Hate to distract from the thoughtful Aaron Rowand-related debate ongoing in the previous post (as usual, great comments from Matt In Philadelphia, Rob, Zippy and others), but I wanted to pass along the list of "non-tenders," players who became free agents when their teams didn't offer 2008 contracts by last night's midnight deadline.Of particular interest to me (and possibly the Phillies) are Mark Prior, Akinori Otsuka and Jason Lane. Prior and Otsuka, of course, are recovering from arm injuries. Lane, a right-handed-hitting outfielder, swatted 26 homers in 2005 for Houston. The Phils have lukewarm interest in third baseman Morgan Ensberg and no interest in outfielder and Newark native Kevin Mench.
Starters: Jack Cassel (San Diego), Matt DeSalvo (Yankees), Chad Durbin (Detroit), Mark Hendrickson (Dodgers), Mike O'Connor (Washington), Mark Prior (Cubs), Darrell Rasner (Yankees), Josh Towers (Toronto)
Relievers: T.J. Beam (Yankees), Kiko Calero (Oakland), Darren Clarke (Colorado), Brendan Donnelly (Boston), Cory Doyne (Baltimore), Jose Garcia (Oakland), Ryan Ketchner (San Diego), Scott Munter (San Francisco), Roberto Novoa (Baltimore), Akinori Otsuka (Texas), Juan Padilla (Mets), John Parrish (Seattle), Heath Phillips (White Sox), Brian Rogers (Pittsburgh), Brad Salmon (Cincinnati), Matt Wise (Milwaukee)
Catchers: Johnny Estrada (Mets), Miguel Olivo (Florida)
First basemen: Brad Eldred (Pittsburgh)
Second basemen: Aaron Miles (St. Louis)
Third basemen: Morgan Ensberg (San Diego), Andy Gonzalez (White Sox), Dallas McPherson (Angels)
Shortstops: Adam Everett (Houston), Jerry Gill (Cincinnati)
Outfielders: Sean Barker (Colorado), Emil Brown (Kansas City), Nick Gorneault (Texas), Willie Harris (Atlanta), Ben Johnson (Mets), Jason Lane (San Diego), Nook Logan (Washington), Kevin Mench (Milwaukee), Bronson Sardinha (Yankees), Jason Tyner (Minnesota).
6 comments:
To Scott and all Phillies fans....I sure hope the Phils do not sign Ensberg or Lane. Living here in Houston I saw these guys up close and personal and they are horrible! They were the whipping boys of the fans down here. Absolutely a negative if they end up in Philly. Lane's big numbers from 2005 are a distant DISTANT memory!
Donnelly, Otsuka and Wise are definitely worth taking a flier on though.
Thanks Scott for keeping all us Philly fans up to date on everything going on in the Hot Stove for the Phillies!
I like Otsuka. He would be a nice middle reliever with closing experience (should the injury train catch up with us again). He's got low HR and BB numbers. I would say a very good fit for a one year contract.
Would the phils bother with a third catcher again, because Estrada returning to Philly wouldn't be terrible either.
For 3B, I like Ensberg, but he does make me nervous of which version of him will show up. How is he on defense, because, if healthy, his offense isn't much of a hit from our Helms/Dobbs platoon?
Lane was in the Minors for a good while in 07 as well. I don't see him being any help at all.
Maybe the comfy confines of CBP can spark an uptick in numbers for McPherson?
McPherson's career batting average gives me room for pause. I'm not sure I want a career .247 hitter with an OPS of about .700 playing third for the Phillies.
I agree with Chris that Donnelly, Otsuka, and Wise are worth looking at. Calero wouldn't be bad, either, and would certainly be an upgrade over Condrey. He's got a career ERA of 3.55.
As for starters, I'd like to see the Phillies take a slow and cautious look at Mark Prior, who showed flashes of dominance when healthy. Chad Durbin would be alright to give a minor-league contract to and have as inventory in case one of our guys goes down. And we all know PG loves Josh Towers - I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear his name.
As far as position players go, there doesn't look like there's a whole lot out there. Willie Harris would be an OK platoon-mate (or starter?) in right field. Other than that, maybe Tyner?
This list isn't very inspiring, to say the least.
McPherson was a very high prospect but always hurt, I'd try to trade for him and if he's not healthy see if he'll accept a minor league contract ... Phils are nuts for not wanting Mench ... the guy kills lefties which is something we desperately need
You could not give Chad Durbin a minor league contract.
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