And Rube's off-season acquisitions begin.

i'd rather have justin than his brother, just sayin'

smitty wrote:It's a shame the Phillies get stuck with dead weight contracts. They should only make great signings like Jason Bay or that Lackey guy or Zito or Rowand or blah blah blah.

All teams, including (or maybe especially) teams that win WFCs and stuff, have dead weight on their payrolls. It's the cost of building winning teams.

The Giants won 2 World Series with Aubrey Huff and Barry Zito on their books. You gotta risk it to get the biscuit.

ek wrote:Mini mart signed to minor league deal

taking the back page from the Eagles

MLB Network is doing 1993 in its "Seasons" show right now. They keep interviewing Al Leiter, who suddenly really seems to resemble (to me anyway) Tug McGraw in his voice, eyes, and manner. I don't think two still photos compared would have them looking especially alike, but on video Leiter's resemblance to McGraw on video is spooky.

^i've thought this for a while. wondered if i was the only one.

1 wrote:^i've thought this for a while. wondered if i was the only one.

Glad I got some backing on this. I was prepared to be called all kinds of names.

pacino wrote:i'd rather have justin than his brother, just sayin'

i'd rather have both. ideally, some combo of kendrick, may, schierholtz/nix, and a reliever for justin. if that doesn't work, switch out some of those for gillies and/or valle. given the crappy deal they made for young, that should be enough return to satisfy the dbacks (who can flip some of it for the infielder they want). then we have
lineup=rollins,bj,utley,justin,howard/ruf/brown,asche,chooch
bench=kratz,frandsen,galvis,brown/ruf/howard,mayberry
starters=hamels,halladay,lee,worly,cloyd (pettibone)
pen=papelbon,bastardo,myers,aumont,defrastus,savery, (pettibone) in the pen.

significant youth injection. nice left/right balance, in the lineup and on the bench (with savery as the extra lh bat). ruf gives howard's ankle some rest as well as sparing brown from tough lefties. frandsen keeps asche away from some lefties, while galvis stays around to give jimmy and chase enough rest to keep them fresh, and jberry can spell the uptons. i'll take my chances on rushing biddle to the bigs if a starter goes down and/or cloyd/pettibone isn't ready. trading kendrick and nix (and/or schierholtz) helps balance the budget near the threshold after acquiring the uptons, and could return another backup starter or bullpen arm.

"Here, I filled up a bag full of dogshit from my backyard. Can I trade it to you for your 3 series?"

yeah, probably more like Brown, Asche, Galvis & May -- and that probably wouldn't even get it done.

Wheels Tupay wrote:Where are we at for Pitchers/catchers reporting countdown?

92 days, if Aces and Chooches report on Feb. 12.

phillychuck wrote:Upton has averaged 3.8 WAR (fangraphs) over the last 3 years, although last year was the worst of the three. At his peak in 2008 he was a 5-WAR player. He's 28 years old beginning the season next year. Assuming WAR are worth around 4.5 M$ each, we can probably say over the course of a 5-year contract he'd provide something between 15-20 WAR. So, over the next 5 years, he's probably worth something between $75M and $100M. That's not including the value of the lost draft pick, but also not including the likely increase in the value of WAR. He's also basically an average defensive CF statistically, and his clutch performance has been pretty consistently negative.

Not quite -- he was dominant in the 2008 ALDS and ALCS, and very productive (.902 OPS in September) down the stretch this year when the Rays made a strong push. Last year in that miracle run, 1.038 OPS.

We already signed MiniMart. What else is there left to do?

ek wrote:Mini mart signed to minor league deal

FFS. CUT BAIT! there has to be any number of stiffs that can play SS for the iron pigs. I don't want this guy anywhere near us - because you know he'll be back on the Phillies at some point.

Grotewold wrote:

phillychuck wrote:Upton has averaged 3.8 WAR (fangraphs) over the last 3 years, although last year was the worst of the three. At his peak in 2008 he was a 5-WAR player. He's 28 years old beginning the season next year. Assuming WAR are worth around 4.5 M$ each, we can probably say over the course of a 5-year contract he'd provide something between 15-20 WAR. So, over the next 5 years, he's probably worth something between $75M and $100M. That's not including the value of the lost draft pick, but also not including the likely increase in the value of WAR. He's also basically an average defensive CF statistically, and his clutch performance has been pretty consistently negative.

Not quite -- he was dominant in the 2008 ALDS and ALCS, and very productive (.902 OPS in September) down the stretch this year when the Rays made a strong push. Last year in that miracle run, 1.038 OPS.

2008 was a long time ago, grotes

Woody wrote:2008 was a long time ago, grotes

Olney says we're talking to SHITASS CODY ROSS

would like. want a clause that pitchers can bean him in ST for a week straigh in contract

Olney also says we're OK with Hamilton's $ demands, just not his years

Eem wrote:Olney says we're talking to SHITASS CODY ROSS

GrizzledVeteran's home opener attendance streak in peril