Phillies Nation

79 Responses to “Your Friendly Weekend Primer”

1. Ben Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 10:33 am

   Just like you said Phillies need to win 2 of 3. They better be ready to play some great baseball because we know the Nasties always give the Phillies some problems. Offense definitely needs to be on point this weekend and I hope the day off has given them a little fuel for the big weekend ahead. What I’d really like to see is the Phillies pitching controlling the game. Making it as much of a playoff type game as possible with big hits and big outs. But I’ll take a win anyway they can get it.

2. Dennis Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 10:35 am

   What do the Phillies need to do this weekend?

   One Word……

   WIN!

3. lilgartrn Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 10:35 am

   Just win the games. With yesterday’s day off, they should be ready to go tonight. Good defense, patient at-bats, and I think we are in good shape to take each game. I don’t want to worry about the Mets/Brewers – let’s just focus on each game here.

4. bigmyc Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 10:45 am

   They just need to play within themselves and they’ll be fine..

5. Griffin Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 10:48 am

   We can’t count on the Cubs minor leaguers to beat the Brewers. The Phillies have to win the first 2 games and hope the Marlins win one of the first two against the Mets. This way we can rest Cole on Sunday knowing that we’re in the playoffs. Then, Kyle Kendrick will pitch Sunday for the division.

6. Chris C. Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 10:52 am

   The thing that worries me the most is the weather. If this were a nice normal weekend, the Phils would handle the Nats and take care of business. However with games in the rain, double headers or weird delays can cause strange things to happen.

7. lilgartrn Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 10:58 am

   We had to deal w/ weather against the Brewers and came out ok. Imperative to win here – you know the Cubs are going to have their 3rd string JV team on against the Brewers ( I definitey feel they want us to shoot ourselves in the foot, because they would rather face the Brewers or Mets, so let’s not give them the satisfaction – 1 win at a time this w/end!!!)

8. Georgie Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 10:59 am

   I agree, Chris, the Phils seem to play better in warm weather, and it’s going to be raw and windy, with maybe lengthy rain delays, it worries me, I’ll admit. If they just could have won a couple of those games earlier in the season and not wasted some of those great pitching performances, we wouldn’t even be discussing it. We should be resting some of OUR regulars this weekend.

9. PhillyFriar Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 11:02 am

   Griffin’s got it right. The Phils need to win the first two, see if the Brewers and/or Mets have lost one, and if they have, then pitch Happ on Sunday to save Hamels for Game 1.

   And the weather is certainly a concern. Right now, it’s iffy for all 3 days, so we can’t even speculate as to doubleheaders and make-up dates at this point. But it’s something to monitor very, very closely.

10. LH Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 11:08 am

    Here we are again with a repeat of the Nationals at the end of the season and trying to win the division. What better scenario could be played out in the Phillies favor? The Phils should rough up Balester if the weather gods allow it. Moyers should be his pleasurable self, and Hamels will bring one of his commanding performances on Sunday. The Mets will take another swan dive this weekend for a repeat of their dire performance last year. I predict the Mets & Brewers will post 1-2 weekend records and will need a wild card playoff game to see who dances in the post-season, and Shea stadium will be resuscitated for one last day of baseball life. Philadelphia Phillies – it is time and the moment in our 2008 future to step up your game and throw the punches, that you previously showed you can swing, to land the knockout. Leave no combatant standing and dream the winner’s dream.

11. Georgie Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 11:11 am

    LH, that gave me chills.

12. Dennis Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 11:11 am

    We can’t sit here and worry about the weather. I know it can be a great equalizer but come on don’t give this team any excuse if they can’t get it done. The Nats suck, 40 games under .500, we should be in the playoffs come Sunday….

13. Jason Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 11:11 am

    I don’t think Conlin is mistaken at all. Moyer should start Game 1 of the playoffs (assuming the Phils don’t blow it).

    His veteran leadership and the way he delivers his game plan should create a calming effect among the team during a game in which both they could be overly anxious.

    Besides, Hamels could use the rest.

14. Dennis Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 11:12 am

    We can’t sit here and worry about the weather. I know it can be the great equalizer in sports but come on! Don’t give this team any excuses if they can’t get it done. The Nats sucks, 40 games below .500, no Redding thank god this weekend, we should be in the playoffs come Sunday….

15. Dennis Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 11:14 am

    I just posted the same thing twice my bad! Go Phils!

16. Tim Malcolm Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 11:36 am

    Just to address Piniella: He can do what he wants. He won his division and can cruise to the playoffs. He’s earned the right to sit his best players and get ready for the dance.

    It’s the Phils’ fault for not winning another game against Atlanta

17. Brian Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 11:36 am

    I agree that Moyer should be and is the most reliable starting pitcher on the team right now…..That said Blanton and the bats need to step up tonight.

    One game at a time, win and it doesn’t matter what the out of town scoreboard says.

    My stomach has been in knots since Monday.

    We should get these games in weather wise…no excuses just win!

18. PhillyGirlinMichigan Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 11:36 am

    Kinda off-topic -

    There was an interesting article in the Detroit News today going over how awful the Tiger’s last off-season turned out to be – and how they’re now hand-cuffed w/bad contracts to aging and/or underperforming players. Now they almost have to move Magglio (making $18M in 2009, I believe) to get some much needed BP or SP help. Their ERA is almost league-bottom. Eaton > maj of Tiger’s SP. Better than Robertson & way better than Willis. Kenny R too, probably.

    In regards to the bad decisions – it wasn’t prospects Miller & Maybin that they’re moaning about that hurt the most leaving last winter – It was Durbin and Omar Infante!

    Gillick looks like a genious w/his bargain bin purchases compared to DD’s big name shopping spree. Something to keep in mind when dreaming of huge FA signings/trades vs keeping the consistant, but not star, players you already have…

19. Thrillhouse Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 11:43 am

    We have to take this weekend one game at a time. No looking forward to how many we have to win. Tonight we need to win a one game series against the Nats. Thats it. Tomorrow is a different day. If you all are like me, then these games are driving you crazy. A win tonight will help me sleep better… until tomorrow, that is.

20. Gabriel Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 11:51 am

    i’ve always been big into the thought process of: dont worry about what you cannot control…
    that being said, this team is makin me worry more than cricket being manhunted by mac and dennis (please dont glue pubic hair to my face)
    i shouldn’t have to but i wont digress to couldabeen shouldabeen. the point is even after the recent cooldown the phils are still up a game, i just want them to win a playoff spot, i dont care how they get it. after everything thats happened this year, all the little storylines i’ve followed, not making the playoffs would be equal to how patriots fans felt after losing to the ny gayants last january. (i know the stage isn’t as big but i’ve put all my ducks in a row for this years team…)

21. PhillyGirlinMichigan Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 11:55 am

    Hear ya Thrillhouse

    My prediction is the Phil’s will go 2 of 3 and win the division. Brewers get the WC. However, I’m finding the games harder and harder to watch. I’ll just have to check the boxscore after-the-fact.

22. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 11:58 am

    The Phils need to do what they haven’t done much against the lesser teams (in particular the Nationals) and outwork them tonight. The core of the team has a habbit of going out there and hacking expecting their superious talent to put runs on the board instead of keeping it simple and working the counts, wracking up two strike fouls when needed and getting around the bases. The Nats are going to come out and work hard and won’t give the Phils anything they don’t work for so its simple particularly early in these games, if they work hard it wont matter too much whats going on in the other games and bad weather spells more trouble for the Mets and their paper thin pitching than anyone.

    As for Gillick he’s done a great job of finding guys that can contribute that wern’t on peoples radars but the bigger acquisitions haven’t been near good enough. We got lucky with Lidge and Wade’s fetish for his guys but the rest of the deals has left us parting with prospects we shouldn’t have made so easily available and payroll issues from guys who aren’t of the value their salary suggests.

23. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 12:09 pm

    *forgot to add i was watching some stuff on milb.com earlier and there was analysis from the blanton trade with Cardenas/Outman described as can’t miss prospects for a guy who doesn’t have the skillset to be a frontline starter… Was very happy when the engineer of great years in Toronto signed but not sad one bit to see him leave.

24. Geoff Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 12:18 pm

    im not sad AT ALL..despite the ownerships constraints, you should still be able to engineer good trades, theres no money excuse for that one…

25. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    The problem with this current reigm is Gillick still seems to run things like it’s the 90’s. Because of limited payroll and depth in prospect issues he has made reaches with the higher profile deals and that doesn’t get it done anymore. What were we expecting Freddy Garcia to be that’s reason enough to hand Gio Gonzales back to the ChiSox?

    Anyway going off subject there…

26. T Mac Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 12:42 pm

    Let’s talk about lineups for the weekend.

    The Phillies face a righthander tonight, and then lefties Saturday and Sunday.

    With that in mind, I think we need to get as many LHB starting i tonight as possible.

    Here’s my proposed lineup for tonight:”

    1. Rollins
    2. Victorino
    3. Utley
    4. Howard
    5. Dobbs
    6. Burrell
    7. Stairs
    8. Ruiz
    9. Pitcher

    Give Werth and Felix the night off- they will be starting Saturday and Sunday against the lefties.

27. Chris C. Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 12:52 pm

    I remember a while back there was something on this site about phillies bars in different cities, but I dont remember any of them. Im in NYC, its raining, my roomates and girlfriend are out of town (not together) and im looking for a place to go to. Anybody have any ideas?

28. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 12:57 pm

    Go to Yankee stadium and steal stuff

29. Griffin Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:00 pm

    Chris C., try Wogie’s in the West Village. It’s a Philly bar.

30. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:14 pm

    for what its worth, Gio is getting ROCKED at the big league level (8.42 ERA, 1.74 WHIP) … and Outman is doing bad to = 4.58 ERA, 1.68 WHIP, .333 Batting Avg Against..

    Maybe he’ll be good, but it wasn’t ever going to be in a Phillies uniform.

31. MikeB Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:20 pm

    Jayson Werth should sit against right-handed pitching. He has been slumping badly lately.

32. Buffalophilsfan Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:26 pm

    With the lineup, I think it is time to move Vic back to the 2-hole against Righties. Werth has hit the wall a bit and has struggled against right-handed pitching. I like him hitting 3rd against lefties to break up Utley and Howard … but for tonight make that shift. So I would go with:

    JRoll
    Vic
    Chase
    Howard
    Burrell – (showing signs with two solid hits up the middle last game)
    Dobbs
    Jenkins – (call me crazy … just a hunch)
    Ruiz
    JB

    Although Charlie will probably stick with Werth in the 6-slot.

33. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:26 pm

    The problem is that if you take werth out of the #3 spot.. you get KILLED late in the game when team’s go Lefty specialist against Utley, Howard..

    Werth’s .250 average against RH makes you think he can pick up a hit tonight.. and if they go to a LH later in the game.. you love him hitting in that spot too.. vs RHP Werth has a .359 OBP% too.

    more than I like Stairs, who is hitting .253, with 3 more HR, and 10 more RBI in 40 more at-bats..

    tough call for Charlie tonight

34. Geoff Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:33 pm

    they need to trade j-hole for mark beuhrle…sign derek lowe, sign oliver perez, sign juan crus for bullpen help, sign casey blake because he used to play in the outfield. let pat go, keep madson and eyre and durbin…..thats all for now…

    i hope it doesnt rain tomorrow….

35. bull Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:40 pm

    Go crazy and put stairs in the 3 hole then you can pinch hit werth for him late in the game if they try to matchup lefties…

36. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    Don with the prospects I’m not surprised Gio’s been rocked early but that’s no measure on what he could achieve with his skillset and Outman’s ERA balooned from one outing he really got hit. The problem with both of those guys is the organisation didn’t like them as much as others did and never would have given them the time to develop like other organisations would have. I don’t like the way we’ve been developing prospects where they have their pet projects and leave the rest out in the cold while their values diminish. I’d rather see us stay true to getting our top prospects up than continue to make reaches in the trade market and free agency, the guys were picking up regress into stop-gaps anyway.

    It’s a tough call for Charlie on Werth/Stairs. I’d be tempted to keep Werth in there for the reasons you gave and sit Burrell with Stairs having enough pop in his bat.

37. MikeB Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:47 pm

    Yeh, I like the idea too of putting Jenkins in the lineup tonight against a right-hander. He has not hit that well this year and has that low BA but he is a seasoned veteran and might come up with a big hit or two in an important game like this one tonight and he is well-rested.

    Bat Burrell between Utley and Howard to split up the two straight left-handed hitters thing.

    No matter what order, the Phillies have to get going and hit and score.

38. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:51 pm

    I hope it rains.. wherever Geoff goes

39. Buffalophilsfan Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:55 pm

    Geoff your distaste for Rollins humors me. When he is flying around the bases Saturday, driving in runs and getting the offense going, you will be the first one on your feet cheering.

    Oliver Perez is a head case much worse than Jimmy ever has been … and you want to sign him?? Blake is going back to Cleveland. I do like the Lowe idea, but there is no way the Phills should trade Rollins despite all your angst for him.

    And who cares about the off-season. This is a great weekend for THIS team THIS year. Go out and get a W tonight and see how we stand in the morning. What is the weather like now??

40. Gabriel Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:57 pm

    i cant stand the argument, ‘they wont do it in a phillies uniform’…
    why the hell not????
    if that’s the case then get rid of madson and half the other players on this team that aren’t producing, also what was the point of bringin back tad iguchi? he cant be used in the playoffs, i’ve seen him like, twice since coming back over… insurance in case chase went down or what?

41. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:02 pm

    Geoff actually has a decent point with Lowe and Blake though that does sacrafice that extra pop in the middle of the line-up. Beuhrle and Perez are horrible ideas though, would rather sign Pedro and Penny.

42. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:07 pm

    I can’t stand that notion that everyone on this team ISN’T PRODUCING.. how the F*ck are all these scrubs heading for 90-wins this year then.. i mean, according to half the people on here, everything about this team sucks!

    Gonzalez and Outman… are no good this year… Gavin Floyd was bad for us, bad last year, and is somehow turning it around this season..

    Lidge would never have been the same pitcher if he stayed with the Astros.. so it goes both ways

43. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:08 pm

    It’s funny the Cubs had the confidence to call up Sarmadjza who was almost exclusively a starter in the minors yet the Phils felt the need to ‘convert’ Outman in AA destroying his confidence yet the minute Oakland get him he’s in AAA and then logging some innings with the big club.

    Again the Phils FO has it’s favourites and there so scared of failure they don’t prepare the prospects for success.

44. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:10 pm

    Geoff said yesterday that he would pay Lowe $18 Million dollars… but bitches non-stop about paying Jenkins $5 Million.. I don’t take anything he says seriously.. because he blinds himself with his hatred of players.. Howard and Rollins traded for prospects, but WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP IMMEDIATELY has been his stance all year.. he is a clown, and an un-funny one at that..

45. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:11 pm

    The Shark throws 96mph with crazy movement… every team would have called him up

46. Georgie Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:13 pm

    Don, I think you’re trying to bait Geoff, are you just jealous like I am that he actually has tickets for the game?

47. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:14 pm

    There’s a hell of a lot good with this team and there are a things they need to be doing to sustain the current success. The money has to be invested better not the payroll arbitrarily increased like most seem to want. (There’s an interesting artcile by Buster Olney on ESPN.com about his thoughts on the Yanks ‘demise’)

    I’m all for trading prospects when you need to part with them to give your ballclub a legitimate improvement but we’ve parted with too many of our best trade chips in the wrong deals, Kenny Williams and Billy Beane aren’t the pushovers Bill Bavasi and Ed Wade are.

48. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:18 pm

    Geoff knows I think he’s a clown.. and then he randomly tells me that he’s won whatever arguement we’re having.. and then I ask him how… and then we don’t hear back from him until the next day when he’s calling for a Rollins-trade again..

    I just got new couches two weeks ago, and i’ve got the HD at home.. I’ll be content without tickets to the game.. ive seen them in person like 10-12 times this year

49. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:19 pm

    Don I’m not trying to say Outman on a level with ‘The Shark’ but the FO gave him no shot at a time were desperate for controllable relievers. Their happy to call up Zagurski, Kendrick, Swindle and watch them sink or swim but treat guys with legitimate talent like leppars in the fear they’ll be the second coming of Gavin Floyd.

50. Griffin Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:21 pm

    Adrian Cardenas will be a solid everyday regular. I understand that Blanton is better than Eaton or Kendrick but that trade is going to look like a steal for the A’s in two years time.

    But who cares about that now, let’s all cheer on Fat Joe against the Gnats tonight.

51. Georgie Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:22 pm

    Don, you and/or Geoff never cease to give me a chuckle, your argument the other day had me in stitches!

52. Buffalophilsfan Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:25 pm

    Right on point Don M. Why the constant bitching about a team that is on the crusp of winning the NL East again. Somebody is doing something right. While I tended to kill Gillick at the trade deadline for not doing something more substansive, you have got to give him credit for where we are right now with 3 games to play. And as much as I bash Cholly for his hillbilly way and questionable in-game decisions, his players love him and play hard for him. And despite everyone complaining about Dubee and this teams lack of starting pitching … it is the pitching that is carrying us right now.

    Let’s pull it all together and enjoy this weekend and beyond. This team has the potential to win it all as it is currently made up. Make it loud tonight Philly and get behind our guys. I am not normally the cheerleader type trying to rally the troops, but my voice is the one our neighbors will hear up in Western New York.

53. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:27 pm

    Well neither Gio has been traded all over the map becuase teams don’t like his control issues… Outman might be good, in fact, I think he will be… but what they needed was another STARTING pitcher, and they cost you prospects..

    Its not like we gave up Carasco, Savery, Bastardo, or Drabek.. its Josh Outman.. the dude that was doing nothing at Reading..

    Cardanes might be good… Baseball America projected him as an OF.. but he has no pop, and he wasn’t going to play 2b here with Utley, or SS here with Rollins..

    Blanton won us a few big games since he’s been here.. he’s not great, but he’s an upgrade over what we had, and we didn’t give up anything to hurt us in the next year or two for him..

54. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:27 pm

    The steal for Oakland was they wanted Outman, he’s every bit the kind of player that has success with that A’s and Cardenas’s value is likely to rise much higher. Gillick was so focused the prospects he likes he got caught napping on the prospects other teams like just as much as some of the guys he didn’t make readily available. For a near top package in return we got a guy we’ll get a couple of OK years off before letting him go and he’s not that cheap.

    We don’t draft badly but we draft safely, we’ll pay over the odds in the middle rounds for guys we hope will be a diamond in the rough cut of the same cloth (starter/CFer) but won’t pay in the early rounds too scared of busts.

55. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:27 pm

    which arguement was that???… we’re like a damn married couple..

56. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:31 pm

    When its going to cost you EVERYTHING for AJ Burnett… and the little bits that we gave up for Blanton, I think we made the move that will give us the best chance this year, while also keeping our “top” prospects for the next few years..

    Again, Blanton aint great.. but he’s better than what we had..

    and the draft.. considering that MOST 1st round players dont even make the Big Leagues.. you take the guy with the most potential in those spots, and try to take bullpen pitchers later where you don’t need to pay them $5 M bonuses

57. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:33 pm

    Don I think I’m pretty similar to you on a lot of the thoughts and I agree we needed a starting pitcher but we gave a bad deal for Blanton because we couldn’t land a guy with front of the rotation potential. I would have made Golson available because there are guys we have in A ball in the same mould and that’s not saying I don’t like Golson but we’re thin in the areas we’ve traded away and Cardenas would have caught a bigger fish somewhere down the line. I don’t like trading Outman in that deal because he could have featured in Philly and when your giving up two guys considered top prospects you want something more than a reach in return. I’m only saying this from hearing what people outside the organisation are saying about these guys.

58. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:37 pm

    I’m looking at how the teams around the league that draft succesfully are getting their players up and there has been an unparralled amount of success with getting 1st round draftees up from the 3 drafts prior to this one.

    I like Blanton but he wasn’t brought in to be Joe Blanton, he was brought in to be something much more for the price of more. Beane jumped at that deal as he was preparing to try and re-build his value in the off-season.

59. KM Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:38 pm

    In response to Geoff’s comment way back:

    I like the idea of signing Lowe. He shouldn’t be too expensive, and is a sinker ball guy in this small ballpark.

    I could be on board for the Casey Blake signing, as long we don’t sign him for more than 2-3 years. Along with the RF and LF, Blake also plays 1B and 3B, so we would have a little versatility there if any of the guys in the other positions would go into a prolonged slump. Plus, Blake is always good for .275avg/20-25hr/80rbi.

    I’d like to keep J-Roll around. I know Donald will be ready in a year or two, but maybe we can try him out at 3rd base. If you can field short you have a good chance at the hot corner. Also, Jimmy is a solid fielder, and you can’t teach speed. Would I bat Jimmy leadoff, NO. He’d be batting 3rd in my lineup between Utley and Howard, or 5th behind Howard.

    I would NOT sign Oliver Perez, we already have a guy that walks 5 batters a game tied up for next year(Blanton). Plus, I would rather resign Moyer for another year or two, and if Happ makes his way into the rotation we would be sporting 4 lefties in the rotation(given we don’t sign lowe or another righty).

60. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:39 pm

    From everything I read, the only two guys the Phillies weren’t intrested in trading were Carlos Carrasco, and Lou Marson…. Golson, and Donald were both available.. but people want contact-hitters, which Golson is not..

    Burnett’s deal is terrible becuase if you traded for him and he pitched well, you’d lose him to his opt-out.. if he pitched terrible, he’d keep his option for $12 M next season… and they wanted a lot in return, because Golson, Donald and blank weren’t good enough according to reports..

    We overvalue our own prospects.. thats true… but you guys are now doing the exact same thing you accuse the FO of doing, and getting mad at them for..

    Will Outman and Cardanes be awesome in a few years.. I don’t know.. they are “prospects”.. but we know that Blanton is better than what we had.. so we traded the unknown for the known..

61. Georgie Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:40 pm

    Don, that was from “Phils run out of Steam” on Wed, I was in a pissy mood from the game and didn’t read anything on here until later that night, and your argument with Geoff was the funniest thing I heard pretty much all day.

    haha, you do sound like a married couple. My husband and I were “disagreeing” over a football call the other day, it went on and on, he told me what I said was the stupidest thing he ever heard and flipped me the bird! I said F U and flipped it right back!

62. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:45 pm

    ohh yea… that was when he said all these other pitchers are better than Hamels.. eventhough the STATS, and my own two eyes prove otherwise.. and then he said that he didn’t say that or something.. that was fun

63. Georgie Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:47 pm

    Yeah, I can usually understand what he’s saying, but at one point there I’ll admit I was a bit confused-lol.

64. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:49 pm

    I’m not mad over them I just think we’ve been making panic deals and trading the wrong guys. I’m mad over Carrasco because I just hope this kid meets his talent but the rest I just had confidence can contribute in some small way or land a bettwen known quantity at a time of our choosing.

    I agree Burnett would have been a bad move and Toronto were doing everything they could to keep him around unless the deal was heavily in their favour. We got blindsided by Beane in that deal which is heavily in their favour as Blanton’s value was slipping rappidly. Gillick seemed scared of coming up with nothing but unwilling to trade for something just servicable to see through to the off-season where Blanton or an equivilent guy could have been lured for less so instead we land Blanton above value when he wasn’t going to be any more than just servicable down the stretch and we saw this coming. Blanton’s a good pitcher to clog up that middle of the rotation but he’s not a number 2 like Gillick paid for hoping he’d achieve much more than his skillset.

65. Griffin Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:49 pm

    Lowe has Boras as his agent and is looking for 18 million a year. Seriously, 18 million a year. So that ends that.
    Casey Blake is a butcher in the field. He plays 3 positions and all of them not well.

66. KM Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:50 pm

    Hamels is the best pitcher in the staff, no doubt, but I do question his heart.

    I have a feeling we will be looking at a 2-2 game tonight heading into the 8th, and Hamels will be at around 100 pitches, and he will take himself out of the game. Just a feeling I have.

67. KM Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:50 pm

    Sorry, I meant Sunday, if Hamels has to start.

68. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:51 pm

    Where’s the info on Lowe coming from?

69. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:54 pm

    Just to lighten the load I’m going to bring up the worst deal of recent Philly sports years: Justin Williams for Danni Markov.

70. Griffin Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:57 pm

    info on Lowe:

    http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/09/olney-on-the-fr.html

71. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 3:00 pm

    Cheers, anyone who pays Lowe $18m is off their rocker… Enter Ed Wade?

72. Griffin Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 3:02 pm

    I totally agree. I’m hearing that Wade is very high on Ben Sheets. Have fun with that Ed.

73. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 3:06 pm

    I think everyones high on Sheets but Wade’s going to fuel the fire of problems with FA contracts and offer him stupid money, same with Burnett. Those guys aren’t worth marquee money and that’s what their gonna get when the inks dry.

74. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    Burnett is a #2 and you see what they cost in a trade… Blanton is #3-4 and you saw what that cost you in a trade.. there is a big difference in their talent, and their prices

75. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    We got caught somewhere in between for Blanton and thats my critisism, he was a flashy name and we overpaid.

76. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 3:50 pm

    I respect your opinion cause i can tell that its well thought out.. I personally don’t think they overpaid for him beucase you look at what he would have cost you as a Free Agent… and he’s up around that $10 M, Carlos Silva range..

77. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 3:55 pm

    Yep as do I. That last reason is why is bias towards the draft/recruitment as more teams are having success there than they are with the overpriced veterans and I get scared in particular every year when we go shopping for a bullpen with so few controllable peices.

78. Don M Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 4:05 pm

    I hear you, but they are also the most affordable and the most readily-available in-house pieces anyway… some times, you get a JC Romero, and a Scott Eyre becuase they just needed a change of scenery.. it sounds crazy, but happens ALL THE TIME in sports… Gavin Floyd was NEVER going to have success here after his initial failures. I have no idea why, and it doesn’t make any sense to me, but that is just what happens

79. NJ Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 4:07 pm

    Floyd got the sporting version of shellshocked, it’s incredible Grienke has managed to bounce back from it in KC without being traded.

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