Phillies didn't play yesterday, but Pat Gillick worked anyway. The GM spent the day in Clearwater, Fla., watching Brett Myers' latest rehab appearance (more on that below). With only a week left before the non-waiver trade deadline, he also worked the phones in his seemingly never-ending search for pitching.And, in between, he found some time to talk to me.
You can read most of this in the 50-cent edition or by clicking here, but here are some highlights:
* After watching the Phillies go 4-3 in LA and San Diego last week, Gillick sounded more certain than ever that he'll be a trade-deadline buyer. "You monitor the thing as you go, but right now, we're in it," Gillick said. "Along the way, you never know who's going to jump up and bite you. Cincinnati went to Atlanta [last week] and swept the Braves. But we had a good [West Coast] trip, and we've got Washington and Pittsburgh coming in this week. We anticipate we'll do well."
* Gillick is pleasantly surprised the Phillies have been able to withstand losing relievers Tom Gordon and Brett Myers and starters Freddy Garcia and Jon Lieber to long-term injuries and offered praise for lame-duck manager Charlie Manuel. "It's really a tribute to Charlie and the coaching staff and the players," Gillick said. "We've been operating with four guys short in the pitching area, and we've held in there. Now, hopefully, we can do something to tweak it a little bit and improve the team as much as possible."
* To accomplish that, Gillick is looking for pitching -- a starter or reliever. He's targeting pitchers who are under contract for another year or two. Guys like Toronto right-hander Josh Towers (whom the Phillies scouted last week), Texas setup men Akinori Otsuka and Joaquin Benoit, Pittsburgh reliever Damaso Marte and Washington relievers Jon Rauch and Chad Cordero fall into that category. (Colorado's Brian Fuentes does too, but I don't think the Phillies and Rockies are a match. Houston's Brad Lidge reportedly is unavailable). For a pitcher the Phils can control beyond this season, Gillick is willing to trade a more valuable commodity (someone like Michael Bourn). But, for a pitcher who wouldn't be more than a two-month rental (Kyle Lohse, Steve Trachsel or Joe Kennedy), Gillick isn't willing to give up much at all. "There's some interest in some of our players that we think very highly of," Gillick said. "There's actually a lot of interest. It all depends. I don't expect to give up too much on a rental. On the other hand, if you get somebody back that you have under control through '09, that's a different story."
* While Gillick is pleased with the performances of upstart rookie right-handers Kyle Kendrick and J.D. Durbin, he isn't content with the back of the rotation. "Kyle's kept us in six, seven games, and the wins we had on the road [last week], to say Durbin would have two of the four wins, people would've said you're crazy," Gillick said. "But at the same time, we're still trying to improve the team, and one of the areas we're still looking at is the pitching area."
* Regardless of what happens, Gillick doesn't expect much movement on the trade front until at least the weekend. "Common sense says teams are going to try to get the best deal they possibly can," Gillick said. "Right now, some of the pitching that is available probably isn't an improvement over what we have, and the asking price is off the wall. It's outrageous. As you get closer to the deadline, the demands could fall backward. Or, if a couple guys drop off the market, the demands could go up. It's a back-and-forth. If you want to hold and hold and hope you get what you want, you might be stuck with what you have."
*
MYERS UPDATE: Myers allowed one hit, struck out three and threw 25 pitches in 1-1/3 innings tonight for single-A Clearwater. Gillick said Myers will pitch one inning Wednesday night for Clearwater. If that goes well, he may be activated Friday.*
Spent my night off at the movies, where I bumped into Aaron Rowand and his wife Marianne. I recommend "Ocean's Thirteen," by the way, although Marianne and I agreed it wasn't as good as the original. Aaron said he prefers "Ocean's Twelve."
12 comments:
That's a pretty relieving thing to hear. I'm glad he thinks we're still in this. I hope and pray and pray some more that Gillick doesn't trade Carrasco, Outman, Cardenas, or D'Arby Myers. If you happen to talk to him again, try to see what names have been bandied about. Cardenas, Carrasco, and Myers are my three who absolutely should not go under any circumstances.
I really enjoy reading your blog for this kind of stuff, Scott. Keep up the excellent work.
Ocean's 12??? Wow - Hard to believe, but I just lost a little respect for Rowand.
Rob... just to play devil's advocate, why not give up Cardenas to secure a solid pitcher who'd be under control for the next two years?
Cardenas, while being listed as the 22nd best prospect in the minor leagues by Baseball America, is blocked at the major league level by Utley and Rollins. Those guys aren't going anywhere for a while, so where does Cardenas play with the Phillies? Gillick has said before he doesn't have the arm to be a third baseman and he doesn't have the bat to be an outfielder. There's no room for him at the top, so why not trade really high on him and get a bounty of pitching in return? How about Jon Garland or Ian Snell? Aaron Harang?
What a wonderful idea ... we are an organization with only a handful of position player prospects ... so lets trade them. Cardenas is the last prospect that I would trade. Although the Phils say he can't play third base, the old addage is true, "if you can hit, we'll find a place for you." If anything the Phils should shop Jaramillo. There might be a quite a few teams looking for a catching prospect ready (or just about ready) for the majors. Jaramillo and some second teir pitching prospect for Snell or Harang I would do. But DO NOt trade Adrian "the Utley Sequel" Cardenas
you don't trade 19 year old guys ripping the cover off the ball at low A ball. the guy can flat out hit. if push comes to shove you can always put utley in left field and keep cardenas at second base. utley has more than enough oomph in his bat to play a corner OF spot.
but i'm afraid its gillicks only choice but to stand pat. the guys that are higher up in the organization are either injured or having down seasons after great seasons last year. they are not tradeable commodities. No team wants to trade for a guy in low or high A ball. so the only thing you have left to trade is whats on your ML club. and i don't really think that they can part with any of those pieces.
Folks: You're underestimating the price for pitching in this market.
With Ian Snell, Aaron Harang and Jon Garland, you're talking about potential aces. In the Phillies' rotation, they'd all easily be No. 2 starters behind Hamels. If the Phillies could get any of them by trading Jason Jaramillo and a second-tier pitching prospect, Gillick wouldn't be able to say "yes" fast enough.
But, from everyone I've talked to, I'm not sure Jaramillo gets you even a mediocre pitcher (Kyle Lohse, Josh Towers, etc.). The price for pitching is astronomical. Unless those demands come down, it's going to shock you how much teams will give up for pitching. That is, if any deals for pitching are even made before the deadline.
Mike Arbuckle told me last week that Cardenas can't play third base, and his bat won't play big as a left fielder. If the Phillies are convinced of those things, they probably should trade him. Problem is, GMs aren't looking for A-ball prospects. A GM who is interested in keeping his job wants a player who can contribute now. At this point, Cardenas offers only promise, so I'm not sure the Phils are going to get anything substantial in return.
It would take much more to Harang or Snell or whoever else you mentioned. A more likely scenario is that the Phils sign free-agent Francisco Cordero, Jason Jennings, and Eric Byrnes (to play right field - he's cheaper than Rowand would be, and Vic could play center). Jennings would be our number three, Hamels would be the ace, and Myers would be the #2, with Eaton (ugh) as our #4 and maybe Kendrick as our #5.
On second thought, I don't know if the Phils would be willing to part with three draft picks necessary to sign all those guys. Maybe (hopefully) they'd only go after Cordero and Byrnes.
I can't contribute much, except to say that we might as well keep Bourn and the prospects if all we can get for him is another pitcher with an ERA hovering around 5.00. But I'd sure like us to get someone. Jennings isn't a bad suggestion, but his asking price is still probably a little high, even though he's having a rough year.
And from what I've seen in his last two starts I would strongly consider placing Durbin in that five spot. Kendrick's rookie luck has to run out sometime, considering he hasn't really dominated anybody. I think he'd be a nice help to that pen (if we can get a starter).
Moving Utley from 2B to the outfield is almost -- if not as more absurd -- as stating Sorianos numbers are worse than Burrell's.
Jaime, it's time to seek AA help. Even if push comes to shove, which only happens when the Carpenters push PG back to Toronto.....................
It's not that absurd an idea if Utley would be willing to make the move. He's a team player, perhaps he'd switch positions. The only way to find out, however, would be to ask him.
who cares where a guy plays as long as he can play the position? i guess it was a bad idea for biggio to play all those positions he played, too. if the team is better with utley in left and cardenas at second rather than no cardenas and utley at second and who knows who in left, then why is it such a terrible idea?
oh, and OPS+ soriano is only 5 points higher than burrell. if burrell didn't have the worst month of his career in june he would have better numbers than soriano most likely.
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