Got a lot of great comments -- from Matt in Philadelphia, Paul W., Jamie and others -- about Chris Coste, so I thought we could devote an entire entry to his situation.Back in December, one day after the Phillies signed Rod Barajas, I phoned Coste at his home in Fargo, N.D. He returned my call one day later, apologized for the delay and said he wanted to get his thoughts together so that he didn't say anything he'd regret. But, even then, he understood his predicament. Despite batting .328 last season (.356 with runners in scoring position), Coste knew he needed to win a job in spring training. Turns out, he injured his hamstring, got only 18 Grapefruit League at-bats and began the season on the DL.
But, really, his fate was sealed long before that.
During the offseason, Charlie Manuel said several times that Carlos Ruiz and Coste could handling the catching position. Almost everyone in the front office, particularly GM Pat Gillick, believed the Phillies needed a veteran catcher with better defensive skills than Coste. So, they signed Barajas, leaving Coste as a right-handed pinch-hitter. But the Phillies already had signed Jayson Werth to fill that role, and Gillick wanted to bring in a lefty to round out the bench. He got Greg Dobbs, whom he'd drafted for the Mariners, off waivers. It didn't take a mathematician to see Coste was the odd-man out, unless Dobbs or Michael Bourn had terrible springs. Both had excellent springs. (Barajas, Werth, Dobbs and Bourn are batting a combined .195 entering tonight's game).
Is Coste bitter? You bet he is, and you would be, too. He batted .328 last season. If he had 100 more at-bats, he would've been a Rookie of the Year candidate. And, here he is, riding buses in the minors again. Even worse, Gillick talked recently about last year's team and how well it played down the stretch. He never even mentioned Coste as one of the reasons for that success.
Now that he's out of Gillick's sight, Coste seems to be out of Gillick's mind, too.
Look, baseball can be a cold business, and Coste is hardly the first player to be cast aside. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I like Coste. Most of the beat writers do. As a 33-year-old rookie last season, he was a great story. And he's a good guy. I'm not saying he should've been guaranteed anything after a successful second half of one season in the majors. But the job should've been his to lose, and as I see it, he never got a chance to lose it.
OK, your turn.
5 comments:
While Coste shouldn't have automatically gotten a spot on this year's roster, he certainly earned a chance to earn a spot. Even before his injury, he wasn't getting anywhere near the number of at bats as Dobbs and Karim Garcia. It seems he was doomed before ST began.
The problem is the Phils could really use him now. Nunez and Bourn are defensive replacements and provide little in the way of pinch hitting. Werth is OK. Dobbs hasn't been impressive. And Barajas has been a wash.
It's a shame Coste wasn't originally drafted by one of Gillick's old teams--then he'd be sure to have a spot.
Agreed. Completely.
Coste was a great story last year - a great guy who tore it up on the field.
Gillick hasn't impressed me much and this is one of the reasons why.
Gillick is a jackass
the only positive thing i can say is that gillick WILL cut ties with a player if he's underplaying. he did it with 'stink like feet' fasano and gave coste his job. so, there's still hope that coste will come back to the majors. at least i hope so!
i see it as his final chance. jaramillo will probably be on the starting squad next year.
Well Scott, as you can guess from my other post, I disagree. I think many people get caught up in the story, the average joe from North Dakota.
At age 33 and a career in the minor leagues, he absolutely should have to prove himself in order to have earned a 2007 roster spot. He didn't. He had a weak spring, while hampered by injury. As I mentioned in my last post, he hit .179 when he was sent down to the minors last year and he is hitting .204 this season. If he is getting shafted and screwed the way he makes it out to be, he should be tearing it up in the minors. But, he's not. I think that says a lot.
The team decided to go with Ruiz and bring in Barajas as a veteran catcher to bring him along and provide experience. Obviously, they didn't think Coste could do that. I like the move personally. I think Ruiz is going to be solid for the Phils and long term (and I think short term too) is a much better option than Coste.
The thing that bothers me is the guy acting like he was jobbed. He didn't do anything to earn a 2007 position. If he came back from injury and was hitting over .300 in Ottawa, then by all means he's got a gripe. But he's barely at the mendoza line.
It all comes down to this: Show Me. And he hasn't shown anything since last year.
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