BY SCOTT LAUBERBeen driving all day (spending the weekend out of town), but I wanted to pass along a few bits of news from the Phillies:
1. Sam Perlozzo has been named to the Phils' coaching staff, although the club hasn't given him a position yet. (My guess: He will be the third-base coach if the Phillies are able to hire a qualified bench coach; otherwise, Perlozzo will be the bench coach). Perlozzo, 57, will definitely handle infield instruction, a responsibility that belonged to Steve Smith for the past two seasons. Perlozzo was Seattle's third-base coach last season, and prior to that, he spent 12 years with the Orioles as a third-base coach (1996-2000), bench coach (2001-05) and manager (2005-07). He also has coached third base for the Mets (1987-89), Reds (1990-92) and Mariners (1993-95, 2008). Interesting tidbit: Perlozzo played in Japan in 1980, the same season Charlie Manuel hit 48 home runs for an opposing Japanese team.
2. Chase Utley has won his third straight Silver Slugger Award, given to the top offensive player at each position. Utley led all NL second basemen in hits (177), RBIs (104), on-base percentage (.383), slugging percentage (.583) and extra-base hits (78).
3. The Phillies have announced their 2009 spring-training schedule. Yes, already! Click here to check it out. Also, the Phillise will host the Tampa Bay Rays in the annual on-deck series on April 3 at 7:05 p.m. and April 4 at 1:05 p.m.
4. Free-agency season opens tomorrow. Players will be able to negotiate with teams other than their own. I don't expect much activity on Day 1 since negotiations supposedly are just beginning. Of course, we could see the Phillies re-sign Jamie Moyer by this weekend or early next week. Negotiations with Moyer's agent, Jim Bronner, have been ongoing.
All for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment