DENVER -- Wow, the Sunday News Journal is packed with baseball articles today.A few days ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with Greg Jacobs, an outfielder who is having a heck of a season for double-A Reading. Jacobs is a close friend and former teammate of Aaron Rowand's at Cal State Fullerton. Last winter, Rowand recommended that the Phillies take a look at the 30-year-old Jacobs, who had spent the previous two seasons in independent ball and was struggling to continue his career. The Phillies did, and Jacobs has been one of the best hitters in the Eastern League this season.
At Rowand's urging, Jacobs relocated to Philly last winter, and they worked out together. If you hadn't noticed, Rowand is having a pretty good year himself and was rewarded with his first All-Star Game selection. He'll be further rewarded after the season when some team, maybe not the Phillies, signs him to a big free-agent contract. Rowand's agent, Craig Landis, told me he thinks the Phillies will opt for less expensive center field options Michael Bourn or Shane Victorino. So far, Landis said the Phillies haven't made any overtures about a contract extension.
What do you think? Should the Phillies re-sign Rowand or spend their money elsewhere?
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How do you feel about Barry Bonds breaking the all-time home-run record? A couple of News Journal staffers weigh in here and here.
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With another tough loss last night here in Denver, the Phillies dropped below .500 for the first time since June 4. Clearly, they haven't been able to withstand the injuries to their pitching staff. Although, there was good news for Brett Myers. Also, Chris Coste thinks Carlos Carrasco has major-league stuff. We'll see how Carrasco does in the All-Star Futures Game today in San Francisco.
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Not much doing on the trade front ... yet. But the non-waiver deadline is still three weeks away.
5 comments:
The Phillies need to sign Rowand for his attitude alone. He puts the team first and does everything in his power to win. He has playoff experience and has even won a World Series. It just so happens that he's also having a great year.
What are the benefits of letting him walk at the end of the year? If it's all to save money, that's pathetic.
put the money elsewhere. like maybe a good starting pitcher.
Jamie is right on this one. This lineup can survive by moving Victorino over to center or using Bourn in center and keeping Victorino in right. In my humble opinion, Victorino/Bourn is a defensive upgrade over Rowand.
The pitching needs to be the top priority. They need to spend whatever it takes to revamp this bullpen and then add a starting pitcher. Sure, the offense has its flaws but pitching is the difference between mediocre teams and playoff teams. This ownership group is going to have to bite the bullet and overpay for pitching, something they hate to do.
I wouldn't mind them resigning Rowand, but they have to move one of their 3 CFs. Burrell isn't going anywhere, so they need two of the following three: Rowand, Vic, or Bourn.
If they do let Rowand walk, there would be benefits other than saving money. They could offer him arbitration. When another team signs him, they'll have to fork over supplemenatal picks. Since this isn't likely to happen for Garcia or Lieber, getting picks for Rowand could help to replenish a farm system that's currently light on promising position players.
It was a real class move by the players today to help out the Colorado grounds crew. I was really impressed with Adam Eaton. The guy just pitched 6 innings and he's out there pulling the tarp out like the incredible hulk. What a class move.
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