just got done telling their fans that they traded Lee part due to money. How in the world would that go over if a week later they go out and sign a gfuy that doesn't deserve 2 yrs/12 Mil to that deal, when they could have just used that money to keep Lee.

Won't happen. So we can all be happy and not let the thought of it ruin our day.

[awh]

"Second, Monty would never ever ever spend $6 mil per year on a reliever."

ummmm, tommy, do the names Billy Wagner, Tom Gordon and Brad Lidge ring a bell?

[mvptommyd]

awh: They were closers. I knew I should have admended that statement. BESIDES closers, he won't sign a $6 million reliever.

[awh]

tommy, this is BL. You KNOW you will be corrected if you post something that is not exactly factual. :)

[mvptommyd]

awh: Yea I know. I was literally typing an admendment to that statement, then erased it in the hopes people would not see the error in my statement. But it did slide by for a whole 9 minutes.

[Robby J]

Braves about to sign Glaus to play first. LaRoche will have to sign elsewhere.

[mvptommyd]

Well Glaus is a "coin-flip", but makes sense for them since they are obviously setting up to win down the road and not right now.

Glaus will eithier explode for 25-30 HR's and some nice run production in 150 games OR will flop and miss half the season due to injury.

[Klaus]

That Rube would sign Rodney to 2/12 (and I don't know that he will) is dispiriting--both in and of itself and for what it indicates about Team Ruben's philosophy of baseball valuation. Paying premiums for counting stats?--ugh.

That said, I'm struggling to understand what it is about the proposed deal that G-town dislikes, given his insistence that we sign a reliever, any reliever, Halladay be damned...

Finally, let me say: U Wisc rules, Penn State drools.

[Robby J]

Believe it or not, Glaus has only topped .900 OPS twice in his career. He strikes out 150 times a yr and is a .255 lifetime hitter. Upgrade in power (vs. Laroche), downgrade everywhere else.

[Sophist]

Glaus would be a solid signing at first. I was hoping the Phils would be curious about him for third, but I bet he simply can't field the position any more.

[TNA]

Glaus would be a great signing if he signs at or under $7M.

[Bonehead]

The Braves are scaring me.
They have the rotation. They have a pesky lineup.
IF Glaus, Chipper and Wagner stay healthy, then the Phils are in for a fight in the NL East.

[Robby J]

One yr deal w/ incentives. No dollars publicized yet.

[Sophist]

Robby, I agree more or less. You overstate Glaus' K-rate (who cares about that anyway? and fail to mention Glaus' far higher OBP and BB%)

Difference is going to be the commitment in dollars and years between the players. That's what makes Glaus a smart signing.

Since 2005

Glaus: .259/.362/.496
LaRoche: .273/.344/.492

[Robby J]

Bonehead:You're right about the rotation. However, you forgot Hudson (in the health dept) and I think their OF (presently constituted) is below league average and much less formidable than the Phils.

[JBird]

How do you trade off Lee's $9 million only to give $6 million to Rodney? That'd be farcical. I'd rather have Chan Ho back.

[mvptommyd]

JBird: Exactly, that is why it won't happen.

I think Rube's plan for the bullpen is to wait until all the arb cases are over with so that he knows EXACTLY what the payroll looks like. At that point, he will go to work to re-sign Eyre and sign a middle grade guy. Finally, will put Bastardo/Escalona/Mathieson in the pen's final spot.

[Bonehead]

Robby- You're right about Hudson's iffy health. So, admittedly, health-wise, there are some significant 'IFs' for the Braves.
Their OF, while inferior to the Phils, is still pretty tough. McLouth, Diaz and Melky have a combined OPS+ of 103. And, defensively, two of the three have CF skills. And all three are in the prime years of their careers.

[WillyFromPhilly]

So our new motto could be, "Over the hump with Bump??"

[slappy]

Anyone have ESPN Insider? There's an article by Dave Cameron calling Chase Utley the most valuable player of the decade and I'm curious how Cameron makes his argument.

[R.Billingsly]

Does Matt Diaz hit when he plays other teams, or is it only against the Phils? It certainly seems that way.

[NEPP]

****Their OF, while inferior to the Phils, is still pretty tough. McLouth, Diaz and Melky have a combined OPS+ of 103. And, defensively, two of the three have CF skills. And all three are in the prime years of their careers****

Our OF is a much better version of that.

OPS+ - 122
Both Vic and Werth can play a GOOD CF as opposed to McLouth and Cabrera's average/slightly below average defense there.

You are right in that we are superior but you are underestimating just how much better we are in the OF.

[R.Billingsly]

I was curious, so I looked it up.

Matt Diaz 2009 against the Philies:

.478/.510/.935. Yes, an OPS of 1.445. 5 HR, 13 RBI. Far and away better than any other team. The Mets are a distant second of teams where the sample size isn't too small (.348/.412/.565).

[Clay Dalrymple]

What I love about Chan Ho is the flexibility he gives you. He can be long man, 7th inning guy, 8th inning, even has closer stuff. Enables you to adjust on the fly as guys get injured or flop. I understand he wants to start (national pride and all) but for the money, he gives the team a lot of options. Much more so than Rodney at 6 million per

[NEPP]

He also covers our Asian player quota per the CBA.

[Willard Preacher]

Glaus, Chipper, Hudson, Wagner. All very decent "names," but also about a 1% chance that all remain healthy for any extended period of time, as well.

On paper, the Braves are much improved. However, it takes a little time before it all "comes together" (ask the Yankees who have been having to figure out how to mesh that core group of players for several years, Sabathia excluded). I think by the time they gel, most of their guys will be hurt or out of the game entirely. Now, if they were playing fantasy baseball, that's another story....

[NEPP]

Honestly, Larry Jones is a HoF but what is the over/under on his games started for 2010?

He's averaged 127 games over the past 6 seasons with a highwater mark of 143 and a low of 109.

I think 120 games is a fair guess...

[Lions Pride]

"And the Willard Building is where I would read about Bump in the Daily Collegian, while waiting for class to start, possibly the gen-ed I had with wideouts Eddie Drummond and Sam Crenshaw."

I guess my CLASSES with Dwill, Tyrell Sales, Jerome Hayes and John Shaw had significantly more talent in them haha sorry JW couldnt resist.

I also had a few classes with Morelli so i guess that evens things out a bit.

[awh]

"IF Glaus, Chipper and Wagner stay healthy, then the Phils are in for a fight in the NL East.

Posted by: Bonehead"

Bonehead, I am on record saying it was going t be a dogfight with the Braves BEFORE any of their FA signings. Their rotation is, IMO, that good.

Now, trading Vasquez instead of Lowe hurt them a little, but they are still awfully good and should get a lot of innings from those guys.

Maybe Cameron's argument is that it's not just on the field value but off the field as well. that is, the locker room presence and leadership by example may push other players to be their best.

Also, I remember a little blip Heyman wrote back in May/June 2008. He had just spent the weekend with the Phils, and wrote something very interesting after they had lost a Sunday game.

It was along the lines of:

"After spending a weekend with the Philadalephia Phillies, I'm pretty sure there is no other team that hates losing more. That may become a factor later in the season", or something like that.

It's a pretty good guess, IMHO, that Chase Utley is the Chief Instigator of the "I HATE to Lose Club" in the Philly lockerroom.

[Sophist]

There is no question the Braves have a wider distribution of expected wins than the Phils heading into next season, but that rotation probably assures them of a respectable floor to that variance. If Glaus' physical goes through and Chipper sticks around for 2010, the Braves have the best shot of any team in the East not named the Phillies to win 90+ games (and it's not a negligible chance).

Not bad for <$100M. It's not as if they're trying to maximize their chances of winning in 2010. They're lineup is very young. The Braves are looking at least two years ahead and still giving themselves a chance to compete.

[CJ]

Cameron from Fangraphs uses WAR to rank the players and then looks at how much they've made in salary. Here's the concluding two paragraphs:

In exchange for that performance, the Phillies have paid Utley a meager $25 million in salary, leaving $129 million in surplus value. Pujols has been ever so slightly better on the field, producing 40.4 wins and $164 million in raw value, but St. Louis has paid him $66 million over the past five years. The $41 million difference in salary more than outweighs the 2.5 difference in wins produced on the field, allowing the Phillies to extract more value from Utley than St. Louis got from its superstar. And remember, Utley didn't land a permanent job in the majors until 2005. He has had 2,269 fewer plate appearances to work with, and still managed to get himself within shouting distance of Pujols' value for the decade. Once you adjust for games played, in fact, Utley grades out slightly higher. Utley has produced a net value of just over $35,000 per plate appearance, compared to $28,000 per trip to the plate for Pujols. While Utley hasn't been at the top of the game for quite as long, once you account for salary, he's been the most valuable player in baseball since his arrival in the big leagues.

The difference may only grow over the next few seasons. Pujols has two years remaining on the seven-year, $100 million contract he signed in 2004, but you have to believe that the Cardinals will give him a massive extension before his contract expires. He is due $16 million in each of the next two years, and the average annual salary of his next deal will surely exceed that. Utley, meanwhile, is under contract through 2013 at $15 million per year -- less than half of what he's worth on an annual basis. He may not have the trophies or the gaudy home run totals of players like Pujols or Alex Rodriguez, but Chase Utley is right there with the very best players in the game. When you factor in that the Phillies have him under contract at rates that don't even come close to his true value, he rises above the rest as the real Most Valuable Player in baseball.

[TTI]

I know some will scoff but the Nationals are putting together a nice little team down there. Adding Jason Marquis was a good move and he could be a decent little workhorse for that staff and take some pressure off the young guys.

The belief is they may win the Matt Capps sweepstakes which would give them a legit closer.

They already added Pudge who should be able to help the young staff develop.

There is also talk they are chasing after Orlando Hudson to play second for them. If they add him they'd have a nice little line-up with Guzman, Hudson, Zimmerman, and Dunn.

Don't mistake this as me saying they are going to compete for the division this season but they aren't going to be dogs out there for the games we play them.

[JBird]

I'd like to work up a WAR for accounting, find out how much I'm worth per spreadsheet. . . might just depress me though.

[NEPP]

Best position player in baseball:

1. Pujols
2. Mauer
3. Utley

Not taking salary into the discussion.

[Bonehead]

Old friend Jack Taschner signed by Pirates to minor league deal.

[clout]

Rotoworld reporting that Phillies are still pursuing BOTH Rodney and MacDougal. Could get 'em both for about $4M.

[CJ]

Scoff.

[NEPP]

Trashcan man wasn't that terrible...I fully expect him to make the Pirates 25 man out of ST.

[CJ]

clout: $4M each or $4M total? Have to be $4M each, right?

[Robby J]

not the Rotoworld page I look at. 4 mill each? 4 mill total?? or is this another clout joke?

[JBird]

I could make the Pirates 25-man roster out of ST.

[slappy]

Thanks CJ. I see Cameron was taking the word "value" literally. Nice to see Utley getting his recognition though.

[SmokyJoe]

Stark has his view of MVP & LVP of the decade: Pujols & Juan Gonzalez, respectively. Interestingly enough, Burrell's name is listed in the "honor roll" for LVP. Eaton's name was nowhere present.

[MWBBFAN]

Don't be surprised to see either Worley or Stutes in the Phils bullpen this year.