So pretty much it's mostly luck and the Phils had their turn with the drafting of Utley, Hamels, Burrell, Howard, Madson, Rollins in time to form that core. Obviously the odds aren't in your favor in having prospects pan out the way the Phillies prospects did for their run, and who knows when that will happen again.

Grotewold wrote:Is a Castellanos deal feasible, and can he play RF? (Not that it's necessary, but it'd be nice to leave Dom alone.)

Anything else of ours they might need?

His outfield defense is a work in progress. Trying to work his way up to average. That's better than we have right now. He was a high school SS and he played 3B in the minors. They moved him to the outfield because Cabrera is the big club's 3Bman. But Castellanos may not be a 3Bman anyway.

They are second in runs scored per game and third in runs allowed per game but they are four games under their pythag. So the might need some leadership and moxie so Michael Young looks like a good fit.

Barry Jive wrote:he's a good backup catcher

He's a starting caliber player, especially with regular at bats. 17 home runs in 280 at bats and great pitch framing is not the MO of backup catchers.

smitty wrote:

Grotewold wrote:Is a Castellanos deal feasible, and can he play RF? (Not that it's necessary, but it'd be nice to leave Dom alone.)

Anything else of ours they might need?

His outfield defense is a work in progress. Trying to work his way up to average. That's better than we have right now. He was a high school SS and he played 3B in the minors. They moved him to the outfield because Cabrera is the big club's 3Bman. But Castellanos may not be a 3Bman anyway.

They are second in runs scored per game and third in runs allowed per game but they are four games under their pythag. So the might need some leadership and moxie so Michael Young looks like a good fit.

Thanks

I also like that his name reminds me of The Wire season two

Roger Dorn wrote:So pretty much it's mostly luck and the Phils had their turn with the drafting of Utley, Hamels, Burrell, Howard, Madson, Rollins in time to form that core. Obviously the odds aren't in your favor in having prospects pan out the way the Phillies prospects did for their run, and who knows when that will happen again.

It's only "mostly luck" if you believe that instruction and development philosophy have nothing to do with it, and that all outcomes are predestined.

I think getting a Ryan Howard in the fourth round was pretty lucky, but I'm not sure he would have thrived the way he did for his first five years if he'd been rushed, traded, or jerked around with respect to position. Similarly, Montero might have been fine if he'd stayed in the Yankee system. Who knows?

What McNeal is suggesting strikes me as brilliant. It's risky for sure, but if viable it's probably the fastest way to get competitive again.

I could maybe see paying all of Lee's salary this year, plus half of what's remaining as making sense from the Phils' perspective. That would open up the bidding to mid market teams who may be at or near payroll limit this year, but have money coming off the books so they can fit him next season. Plus he's an ace who would make a huge impact on a pennant race. I think throwing in that money would significantly increase return to us (vs pitching in nothing and only having cash rich teams interested)

Don't see it realistic to think Rube could/would eat most of Pap's deal and get something good. Especially with how Pap's stuff has diminished

All that being said, is Lee + cash really going to have significantly more trade value than J Upton? This is why I err on the side of keeping him. Keep trying to shuffle the deck and win now, keep fan interest (including mine), build around Hamels/Lee/Kendirk(really? really)/Pettibone/Biddle

Matt Gelb ‏@magelb 7m
When asked if he would move Ryan Howard from cleanup, Charlie Manuel said, "What the [bleep] are you getting at? Who's gonna hit there?"

The Nightman Cometh wrote:

Barry Jive wrote:he's a good backup catcher

He's a starting caliber player, especially with regular at bats. 17 home runs in 280 at bats and great pitch framing is not the MO of backup catchers.

I'm glad he's played well for the Phillies. Maybe you're right but it's a small sample to consider him capable of being a good starter for a full season (which obviously he won't be, since he's out 6 to 8 weeks). He'd be a good low-budget option for a team with a young catcher breaking into the league or maybe in a platoon. He's 33 years old though and his OBP as a Phillie is .298.

Doll Is Mine wrote:Matt Gelb ‏@magelb 7m
When asked if he would move Ryan Howard from cleanup, Charlie Manuel said, "What the [bleep] are you getting at? Who's gonna hit there?"

Well, TBF, Howard isn't hitting there. More like occupying space.

14-5 against the Mets and Marlins, 17-30 against everyone else. A .362 winning % would make them the 3rd-worst team in baseball

as soon as ruiz and utley are back we're a playoff caliber team

Just curious if anybody heard Ruben on his weekly GM show with Jim Jackson pre-game tonight..

Wondering what excuses if any he may have had or if any news came out of it.

Matt Gelb ‏@magelb
Does Charlie Manuel ever wonder if his team is simply not good enough?

"For about the last nine years, I would never say something like that," Manuel said. "First of all, if we have the right attitude and we play the game right and love to play and all that, I think we can win more games than you could ever think we could. I would never ever say that. I think that we keep going and keep trying to grind it out and then we’ll see what kind of players we've got as far as mental toughness and hard nosed and things like that. You can go a long way sometimes just by wanting to play and playing right."

Out. of. touch.

Grotewold wrote:[
You've been reminding us of your prescience almost daily

No, I haven't.

burn

dajafi wrote:
If Amaro deserves credit for anything, it's avoiding the big mistake of commission: overpaying for Upton or Hamilton or anybody else whom we'd have, and owe tens of millions to, instead of Crawford. Most of the moves were decent gambles. None of them worked. They all helped preserve the team's freedom of action at this point.
.

Agree totally with the first part. He's overpaid in money and years a few times in recent years, but he didn't do that this offseason. I'm not sure I agree totally with the second part because so many of the moves were for players that either were never any good or were past the point where it could be reasonably expected for them to be good. I actually thought Adams was an excellent gamble if he was healthy, but that didn't turn out too well either.

Doll Is Mine wrote:Matt Gelb ‏@magelb
Does Charlie Manuel ever wonder if his team is simply not good enough?

"For about the last nine years, I would never say something like that," Manuel said. "First of all, if we have the right attitude and we play the game right and love to play and all that, I think we can win more games than you could ever think we could. I would never ever say that. I think that we keep going and keep trying to grind it out and then we’ll see what kind of players we've got as far as mental toughness and hard nosed and things like that. You can go a long way sometimes just by wanting to play and playing right."

Out. of. touch.

It's code speak. He's either saying they're not talented enough or there's a buncha vags on the team.

(actually, he's just protecting his players)

lannan at reading last night - 7 ip, 7 h, 2 er, bb, k

It would be great if Ruben were possessed by a demon and started speaking in tongues at a press conference.

Doll Is Mine wrote:Matt Gelb ‏@magelb
Does Charlie Manuel ever wonder if his team is simply not good enough?

"For about the last nine years, I would never say something like that," Manuel said. "First of all, if we have the right attitude and we play the game right and love to play and all that, I think we can win more games than you could ever think we could. I would never ever say that. I think that we keep going and keep trying to grind it out and then we’ll see what kind of players we've got as far as mental toughness and hard nosed and things like that. You can go a long way sometimes just by wanting to play and playing right."

Out. of. touch.

Come on... what's he supposed to say there? My team is full of below-average talent?