So, a few minutes before last night's game started, Phillies officials learned that the Athletics traded Rich Harden to the Cubs in a six-player deal.Bummer?
You bet.
Assistant GM Mike Arbuckle said the Phils had Harden ranked below CC Sabathia on their wish list, mainly because of his long injury history. But they did inquire about him, especially after he shut them out for eight innings June 26 in Oakland. And while Arbuckle said the Phils were "aggressive" in their pursuit of Sabathia, they couldn't offer the power-hitting outfield prospect (Matt LaPorta) that the Indians coveted. They also couldn't dangle a major-league-ready pitcher like Sean Gallagher as bait for Harden. It's great to be aggressive in trade talks, but if you don't have the bullets, you can only shoot so high. Thus, in a three-day span, the Phils saw Sabathia, the only available pitcher on their "A-list," and Harden dealt to the Brewers and Cubs, both NL playoff contenders.
What's next?
Arbuckle said the Phillies are still targeting two or three pitchers, and they're willing to deal prospects, even for a pitcher who will be a free agent after the season (Toronto's A.J. Burnett). Seattle has made Erik Bedard available. And, with fragile Tom Gordon likely to miss more than two weeks, the Phils may make a run at Colorado's Brian Fuentes, who could combine with Brad Lidge to be a formidable eighth-ninth inning combination. Other lesser pitchers who could be available: Seattle's Jarrod Washburn, Cincinnati's Bronson Arroyo or Cleveland's Paul Byrd.
Any of those pitchers -- especially Burnett, Bedard, Fuentes -- get you excited?
***
Thanks, Matt S., for your link to the Hardball Times study about the lack of a correlation between homer-dependence and offensive inconsistency. I have read it before, and there's certainly credence to their findings. But, in the case of the 2008 Phillies, I respectfully disagree with their premise. Check out these numbers, including last night's 2-0 loss to the Cardinals:
In the 61 games when the Phillies have at least one homer, they are batting .273 with 345 runs, an average of 5.66 per game. In the 30 games when they haven't gone deep, they are batting only .221 with 112 runs, an average of 3.73 per game. When the Phillies homer, they're 37-24 (.607 winning percentage). When they don't, they're 11-19 (.367).
***
One note that didn't find its way into The Paper: Cole Hamels gave up two solo homers last night, but he thought he made only one mistake. He didn't regret the pitch he threw to Rick Ankiel in the fifth inning, even though Ankiel powered it over the left-center field fence. "The way he hit it was impressive," Hamels said. "I guess that's why he's a hitter now."
Six of Hamels' last seven outings, including last night's, have been quality starts. He's 4-2 with a 2.35 ERA during that stretch. Hamels also has pitched at least seven innings in seven straight starts, the second time in his career that he has done that.
3 comments:
Getting Fuentes in the pen would be a nice lefty/righty split between him and Lidge and would give Romero some rest.
I live in Baltimore and I've seen Bedard pitch with the O's. He's really impressive and is a fine pitcher. He's got crazy K numbers but he does give up the long ball a bit and his walks are a bit high. With run support that the Phils can (usually!) give him, he would be a real nice addition and my first choice (well above Burnett). Its just a matter of whether or not another lefty (along with Hamels, Moyer, and maybe Happ) is what the Phils want. The rotation below sounds pretty strong but who would be sent down/traded?
Hamels (L)
Myers (R)
Bedard (L)
Kendrick/Eaton (R)
Moyer (L)
Thanks for the acknowledgement in your blog. I actually was exchanging emails the author of that study before he wrote it, after he had written a previous article describing the distribution of runs, and the article was actually in response to my suggestion to see which kinds of teams were the most volatile.
I don't deny that the Phillies do better when they hit homeruns-- I would guess every team you look at would have some kind of divide like that (but how did you find those numbers?). I'm just saying that a contact hitting & speed offense is probably even more prone to streakiness.
The fact that Rich Harden AND Chad Gaudin were traded to the Cubs for a yo-yo, several packs of Dubble Bubble chewing gum, a Sammy Sosa rookie card, some old tennis shoes, and a subscription to Maxim magazine shows that the Phils really weren't all that serious in their negotiations. They could've offered Playboy instead.
In all seriousness, I'd love to get a guy like Burnett. We probably would only have to give up one "top" prospect for him (Cardenas, perhaps?) but really there's no reason why the guys we have now (and Myers) can't take us into at least the 6th/7th innings. They're just underperforming. And mortgaging your future (trading prospects for an ace pitcher) when the guys you currently have on the squard are fully and totally capable of winning games makes absolutely no sense at all. Utterz and Rollins have plenty of time left in the primes of their careers, the only one to worry about might be Howard. I could see Ut playing first and Cardenas playing second in a few years and both being far above-average both offensively AND defensively. I'm glad I'm not PG.
Post a Comment