WASHINGTON -- Just spent a few minutes with Pat Gillick, who said that in the final hour before the trade deadline the Phillies were close on a three-team deal that would've netted them a starting pitcher. So, what was the hold-up?
"We had agreement from one club and were trying to get agreement on players from another club," Gilick said.
And what about the lefty reliever that the Phils were seeking? Gillick said the asking price for lefties (think Ron Mahay, Jack Taschner, John Grabow, etc.) was steep. A team official told me that clubs were asking for the Phillies' top prospects (think Lou Marson, Jason Donald, Carlos Carrasco, etc.), and that's a hefty price for a lefty reliever. It's possible the Phillies could acquire a lefty in a waiver deal in August.
How about Manny Ramirez? Gillick admitted the Phillies spoke to the Red Sox, but reading between the lines, it sounds like they weren't able to convince themselves that Manny -- and all that comes with him -- would've made them better.
"We were involved, and we just couldn't get where [the Red Sox] wanted to be," Gillick said. "And we couldn't get where we wanted to be. At some point, I think we had a good feeling about it. We could please the other clubs. It's just that we've got to please ourselves a little bit. We think we know what the value of the players are. You have to really evaluate that. We thought it was a little too rich of an asking for us."
Chew on that a bit. For now, I have to get cracking for The Paper. More later.
5 comments:
I think this guy's got it right.
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Actually Manny is in FLA checking out the mental health facilities. He desparately needs one.
Posted by Hugo Lawrence : 12:59 PM
I give it a big whatever--
obviously it's not the brightest move to trade the farm, but think about this core of phillies--hamels, rollins, utley, howard...some of these guys will be on ashburn alley one day, and we'll have wasted their prime years on 88 win seasons. If there's ever been a time to win, it was last year--maybe we still have it now, but strongholding a future 3rd starter to avoid a big bat or a big arm just kinda makes me sick. I'll be happy when Pat (not the bat) ships on out.
It ended when the Phils didn't go get Sabathia. Doesn't anyone follow suit anymore. When big market teams (except in Philly, which, by the way, is big market) truly want to win, they sign the best players available at the time. Had the Phils added the stud Sabathia, they would truly be able to contend. Now, they will again have to be happy just making it to the postseason, leaving fans without anything to celebrate. But I am getting used to that.
The idea is to win the World Series not the NL East. Our pitching staff is not able to win the World Series as currently put together (and the NL East is not a given). Adding Manny to this lineup would put us right there with the Angels ... adding a left hander in the bullpen would give us a solid bullpen, like the Angels, and adding another starter to replace Myers (rid him in the trade) would have only strenghtened this team. The Phillies are happy to be in the upper third of ML teams. I think I would be happy being the #1 major league team.
Great picture of a group of bored, old, fat white guys.
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