Phillies Nation

Ups, downs with Stairs

Posted by Brian Michael, Tue, September 02, 2008 09:38 AM

From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/2/2008 – Page D2

Not impressed
The Phils acquired left-handed OF Matt Stairs from the Blue Jays, presumably for a bucket of clean batting-practice balls. I guess he takes Geoff Jenkins’ slot in the lineup for now and eventually plays the role this year that Russell Branyan played last year: occasional pinch-hitter who does nothing but uppercuts for the fences or strikes out.

- notitlessince83.blogspot.com

Keep Pat the Bat?
According to Ken Rosenthal in his newest Full Count video, the Phillies feel there’s better than a 50 percent chance they can keep Pat Burrell in 2009 and beyond. He says the Phils would like him back, and Burrell obviously feels the same.

Burrell would command $14-$17M per season in a new contract, according to Rosenthal. Considering Brad Lidge’s $12M salary for 2009, Adam Eaton’s $9M for 2009, and arbitration for Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels and Shane Victorino, among other targets, it would be hard to re-sign Burrell and dabble in free agency unless the franchise enlarges its wallets. Still, I like that they want to re-sign Burrell. There isn’t anything like Burrell’s production out there, and there’s certainly nothing like it in the minors.

- philliesnation.com

Reliable source?
Make of this what you will, but there is a yet-to-be- confirmed rumor floating out there that Tom Brady’s foot injury may be worse than he’s been letting on. Like, “out for four games’ ” worth. From NFL Juice:

“This just in.

“We’ve received news from a reliable news source, that would like to remain anonymous (initials E.B.), that Tom Brady will likely be missing between two and four weeks of the regular season.”

Apparently the last tip this guy gave was [right] on, so now I don’t know what to believe. And while this may be true, it’s equally plausible that NFL Juice came up with this simply to mess with the guy holding the number-one pick in their fantasy draft.

All I know is that the last time I took a tip from a guy named E.B., I ended up buying a worthless gold claim in a fledgling South Dakota mining community.

 - deadspin.com

No more Morelli
Okay, so it was only Coastal Carolina, but you must admit, it was nice to see some well-thrown passes from a Penn State quarterback. It had been a while since fans were treated to quality play at the position.

Which brings us to last year’s man at the helm, Anthony Morelli. In case you missed it, he made SportsCenter’s top play the other day. Well, sort of. Turns out the former PSU fan favorite overthrew (shocking, I know) his receiver against the Denver Broncos, only to have a fellow rookie, DB Jack Williams, grab it and zigzag his way to an 89-yard pick-six. Tackling was never one of his strong suits either.

Sadly, and much to everyone’s surprise, Morelli was cut by the Cardinals.

- pennlive.com/pennstatefootball

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