As expected, the Phils finalized one-year contract extensions today with each member of Charlie Manuel's coaching staff, including bench coach Jimy Williams, who has been mentioned in conjunction with the Royals' managerial opening. That means Williams, pitching coach Rich Dubee, hitting coach Milt Thompson, first-base coach Davey Lopes, third-base coach Steve Smith, bullpen coach Ramon Henderson and catching instructor Mick Billmeyer all have jobs next season.Not sure what you thought, but I was impressed with Lopes (pictured). In his first season with the Phils, his influence was obvious. The Phillies set a major-league record for the best stolen-base success rate (87.9 percent), and the outfielders led the NL with 39 assists.
Your take on the staff's return?
10 comments:
Why in the world is Steve Smith back? I can't remember, in my all years of watching baseball, anyone doing a worse job of coaching 3rd base. This guy is flat out clueless. I can particularly remember two situations in the first half of the year where Smitty made a crucial error judgement that cost the Phillies a winning or tying run.
Davey Lopes did a terrific job. He made a significant impact in helping Bourn and Victorino to learn how to read pitchers.
I am also a little surprised that Jimy Williams is back. I've heard that there were many occasions this season where Jimy Williams made suggestions to Charlie Manuel that Charlie did not care for. This was reported by WIP's favorite host so take it for what it's worth. Can you shed any truth on the subject, Scott?
Smith made most of his mistakes early in the season, seems like he learned from his mistakes.But if there was somebody better out there I sure would have liked to look into him.
My take? Great that Davy Lopes is back - he really helped a lot. WHY is Smith back? A little leaguer could coach third better than Smith could.
What makes me the most upset is that Rich "Smokesa" Dubee is back. That guy's as birdbrained as it gets. Two words, Scott. LEO MAZZONE.
What has Leo Mazzone done since he left Atlanta? Maybe that praise everyone was giving Mazzone should go to Schuerholz for getting the right guys in there. Mazzone is overrated.
Matt in Philadelphia: I'm sure there were times when Jimy and Charlie disagreed on strategy, and as the manager, the final call belongs to Charlie. But, I know for a fact that Charlie trusts Jimy and considers him a valuable advisor. In turn, Jimy is respectful of Charlie's position as manager and very careful not to step on toes. As always, I wouldn't read anything into what you hear on the radio.
Regarding Steve Smith: Agreed that he didn't have a particularly good season. A May 24 game in Florida when he waved Michael Bourn home on a sure out comes to mind. But he did get better during the season's second half, and Charlie has often talked about how difficult it is to coach third at Citizens Bank Park, with its short power alleys and shallow dimensions down the lines. John Vukovich and Bill Dancy used to say the same thing.
Ed S.: I tend to agree with you about Mazzone. He didn't work any wonders with the Orioles. It's simple: If you have good pitchers, you're a good pitching coach. Dubee hasn't had enough good pitchers over the past few years.
glad lopes is back.
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Here's my detailed off-season plan with the understanding that payroll will rise according to Monty:
Re-sign the following:
CF Aaron Rowand for 3 years $30 million
P J.C. Romero for 2 years $5 million
INF Abraham Nunez for 1 year $1 million
Sign:
P Curt Schilling for 2 years $26 million
3B Mike Lowell for 3 years $27 million
OF Brad Wilkerson for 2 years $8 million
Trades:
LF Pat Burrell and up to $3 million to SF Giants for P Noah Lowry
P Noah Lowry, OF Michael Bourn, and P Joe Bisenius to Marlins for P Dontrelle Willis
So the end result would be using the young guys in the bullpen such as Matheison and Madson to go along with Myers as the closer, Romero, Gordon, Condrey and Eaton. Nobody really impresses me on the free-agent market beyond a few of the closers and since I'd leave Myers as the closer there really isn't anyone worth spending money on.
Rotation would be Hamels, Schilling, Willis, Kendrick, and Moyer.
Starting Line-up would be:
1. Rollins 2. Victorino 3. Utley 4. Howard 5. Lowell 6. Rowand 7. Wilkerson 8. Ruiz
Bench: Coste, Nunez, Dobbs, Werth, and Roberson
Keeping the contracts to a short length is imperative with the young kids coming up through the system such as Carrasco, Savery, Costanzo, etc.
Ed S. for GM! Who needs Pat Gillick? If all that actually did happen, we'd definitely be the team to beat in the whole NL I would think as long as we don't run into another Rockies team come playoff time.
Like the other posters, I felt like Steve Smith sent a lot of guys that he had no business sending... if it is true that it's tough to coach third there, well, maybe 1 year more is ok... but certainly not if it's a repeat of last year.
Lopes, on the other hand, was awesome.
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