Grotewold wrote:The only rumored suitor for him that I've ever heard that makes sense is the Giants, but it sounds like they've got enough of their own problems with escalating contracts (and, possibly, Beltran).

PhillieMooDo wrote:I think keeping Jimmy around is an absolute must for Rube. He's gonna have to make it work, and with the "youth infusion" in the outfield, he can afford to keep Jimmy for 3 years (maybe have to add a 4th year option).

Isn't next season Polanco's last of his contract? Look to get younger/upgrade there, and keep Jimmy, Chase, and Ryan here for life.

Grotewold wrote:

PhillieMooDo wrote:I think keeping Jimmy around is an absolute must for Rube. He's gonna have to make it work, and with the "youth infusion" in the outfield, he can afford to keep Jimmy for 3 years (maybe have to add a 4th year option).

Isn't next season Polanco's last of his contract? Look to get younger/upgrade there, and keep Jimmy, Chase, and Ryan here for life.

The other wild card is Victorino (beyond 2012). If we can go cheap at set-up RP (and maybe even closer) and 3B, Rube should be able to make it all work.

jamiethekiller wrote:i can still see madson taking a lesser deal to stay in philly.

stevelxa476 wrote:

jamiethekiller wrote:i can still see madson taking a lesser deal to stay in philly.

Madson yes, Boras no.

stevelxa476 wrote:

jamiethekiller wrote:i can still see madson taking a lesser deal to stay in philly.

Madson yes, Boras no.

Matt Stairs hit 265 home runs in his career, which is one heck of a power-hitting career. That's more than Robin Yount hit, for instance. (or, if you want to impress your friends, say it's more than Ty Cobb and Home Run Baker hit COMBINED). He only hit one in the postseason … but it was a memorable one. It was Game 4 of the 2008 National League Championship Series. The Phillies led the series two games to one, but the Dodgers had just blasted them in Game 3 and the score was tied. The series was very much up in the air. Jonathan Broxton came in to pitch. Broxton threw about a million miles per hour then.

Matt Stairs stepped to the plate. It wasn't exactly a Mighty Casey moment. It would not even be right to call this a matchup of "power against power," like announcers often do. Stairs was 40 then. He was not a great fastball hitter anymore. He had hit two home runs for the Phillies after they traded for him at the end of August.

But Stairs was smart, and he knew how to load up, and he knew why he was sent to the plate. He did what he knew how to do: He swung hard, and he swung early. The ball sailed over the right field wall.

"Victory," he said after the game.

Call it mind over physiology, a belief in the practices that have brought them to this level, but hitters are just now digesting the news that their time-honored on-deck routines are wrong. Scientific research makes clear that the more weight you swing in the on-deck circle, the slower your swing in the batter's box. The slower the swing, the harder it is to catch up to searing fastballs and do what's considered the toughest task in sports: get a base hit.

What's up, Doc?

As long as we're pounding on this "wins" topic, here's another guy whose win total isn't exactly misleading: Roy Halladay.

Until Halladay showed up in Philadelphia last year, the Phillies hadn't had a 20-game winner in almost 30 years (since Steve Carlton, 1982) and hadn't had a right-hander win 20 in more than 50 years (since Robin Roberts, 1955).

But now, unless the Phillies get shut out in every one of his last dozen starts, Halladay is on pace to win 20 back-to-back -- in his first two seasons with a new team.

So how rare is that? Thanks for asking.

• In the free-agent era, just two other pitchers (rookies not included) have won 20 in their first two seasons after changing employers: Roger Clemens (1997-98 Blue Jays) and Tommy John (1979-80 Yankees). (Technicality alert: Curt Schilling and Stewart did it in their first FULL seasons with the Diamondbacks and A's, but the judges have ruled them ineligible. Sorry.)

• Last pitcher to do it after changing LEAGUES: John (after leaving the Dodgers to join the Yankees).

• Who's the last pitcher to win 20 in his first two seasons with the Phillies? Who else but Rubber-Winged Gus Weyhing, in 1892-93? If you're getting the impression this doesn't happen EVERY century, you've caught our drift.

jamiethekiller wrote:i can still see madson taking a lesser deal to stay in philly.