Categories: Posts

Odds And Ends: Mathieson, Arbitration, K-Rod

A couple old notes to get us up to speed:

The Phillies non-tendered pitcher Scott Mathieson, then re-signed him to a minor league contract.

Mathieson had no options remaining and was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Most of us originally thought Mathieson, 24, was finished as a Phillie, but he’ll try and rebound for 2010, maybe late 2009. The righty — who started eight games in the summer of 2006 for the Phils — always had great stuff, and most believed he could be a successful late-innings reliver. There’s still a chance.

The Phillies re-signed Eric Bruntlett and Clay Condrey to one-year contracts.

Both avoided arbitration with these deals. Bruntlett will make $800K, and Condrey will make $650K. (Check out my offseason plan and see what I figured in 2009 money for Bruntlett and Condrey.) Good moves, too. Both were integral to the Phils success in 2008, and both in very overlooked roles. Bruntlett played almost everywhere, while Condrey simply turned in a couple big performances for a long man.

New Mets’ closer Francisco Rodriguez says they’re the “team to beat” in 2009.

Alright, go ahead and be the team to beat. Seriously, this is just getting ridiculous now.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.