TGIF! Lots to talk about today, and none of it has to do with Cole Hamels' hard-luck 1-0 loss last night to the Padres. A few days ago, I had a wide-ranging interview with Phillies assistant GM Mike Arbuckle about the state of the farm system, which you can read about in today's 50-cent edition or by clicking here. We discussed why the Phils have so few prospects in triple-A and double-A. Then, I asked him about several of their top prospects, including second baseman Adrian Cardenas, who is batting .301 at single-A Lakewood.
With Chase Utley under contract through 2013, the Phillies are set at second base for several years. So, I wondered if the Phillies have considered moving Cardenas to another position, possibly third base or left field.
That won't happen.
"I've seen him play the last three days in Lakewood, and he's not going to play the [left] side of the infield," Arbuckle said Wednesday. "His tools just don't lend themselves. If you move him to the outfield, I don't think his power plays tremendously. You take a guy who's a pretty good second baseman, and turn him into someone who's a pretty mediocre wing outfielder.
"It's too early to talk about changing position. We all know things change. What looks like a surplus today, as in having six starting pitchers in December, can take a 180-degree turn in June. It's way too early to be concerned about what we're going to do with Cardenas."
*
Justin Germano, a.k.a., The One Who Got Away, starts tonight against the Phillies at Petco. You'll recall the Phils acquired Germano last July 31 from the Reds for Rheal Cormier, but they were unimpressed with the soft-tossing right-hander in spring training, believing his breaking pitches weren't sharp enough to compensate for a fastball that doesn't light up the radar gun. When they tried to remove Germano from their 40-man roster and outright him to triple-A on March 19, the Padres scooped him off waivers. He's 6-3 with a 3.55 ERA for San Diego and would solve a lot of the Phillies pitching problems if only they'd never let him go.But I'm not about to criticize the Phillies for not believing in Germano. They weren't alone in that conviction. The Padres and Reds also dumped him at various stages of his career. Hindsight says the Phillies were guilty of bad judgment, but to me, the bigger transgression was poor timing. Had they waited another week, until March 26 or so, Germano may have slipped through waivers because most teams are closer to having their rosters set. In fact, at the end of spring training, the Padres were able to sneak Germano through to triple-A, and he opened the season in the minors before joining them in May after starter Clay Hensley went down with a groin injury.
*
One other interesting note from Arbuckle: Right-hander Kyle Drabek, the Phillies' first-round pick in 2006, is going to have his tender elbow checked out to determine if the problem is more severe. Drabek hasn't pitched since June 15.
*
Brett Myers makes his first minor-league rehab start tonight for single-A Clearwater.
*
It's "Tribute To Tony" weekend at Petco Park, as the Padres honor Hall of Famer-to-be Tony Gwynn. Yesterday, by the way, marked a significant anniversary for Gwynn. On July 19, 1982, he made his major-league debut against the Phillies and went 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and a run scored. Did you know? His first hit, the double, came off Sid Monge.
9 comments:
Hello, I really enjoy reading your blog everyday, never commented on it before, but wanted to point out that Drabek is a righty, not a lefty.
Thanks, Steve. Correction made. I had my mind on Joe Savery after writing about him yesterday and today.
I don't really think it matters what Cardenas' numbers look like when compared to other corner OF, as long as he's productive in the lineup, who cares? I also don't think you can really say something for sure about someone til you try it out, so give Cardenas a shot at third and left/right. He's athletic, I think he'd be able to adjust. What do you think Scott?
Good comments, Rob. Personally, I'll defer to Arbuckle on this one. When he says he doesn't think Cardenas can play third base, it's because he doesn't think Cardenas' arm is strong enough. Remember how the Chase Utley third-base experiment went? It sounds like this would be just as bad.
I tend to agree with you that the Phillies should be more concerned with how Cardenas would fit into their lineup than his numbers relative to other corner OFs. Few teams have a second baseman and shortstop that hit as well as Utley and Rollins, so the Phils can afford to have a corner outfielder without as much thump in his bat. That's why they can talk about a potential CF-RF combo of Bourn and Victorino for next season.
Bottom line: If Cardenas continues to progress, they'll find a spot for him. Or else, they'll have an attractive prospect to trade for help at another position (pitching).
Thanks for the note. Keep 'em coming!
Shortstop and second base aren't very different though when it comes to range and throwing - I've played both and other players have too (Brandon Phillips) - maybe Rollins, who'd be almost 30 in 2009 by the time Cardenas is projected to reach the bigs, would be willing to move over to third to accommodate for Cardenas? Obviously, that all depends on how Costanzo and Mattair (top two 3B prospects) progress. I don't know, I'm just trying to think of scenarios to keep another bat like Utley's in the lineup (all the comparisons are in line with a young Chase Utley) - it'd be a shame to see Cardenas go on to be a potential all-star after growing him up in our system but not being willing to move him around defensively. Wouldn't it be ironic if he made the all-star team as a third baseman? And as crazy as this sounds, the pitching prospects for the Phils look promising, given that they're still in A-ball. The only thing I can really think of as a need, other than pitching of any kind, would be a corner outfielder with a little bit of pop (Pat Burrell's replacement, in other words). Obviously, I've talked to Mike Arbuckle a grand total of zero times, and he's obviously a respected baseball man. He knows his stuff. I'm just some crazy Phillies fan with his head in the clouds.
utley could go into left field and cardenas can stay at second base. you can't say that his offense isn't good enough considering that he's hitting over a 1.000 OPS at the moment. he's signed for the next 7 years so i don't think he would really care since his value on the FA market wouldn't be affected.
How the heck does Arbuckle keep his job when he admits he played a key role in decimating the farm system? Is he related to Billy King
Hey Scott - have you heard any news about Kyle Drabek having Tommy John surgery?
Since we've been talking a lot about prospects and pitching lately, I thought you all would enjoy this article I saw in today's Inquirer http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20070721_Jim_Salisbury___Phils_signing_of_Savery_a_good_start.html
Also, Rob - Drabek is having Tommy John surgery. There's also an article on that http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/sports_breaking/20070721_Phils_Drabek_to_have_elbow_surgery.html
Post a Comment