Good morning, all.One quick note to pass along: I had a conversation the other day with Danny Martinez, one of the Phillies' Spanish-language broadcasters, about lefty reliever Fabio Castro (left). Danny knows Castro about as well as anyone since Castro lived with him after being traded to the Phillies in late June. Anyway, he confirmed the second-hand reports I had heard during the winter about how well Castro pitched in the Dominican Republic and expressed confidence that Castro could help the Phillies if he makes the team out of spring training.
But will he?
It depends on how the Phillies want to use Castro in 2007. Some in the organization believe he's best suited to be a starter, which would mean an extended apprenticeship in the rotation at triple-A Ottawa. Others, namely manager Charlie Manuel, think Castro's greatest immediate value to the Phillies is in the bullpen. Matt Smith is the only lefty reliever with a lock on a bullpen spot, and Castro would give Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee another option against the league's top left-handed hitters, like Carlos Delgado.
Martinez's opinion: Castro is good enough right now to help the Phillies in any way. And, for now, at least, Manuel said Castro will be used as a reliever in Grapefruit League games. Keep an eye on how he does.
More later.
9 comments:
Mr. Scott Lauber:
Why are the Phillies 1 of only 4 teams in MLB that do NOT have the city of PHILADELPHIA scripted on their away jerseys????
The Curse of Billy Penn Lives!!!!
Please ask that question to the 10 member ownership conglomeration who have cut Ed Wade's 2005 player payroll from $95 Million to "STAND" Pat Gillick's current 2007 player payroll of $65 Million?
Philadelphia is the 4th largest media market in the United States but spend like a small market!!!
Stop buying Citizen Bank Park tickets if the Phillies are strictly selling the NL Wildcard Playoff Birth when September rolls around....The Mets won the NL East by 12 and 1/2 games in 2006...Have the Phillies improved their team enough for 2007 to narrow that gap by reducing payroll???!!!
How do you not sign MVP Ryan Howard now to a long term deal and lockup his services with a multi-year contract to be the nucleus of this team with Rollins and Utley???
Regards,
FRANCHISE
I didn't realize that most of the MLB teams had "Philadelphia" on their away jerseys...
The rest of your post does not show a lot of thought beforehand, but this is one thing I've thought about before. Even the Dodgers have "Los Angeles", which is relatively long, on their jerseys.
I don't have any allegiance to Philadelphia except for the Phillies, so I wouldn't be "proud" per se if the city was on the jerseys. But, I think it would be classy.
The payroll is NOT 65 million. You're forgetting money we're still paying for players like Thome.
And do you really think it's fair to refer to Pat Gillick as "STAND Pat" given the team he's putting on the field in April?
Finally, what DON'T people understand about the Ryan Howard contract and how MLB baseball players in general are paid? (see Chase Utley)
Ryan will make about 1 million this year. His BIG PAYDAY will come as soon as next year with the Phillies.
Castro's role is so critical this year, seeing as how the 'pen is so thin right now. If he can break camp as a member of it, throwing as good as hi did in the offseason, it'll really help with the Lieber negotiations. I think he's still a year away, but if he can bring it this year, he's definately needed on the 40 man.
Thanks for all the info Scott.
Franchise: Check your math. The Phillies' payroll will be in the $90-95 million range once again this year. It may even creep a little higher. There are plenty of reasons to criticize David Montgomery and his partners, but cutting the payroll isn't one of them. They haven't done that.
Paul: Agreed on Castro's potential value to this bullpen. Spring training will determine where he starts the season, but right now, I think he's more useful in the Phillies' bullpen than in the starting rotation at Ottawa.
Thanks everyone for the kind words about the blog. Please keep the thoughtful responses coming.
Mr. Scott Lauber:
Please provide the "official" MLB annual Phillies 2007 player payroll for the 40 man roster. I cannot find it anywhere and including the recent signing of Chase Utley to a backloaded 7 year deal the player payroll is not $95 Million as you suggest!!!!
Please proove me wrong and provide the accurate 2007 payroll numbers.
By not signing Ryan Howard to a long term deal now, he will "test the free agency waters" in 2008 since he hired a Hollywood based agent....He is arbitration eligible after the 2007 season.
Regarding the Phillies visiting away jerseys---PHILADELPHIA is not scripted on their away jersey---The other MLB teams without the city names on the away jersey are: Baltimore, Anaheim, St. Louis
Mr. Franchise: I can't comment on the Phillies' actual payroll, although the $90-95 million that my colleague Scott Lauber provided does seem accurate because it has been in that range the past few years.
But I did want to clear up something about Howard. He is not eligible to become a free agent until 2011. It's true he's arbitration eligible after this season. He's also arbitration eligible in 2008, 2009, 2010. After that last year of arbitration, he can be a free agent.
If you compare it to Utley, whom the Phillies signed to a 7-year, $85 million deal, this was Utley's first year of arbitration. The Phillies didn't have to sign Utley to a long-term deal, and they still would have kept him through 2010. They decided to sign him because they will probably save themselves some money by buying out the rest of his arbitration years and his free agency year. And Utley signed because he wanted the security.
Chances are, the Phillies will try to sign Howard to a long-term deal after this season. It's then up to Howard to decide if he wants a long-term deal. But even if he doesn't, he can't leave the Phillies until 2011, unless they trade him.
This year, technically, the Phillies could sign Howard for the major league minimum, which is about $375,000. But they'll probably make him the highest-paid second-year player at around $1 million. Albert Pujols has the record at $900,000. It's just the way the system works. The teams have the hammer for the first two years of a player's career. After that, there's four years of arbitration followed by free agency where the players have the hammer.
I hope that clears things up.
Martin
Thanks for the assist, Martin. You're the Peter Forsberg of this blog.
Martin's explanation of the Howard situation is accurate. As I wrote in a blog entry today, Howard will get a contract for 2007 by Friday that will provide him with a handsome raise from his $355,000 salary of a year ago. After this year, the Phillies will negotiate a multi-year deal with him. Howard wants a long-term contract. He already has made that known.
Oh, and Franchise: I'll provide a breakdown of the Phillies' 2007 payroll once Howard signs his contract.
Post a Comment