It's an annual formality, but it's always worth noting: Starting today, about 150 players who have filed for free agency hit the open market, raising the temperature on the hot stove and kicking off shopping season for GMs.Think Christmas shopping is crazy? Check this out.
For the Phillies, there's only about $10 million to spend on their remaining needs: Pitching, namely a back-of-the-rotation starter and another setup man for new closer Brad Lidge, and the outfield, especially if they don't re-sign center fielder Aaron Rowand. Speaking of Rowand, offers are already rolling in, and it appears he may get an even bigger contract than initially projected.
If he's out of the Phillies' price range, expect them to look for a left-handed hitting outfielder to platoon with righty-swinging Jayson Werth in right field. Geoff Jenkins would be a nice fit. He had 24 doubles and 21 homers in only 420 at-bats last season. The Brewers didn't pick up his option, and Jenkins definitely won't be back in Milwaukee (tell-tale sign: he took out a full-page ad in the Journal-Sentinel last month to thank fans), and the Phils tried to trade for him last winter. But he won't come cheap. Not after making $7.3 million last season.
Here's a full list of free agents. Any pitchers or outfielders catch your eye?
Starters: Tony Armas Jr., Shawn Chacon, Roger Clemens, Matt Clement, Bartolo Colon, Elmer Dessens, Josh Fogg, Freddy Garcia, Tom Glavine, Livan Hernandez, Jason Jennings, Joe Kennedy, Byung-Hyun Kim, Hiroki Kuroda, Jon Lieber, Kyle Lohse, Rodrigo Lopez, Eric Milton, Brian Moehler, Russ Ortiz, Odalis Perez, Andy Pettitte, Mark Redman, David Riske, Mariano Rivera, Kenny Rogers, Aaron Sele, Carlos Silva, John Thomson, Brett Tomko, Steve Trachsel, Ron Villone, Luis Vizcaino, Jeff Weaver, David Wells, Kip Wells, Randy Wolf, Jamey Wright
Relievers: Jeremy Affeldt, Antonio Alfonseca, Armando Benitez, Doug Brocail, Francisco Cordero, Octavio Dotel, Keith Foulke, Eric Gagne, Eddie Guardado, LaTroy Hawkins, Matt Herges, Jorge Julio, Ray King, Scott Linebrink, Ron Mahay, Jose Mesa, Trever Miller, Mike Myers, Troy Percival, Chris Reitsma, Al Reyes, Arthur Rhodes, Rudy Seanez, Mike Timlin, Bob Wickman, Kerry Wood
Catchers: Sandy Alomar Jr., Brad Ausmus, Paul Bako, Rod Barajas, Michael Barrett, Gary Bennett, Ramon Castro, Mike DiFelice, Sal Fasano, Jason Kendall, Jason LaRue, Mike Lieberthal, Paul Lo Duca, Mike Matheny, Damian Miller, Doug Mirabelli, Jose Molina, Josh Paul, Mike Piazza, Kelly Stinnett, Yorvit Torrealba
First basemen: Sean Casey, Tony Clark, Robert Fick, Julio Franco, Eric Hinske, Ryan Klesko, Doug Mientkiewicz, Greg Norton, Mark Sweeney, Mike Sweeney
Second basemen: Geoff Blum, Miguel Cairo, Luis Castillo, Damian Easley, Jerry Hairston, Ramon Martinez, Kazuo Matsui, Jose Valentin
Third basemen: Aaron Boone, Russell Branyan, Jeff Cirillo, Pedro Feliz, Tony Graffanino, Corey Koskie, Mike Lamb, Mike Lowell, Abraham Nunez, Alex Rodriguez
Shortstop: Royce Clayton, David Eckstein, Chris Gomez, Cesar Izturis, Mark Loretta, Neifi Perez, Chris Woodward
Outfielders: Barry Bonds, Milton Bradley, Mike Cameron, Jeff DaVanon, Darin Erstad, Cliff Floyd, Kosuke Fukudome, Luis Gonzalez, Shawn Green, Jose Guillen, Torii Hunter, Geoff Jenkins, Andruw Jones, Bobby Kielty, Kenny Lofton, Rob Mackowiak, Trot Nixon, Orlando Palmeiro, Corey Patterson, Aaron Rowand, Reggie Sanders, Sammy Sosa, Shannon Stewart, Rondell White, Brad Wilkerson, Preston Wilson
15 comments:
I'd like to order one Mike Lowell, please, and a pitcher named Kuroda.
Scott, do you know if the Phillies have any type of insurance policy on Adam Eaton? Say if he needed surgery and would be out for the whole season, would they have someone to pay his salary for them? It could free up $8 million should the situation present itself but I haven't reall heard about teams taking out insurance policies on players.
Ed S.: To the best of my knowledge, there's no insurance on Eaton or any other players.
Anonymous: Sorry to disappoint, but Lowell is going to cost more in '08 than the Phillies will be able to pay, and the Red Sox and Yankees haven't even started their inevitable bidding war for him. At this point, it seems Kuroda is more of a realistic possibility.
Scott,
I love your reporting, but I would have to respectfully maintain that the Phils COULD afford to pay Lowell, they just won't be WILLING to pay him.
As for the Rowand offers, is it true, as is being discussed at length on another site, that he's received a whopping offer from the Giants?
P.S. Good news about Kuroda remaining an option, though.
I guess that could change if the Mets join the bidding.
If I remember correctly, Montgomery said he'd be willing to go a little over the approx $100 million payroll if it meant improving the team. I'd LOVE to see the Phils bring Rowand back. Forget third base, it's a non-issue. It becomes a HUGE issue if Rowand leaves, and it'll continue to be a HUGE issue because the Phils don't want to bid for Mike Lowell. The offense and defense at third will be stomachable this year if the Phils re-sign Rowand. If not, I don't have a whole lot of faith in Pat Burrell protecting Ryan Howard. Rowand really found his niche in that spot of the lineup last season.
Bring Rowand back, just get it done.
If you don't re-sign Rowand, I'd look maybe to Milton Bradley (who raked at CBP when the Pads visited late in the season). Shawn Green or Luiz Gonzalez would be decent options too.
The way I see it now and after reading comments our budget may be in the $10 million or so range, here's what I'd go for.
1.) Brad Wilkerson, platoon-mate for Jayson Werth in RF; he's always terrorized the Phils, so why not join them instead?
2.) LaTroy Hawkins, another piece for the bullpen; while David Riske would be a nice signing, he would cost us a 2nd round pick (Type B F.A.).
3.) Shawn Chacon/Odalis Perez, starter/swing pitcher; while I know they're not the attractive names out there, they'd be decent #5 starters with the hope we could possibly improve in-season if guys like Happ, Carrasco, Outman, Carpenter start out strong in the minors, meaning Chacon/Perez could be shifted to the pen barring a starter's injury.
Granted, I'd love to see Rowand back or an upgrade at 3B, or for the Phils to sign Jose Guillen and shift Victorino to CF, or even bring back Carlos Silva, but I'll be rather skeptical after hearing the supposed money we have available as of now.
Yikes. I want no part of Milton Bradley.
That guy is a powder keg, and it doesn't seem to take much to set him off.
It would be incredibly sad if we lost a great clubhouse guy like Rowand, and replaced him with a clubhouse cancer like Bradley.
Bradley is going to be out more than half of the season anyway because of his torn ACL.
My whole point about Bradley is that he'd be cheap. I'd love to see a smart signing with regard to a free-agent pitcher that wouldn't require any draft pick compensation. Hawkins would be decent.
Bradley should be incredibly humbled by his ACL injury, and might be willing to take a low-base (CHEAP!) contract with incentive rewards.
I'm not defending his imbicility and immaturity, but pound-for-pound he's one of the most talented hitters in the game. I'm not saying we should forget about Rowand and sign Bradley and expect not to miss a beat. That just won't happen.
Which is exactly why the Phillies need to pony up and pay Rowand and just sign a type C free-agent pitcher who's solid but unspectacular.
Not only that, but there's plenty of reason to believe that we could improve internally. I've heard lots of whispers about Bartolo Colon, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Mathieson will be back, Outman could start for the Phils if he has a good spring (or he could be a call-up when someone goes down or is ineffective.)
With regard to Adam Eaton, I'd almost rather see the Phils eat his contract and just cut him instead of paying him to win games for the other team. He's awful.
Just a couple questions and ideas. What is the expected price ranger for starter Koruba and reliever Kobayashi and outfielder Fukodome? With the loss of Bourn as backup outfielder and the unlikelyhood of resigning rowand can we rely on burrell, victorino, werth, and an undetermined backup? Do we even have the money to address the situation?
Also why is Adam Eaton even a consideration for the # 5 starting role when he played so poorly all last year? Is there any possibility of trading him due to the week market of starting pitching? I know I'd be willing to pay half his salary to get rid of him and get anything in return.
I am excited about the 7,8, and 9 pitchers but do we need to sign someone for the middle relief? Is eaton a viable option for a long reliever, pitching after moyer and kendrick etc?
All in all I like what the phillies are doing. I am not being fantastical in my wishes for free agents I just dont see how the team can be totally competitive without shoring up some of its glaring weaknesses and to do that we need money, which doesnt seem to be there. Hope someone can shed some light on my worries.
First of all, fabulous comments. I love the discussion we have going here. Let's keep it up!
A few thoughts on your thoughts:
Anonymous (9:32 p.m.): Sure, the Phillies COULD afford to pay Lowell or Rowand. One of their owners, John Middleton, just sold his cigar business for $2.9 billion. These people aren't poor. But it's hard to criticize an ownership group that had finished last season with a $100 million payroll. They will be at or slightly above that number again, putting the Phils well within the top-10 payrolls in baseball. You should be able to win when you spend that much money. Heck, the Rockies had a $55 million payroll and went to the World Series. It's not about HOW MUCH you spend. It's about WHO you spend your money on. If you want to rip the Phillies, rip them for spending $24.5 million on Adam Eaton. That wasn't a wise use of funds. So, what I'm saying is this: Sometimes the Phillies aren't always smart, but it's hard to call them cheap.
And regarding Rowand's offer from the Giants, you're going to be hearing a lot of lopsided numbers for Rowand over the next few weeks. Most of them are true. He's going to get a huge contract.
Rob: I agree with you about Rowand's value to the Phillies, as a clubhouse leader and a right-handed bat in the middle of the lineup. I just don't think he fits into their budget.
Ed S.: Good point about Milton Bradley missing time with the ACL injury. Clearly, though, the biggest issue with Bradley is his temper. And because of that, I don't think many teams will touch him with a 10-foot pole. Want an outfielder who may come at a bit of a bargain? How about Mike Cameron, who will miss the first month because of a suspension?
Jeff: I like how you're thinking. Wilkerson is someone the Phils will look at as a platoon guy with Werth. Only problem with Wilkerson is he's a high-strikeout guy. But, if he's platooning, the strikeouts may not be as big of an issue.
According to Ruben Amaro Jr., it's all about pitching. They're definitely looking at another reliever (Hawkins has said he wants to go back to Colorado, but the Rockies have to show him the money) and a back-end starter (translation: Adam Eaton insurance). Someone like Chacon or Perez fits the bill there, provided they're not too expensive.
Kyle W.: Your worries are well-founded. Here's the deal with Eaton: Nobody will take him in a trade. Nobody. And the Phillies aren't going to just release him and pay the remainder of his huge contract. So, basically, they're stuck with him. If he rebounds and pitches well next year, this isn't a problem. If he pitches to a 6.29 ERA again, it's a huge issue. That's why the Phillies are looking for another starting pitcher, someone who can fill in if Eaton is injured (he's still having shoulder issues) or ineffective.
Hard to say right now what the pricetag will be for Kuroda, Kobayashi or Fukudome, although the Phillies are interested in all of them. Kuroda, I'm guessing here, will get about $6-7 million. He doesn't have Daisuke Matsuzaka's resume or talent, but reports on him have been good. Fukudome has been compared to Ichiro. But again, I don't think he can expect a mega-contract based on his performance in Japan.
Scott,
How soon do you think the next Phillies acquistion will take place? I assume its SP or RP first? Randy Wolf a strong possibility? Also...Rowand walks..we need another OF..I get that..but who is the 5th OF? Roberson?
Cut 3b Helms
Sign 3b Pedro Feliz
Put Dobbs in Right field with Werth.
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