ESPN’s Buster Olney has announced on his blog the possibility of Aaron Rowand being swapped for some much needed bullpen help. For those of you who do not have InSider here is how the excerpt reads:
What Olney fails to mention is that the ‘perfect match’ is hardly that for the Phillies. I would jump at the chance for lefty stalwart Alan Embree or perennial stud Scott Linebrink. There could be possibilities for me to do cartwheels down 95 South if Cla Meridith was on the other end of that deal. After seeing Ryan Franklin and Arthur Rhodes appear in a combined 101 games too many last season, we would all like to see someone put ‘relief’ back into relief pitcher.
We wouldn’t even be sweating the prospect of this deal if some things were different over the winter. While solidifying the starting rotation, Rowand’s departure would then expose the front office’s failure of addressing the inexperience and shallowness of the bench . Despite his inexperience, Chris Coste came up with big hits last year to score runs in the deep innings of games. All the reports coming from the team show that Coste may not even make the team next year. Who will 2007’s Chris Coste be?
Moreover, with the proposed summation of acquiring Embree, Linebrink or Meridith, the Phillies have only Geoff Geary, Ryan Madson, Matt Smith(after Abreu trade) and Flash Gordon as their remaining full time relief pitchers from last season. With Ron Villone, Matt Herges and Vinne Chulk as the only serviceable free agents still available, it will be an interesting audition for the invitees during spring training.
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