This conversation, between Charlie Manuel and Pat Gillick, took place in December in the lobby of a Disney World resort during the winter meetings. And, while I wasn't sitting at the table (I was hovering nearby with my notebook at the ready), I can almost guarantee it went something like this:Gillick: I can't believe how much money the Cubs spent on Alfonso Soriano. We're going to have to look elsewhere to find a big right-handed bat to protect Ryan Howard.
Manuel: That would be great, Pat. But I really think we could use some bullpen help.
Gillick: We probably should upgrade at the catching position, too. Rod Barajas is still on the free-agent market. And, we really need to beef up our bench. I wonder who we can get. I've always liked Jayson Werth.
Manuel: Um, Pat, how about getting us a reliever or two? I really think that's our biggest need.
Wherever Manuel went this winter -- from the meetings in Orlando, to each of the Phillies' winter tour stops, to a fundraiser for the baseball program at Eastern Mennonite University -- he talked about the need for beefing up the bullpen by adding a reliever or two.
Gillick got Antonio Alfonseca.
The Phillies' bullpen was shaky in spring training. And now, with Tom Gordon and Ryan Madson on the disabled list, it's thinner than Kate Moss. Other than Geoff Geary and neophyte closer Brett Myers, Manuel has nobody he can trust. Last night, with the Phillies threatening to tie the game in the seventh, he lifted starter Freddy Garcia for a pinch-hitter. Alfonseca gave up a run in the seventh, Francisco Rosario gave up a run in the eighth, and the Phillies lost 4-3. Tonight, with the game tied, the go-ahead run on third base and two outs in the seventh, Manuel let starter Adam Eaton hit. Eaton grounded out, gave up the go-ahead run in the seventh on Tony Clark's pinch-hit homer, and the Phillies lost 3-2. No question, if Manuel had any faith in Yoel Hernandez or Fabio Castro or Clay Condrey, he would've pinch-hit for Eaton.
But he doesn't, so he didn't.Gillick is fond of saying he didn't want to overspend for a reliever last winter, and the market for relievers was absurd. But, directly or indirectly, the bullpen has already cost the Phillies at least 10 games. The scary part is, unless Gillick can pitch the seventh inning, the Phillies appear to be stuck with this bullpen, at least until Gordon and Madson get back. And even then, it's not very good.
If, in the interim, the Phillies continue to plummet in the NL East, Gillick may wish he kicked in some extra moolah for Danys Baez or took a chance on Joe Borowski's questionable shoulder.
Manuel could always say, "I told you so."
3 comments:
Is it too early to call for the firing of Gillick? I think he and Manuel need to go packing.
Both have done a terrible job as employee's of the phillies. but one thing we don't know is what kind of contraints that gillick is working with. we know that the phillies ownership is one of the worst in baseball. they still try to sell us the idea that philly is a small market place. which is completely absurd.
and manuel was Effed either way to decided to go last night. i said leave eaton in and hope the bullpen can last the other 2 innings. but eaton made a bad pitch and clark crushed it. if he puts in a reliever the same thing would have probably happened.
if madson and gordon come back fine i think their bullpen is average or better. madson was pitching fantastic before going on the DL and if gordon is used sparingly and proper i think he can be fine as an 8th inning guy. you still have geary/alfonseca/myers. thats 5 guys to rotate around. and a plus thing about our pitchign is that they seem to ALWAYS go past the 6th inning. so you usually only need 2 relievers a night.
things will shake out when they come off the DL and go on a 10 game winning streak get back into the hunt and then let us down again. rinse wash repeat.
Scott,
Good work on the dialog between Charlie and Gillick. That's probably almost exactly how it went.
The bottom line here is that the Phillies make it tough to be a fan. And quite frankly many "fans" are only fans from April to July when Eagles training camp starts. Nevertheless, this organization just makes it so hard to get behind the team. Look at the class organizations in baseball like Oakland and Atlanta. They run top notch programs, developing guys through their system, not overspending but making deals when they have to fill a need.
The Phillies organization just doesn't get it. They are more worried about not losing money than they are winning a World Series. The signings of Alfie, Rosario, and Werth are indicative of the bargain basement guys they go for. Meanwhile, the Braves saw their bullpen was weak last year. So, they trade a 30 homerun guy in Adam LaRoche for Mike Gonzalez. Then, they acquired Rafael Soriano from Seattle and signed Wickman to a contract. The phillies knew their bullpen was weak and ignored it because they didn't want to spend or as they like to put it didn't want to "overspend." Fans don't care about the break even point. They want a world series championship. And they should.
The Phils have produced some decent products out of their minor league system in the last few years but it's not the never ending stream of top flight pitching talent that Atlanta and Oakland produce. That's simply because they are better oganizations, starting with the GM and going to the ownership.
Why does everyone feel the need to bang on Charlie Manuel? The guy takes his job more seriously than most people in America. He wants, as much as the fans do, to win. But, Charlie can't pitch and he can't hit and he doesn't give out contracts or make trades. Everyone wants to him to be canned. But, he is really only a scape goat for the frugal ownership and the past his prime GM.
Finally, I am not a fair weather Phillies fan. I've been a fan for as long as I've lived and will always be a fan. But, my goodness do they make it tough to be one.
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