Phils Acquire Lefty Randolph

Posted by Tim Malcolm, Thu, May 08, 2008 11:33 AM

The Phillies today traded a player-to-be-named-later for Astros left-handed reliever Stephen Randolph.The 34-year-old Randolph — born in Okinawa, Japan — is a journeyman who this season with AAA Round Rock, has gone 0-1 with a 1.23 ERA in 14.2 innings. He has struck out 21 and walked 11.

In 2007 with Houston, Randolph went 0-1 with a 12.15 ERA in 13.1 innings.

It sure looks like Randolph could come right up to Philadelphia, as the organization may not be ready to bring up lefties RJ Swindle or Fabio Castro, and Steve Kline doesn’t look like the right fit in the big-league bullpen. Pat Gillick said he was openly looking for left-handed help, so don’t be shocked if Randolph comes up and the team lets go of long-man Clay Condrey, moving the struggling Ryan Madson to a long-relief spot.

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17 Responses to “Phils Acquire Lefty Randolph”

  1. PhillyFriar Says:

    Ugh.

    Even in the minors, this guy has walked 6.9 hitters per 9 innings, so I’m not sure exactly what Gillick sees in him. I can only assume that Gillick wants Castro and Outman to settle into their roles comfortably before promoting them, and further that he doesn’t think either Kline or Swindle is the answer — I agree with the former, but if Swindle keeps getting guys out in AAA, don’t you have to give him a shot?

    I can only hope Randolph’s headed to AAA.

  2. Tim Malcolm Says:

    I hope this is more of a backlog move and, especially, the the PTBNL isn’t anything to sneeze at.

    To be fair though, it’s a good move if it’s backlog. Look - bullpen candidates for the remainder of the season are: Randolph, Kline, Castro, Outman, Swindle, Bastardo, Carrasco, Benson, even Zagurski. Also, don’t forget Francisco Rosario, who is now throwing long toss and could be back by the middle/end of the month.

  3. Bruce Says:

    With your list of candidates for the bullpen, I wonder why Gillick is willing to give up a player for a nondescript reliever like Randolph. Condrey is good for “mop-up” at best.

    BTW, with another stellar performance by Lidge (8 saves) and Gordon (6 holds) last night, the bullpen now has the best ERA (2.69) in the Majors!

  4. Mike W. Says:

    I am going to say right now that there is no way, absolutely no way, Bastardo or Carrasco are bullpen candidates. These are the 2 big shot minor league pitching prospects. They won’t screw them up by tossing them into unfamiliar roles.

  5. Mike T. Says:

    This is a junk move - I’ll turn my cheek to this one.

  6. Gavin Says:

    You never have enough arms. Especially LP arms.

  7. Don M Says:

    Gillick is gone after this year… got us to the Playoffs last year… Im guessing he doesn’t especially care what happens to the future of this team.

  8. Jeff Says:

    Almost anything that moves Madson into long-relief/mop-up is worth considering. He appears to have nothing.

  9. Jack C Says:

    Off topic: thought I’d come to a Phillies site for an all-important question relating to Ryan Howard. Should I trade for him? (I’d be giving up a lot). Just wondering on what the prognosis is for him returning to form, I haven’t watched him play too much this season. He’s always been one of my favorite players, so I’m kind of biased…

  10. Tim Malcolm Says:

    Mike: I wouldn’t want Bastardo and Carrasco as BP candidates, but you never know with this organization, and that’s why I listed them.

    Jack: It wouldn’t be a bad idea to trade for him now while his value is probably lower than ever. He’s been known to heat it up around June and ride it through the year; nothing right now says that, but the trend is there.

  11. mick Says:

    Randolph has been kicking around for a number of years–solid stuff as a lefty–zero control. Hopefully the scouts have spotted something positive in his work this year–if not, this guy will add a can of gasoline to any fire. Madson has been a slow starter before( last year)–then came on to pitch well until the injury finished his season.The Phils are looking for lightening in a bottle–great thing about baseball–you never know.They picked J C off the scrap heap last year

  12. Geoff Says:

    This guy is 34 though…whats the point of signing someone that isnt even on the mlb08 videogame roster when it was first released and those rosters INCLUDE AAA and AA players. this is an ok move if it provides depth in AAA. they better not have the audacity to bring this guy right up and act like he ISNT worse than condrey or madson. total gas can scrap heap junk signing. this is EXACTLY what makes me mad at them all the time. they always take the dirt-cheap bottom-feeding way out of things. go get a real bullpen arm, cough up something and go get someone that is good enough to pitch the 8th but wont need to so hell pitch the 7th. but no, they go get some 34 year old guy who isnt good enough to make the astros major league bullpen and they stink.

  13. philsphan Says:

    Randolph was basically just signed for depth. If he does really well at AAA he might get called up. As Tim M said, he is just another lefty in the mix for Condrey’s spot. Once we get another lefty in the pen, Madson wil be moved to Condrey’s mop up role.

  14. VA Steve Says:

    Hey, lets not forget they need all the help they can get at AAA. Let’s hope that is where Randolph is headed.

  15. Bruce Says:

    Good point, VA Steve. The Phillies’ AAA team, Lehigh Valley is incredibly bad. How bad? They have the worst record in the entire International League with just FIVE wins in 35 games played (.143 pct.). I truly feel sorry for them.

  16. Geoff Says:

    It has to be why hes there and kline is there. theyre hoping maybe one of them can help in the majors but if they really need a bullpen arm theyd go get someone like john grabow or someone like that.

  17. mick Says:

    Where is Ray King–The Nats gave up on him, I Think, late April. –better choice than Kline

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Comments for this post will be closed on 5 September 2008.

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