So, the Phillies just held a press conference at the Bank to formally introduce Brad Lidge, which gave many reporter types a chance to ask Pat Gillick and Ruben Amaro Jr. about the ESPN.com and ESPN radio rumor that the Phillies are hot and heavy into negotiations for Mike Lowell on a lucrative, multiyear and back-loaded contract.Untrue, Gillick said.
"We're concentrating on our pitching right now," Gillick said.
But what about those ESPN reports?
"You can't believe everything you see on ESPN.com," Gillick said without cracking a smile. "Our concentration is pitching. That's where we're going to concentrate right now."
For the record, Gillick said the Phillies are still looking for two more pitchers. They prefer a starter to a reliever, and they prefer a lefty reliever to a right-handed reliever.
Time for me to start writing for the 50-center, but for now, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Are the Phillies making a mistake by pouring so much of their available cash into pitching?
15 comments:
Like Gillick would come out and say, "Yeah, we're in negotiations with Mike Lowell. We're offering him 4 years $50 million with the idea of backloading the contract for when Pat Burrell's and Tom Gordon's money come off of the books at seasons end." I'd be mad if came out and said that. He's doing what he is supposed to do, lie. And on any matter concerning Boston, I believe whatever Peter Gammons says. He was the first to report this, so if he said it I believe him.
I totally understand the reasoning behind pitching but I do not see why they wouldn't test the waters with a free agent hitter.
Maybe it is just the fact that they will only sign overpaid risky contracts and lowell is too good of an all around ballplayer?
I understand the money issues but we are losing hitting power and the #5 batter with rowand leaving. They should atleast attempt to replace that somehow, no?
I would rather have to trust eaton and have lowell (a proven player) than sign another overvalued pitcher like wolf, lieber, or silva.
If they signed lowell would wes helms hold ANY trade value?
Or is it all a ploy just to keep the deal off the radar?
I'm not necessarily upset that the Phillies don't want to spend their money on offense, I'm just worried that the "pitching, pitching, pitching" fever ownership seems to have will overshadow the offense, which is set to lose a significant piece in Rowand. That piece has to be replaced for the machine to function properly.
well what pitching are you going to get? dont give me these incentive laden injury question marks like wolf or colon. if you arent gonna spend your money on a good to great 3b...the pitching names you bring in better be household names. You have to add offense at some point....you cant lose bourn AND rowand and not replace at least one of them(I think Roberson is the new Bourn this year)
I see one problem if they add another starter, especially one that they pay big bucks to and that is, when they head north after SP and still have 6 starters.The #5 starter spot will comedown to Eaton or Kendrick and because of Eaton's contract and Kendrick's options Kendrick will start the season at AAA. So any pitcher they pick up will probably not replace Eaton (like most people hope) but rather Kendrick, at least until Eaton gets injyred or pitches so poorly he has to be replaced.
I don't know why the Phillies are looking for another starter unless they want Lidge to set Myers up? It just doesn't make sense. Sign a couple good FA relievers -- think Kerry Wood, Jeremy Affeldt, Bob Wickman, Matt Herges, or Troy Percival. Of these, I'd like to see Affeldt in Phillies red the most -- he's still young (28) and is a lefty with some closing experience. Next, I'd say Wickman to soak up innings (a la Rick White -- they've got almost the same weird beard!). Then, I'd want Percival, who also has closing experience.
However, I think we only really need one free-agent reliever. Mathieson's likely going to be in the bullpen this year, so there's another quality arm.
If you're going to let Rowand walk and not sign Mike Lowell, you'd better find one hell of a platoon-mate for Werth in right. Good luck with that.
What crappy pitching are they going to get in this market?
I might want to buy a Lexus in the used-car lot, but if all the lot has are Yugos, I'm going to have to settle for a Yugo.
Why waste millions on a mediocre pitcher, when they can spend millions on a proven commodity such as Rowand or Lowell?
OK folks, a few comments:
Ed S.: While Gillick didn't come right out and say, "We're not in the Mike Lowell sweepstakes," he did say, "You can't believe what you see on ESPN.com." In my experience, that amounts to a pretty decent denial. Having said that, I absolutely agree with you about Gammons usually getting these things right. For now, though, I have to take Gillick at his word.
Kyle W.: No, Wes Helms wouldn't have any trade value. And it's doubtful they can sign two more pitchers and Mike Lowell/Aaron Rowand. It's not that they don't want to. It's that there isn't enough money in the budget. And the Phillies' budget is likely going to exceed $100 million.
Anonymous, 6:38 p.m.: Incentive-laden deals for pitchers coming off injuries aren't always a bad thing. But I agree with you: the Phillies will need to add an offensive piece if they lose Rowand.
Gkit: Kendrick won't open the season in the minors, so don't worry about that. They had six starters last spring, and it wasn't enough. So, generally speaking, I don't think you ever can have enough pitching.
Rob: See above. You can never have enough pitching. I don't necessarily disagree with the Phillies' philosophy of looking for another starter and another reliever, but at some point, I agree that they'll need to address the offense.
Anonymous, 9:15 p.m.: It's really simple. The Phillies can either spend all of their remaining money on Rowand or Lowell, or they can divide it up amongst two pitchers and a position player. Assuming they spend wisely, they'd be better off addressing three needs rather than just one. Of course, they need to spend wisely. This is where it hurts to make bad decisions.
Lowell is too old too invest that much money for four years ... Don't spend money just to spend it.
If they can get quality pitching then they should pursue it ... maybe Mahay?
Thanks Scott....do you have any names of who they are pursueing at SP,RP and lefty outfielder? And how long til the next move? Getting an ETA sense of anything soon?
It should be about quality and not quantity. Going after quantity got us Wes Helms and Adam Eaton last year.Sign Lowell and sign Wolf to an incentive laden deal. For the bullpen, the Phillies need to show more faith in the Zagurskis, Biseniuses, Mathiesons, and Castros.
As for Gillick I after the past few years I'm not a fan of the guy and I have learned to not believe a word he says.
Mahay's not going to come to CBP.
Scott, I really respect your reporting. But I wish someone would hold Gillick's feet to the fire about his signing last year of Eaton.
If the team has limited resources now, maybe it's because the team is beholden to the $8 million-per crapfest that Eaton represents.
In light of Eaton ... in light of Garcia ... can you understand why phans are less than thrilled about Gillick putting his whole emphasis on pitching?
Anonymous, 10:25 p.m.: Right now, the Phils are talking to agents for a lot of pitchers. I don't think anything is imminent, and they may not do much until the winter meetings (Dec. 3-6). Understandably, they're tight-lipped when it comes to discussing specific free agents, but I know they have contacted Japanese pitcher Hiroki Kuroda. I think it's safe to assume that a lot of the other names you've been hearing (Randy Wolf, Bartolo Colon, etc.) are pitchers the Phillies would consider, if the price/length of contract is right. Regardless of who they sign, I would be surprised to see them make a substantial commitment, financially or with a long-term deal.
Anonymous, 11:31 p.m.: I believe Gillick has taken heat for the Eaton contract. Personally, I've been critical of that move, both in print and here on The Blog. There's no question it was a bad contract, and it's hurting the Phillies now that they're on the hook with Eaton for two more years. But, keep in mind, it was a three-year deal. Eaton has a chance to turn things around in '08. If he has a bounce-back year, the deal won't look as bad.
And don't be so sure about Mahay. His agent has made it clear Mahay is interested in the Phillies.
I'd sign Mahay in a heartbeat. Combined with the fact there are some real tough lefties/switch hitters in our division (chipper,texiera etc) and how bad Howard and Utley looked against him, he'd be a great addition.
I say sign Mahay and Torii Hunter. Those are the two guys I'd like to see in a phillies uniform.
Then I'd turnaround and try to trade either Victorino or Burrell for a starter (Garland, Dontrelle?), then sign Bobby Kielty to platoon in right or left with Werth.
I disagree about Helms' trade value. He could get the middle reliever that we're apparently looking for, right? Wouldn't it make sense to go all out and sign Lowell to a backended contract, trade off Helms for a league average RP, and allow Rowand to walk. I don't understand how a team can spend $105 million and not be willing to edge it up to $110 mil... these owners are billionaires, aren't they? Whats $5 million between friends?
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