I'd like to see the Phillies sign Johan Santana. I'd like to see him throw more innings for us, for a million bucks or so, than he did in his last 3 years with the Mets, for about $70M. That's the kind of moral victory I can support. Anything that screws the Mets and their fans.

Rangers signed Tommy Hanson to a minor league deal this morning. That's exactly the sort of guy I'd love to see the Phillies bring in and let compete. Maybe he's shot, but if not you have a star off the scrap heap. It's easy for me to imagine him as a sort of Werth of pitchers.

It's certainly possible they tried to get him, or looked at it and concluded he's broken. This is the unknowable stuff, and that the signed the shortstop out of the independent leagues last week does suggest they're willing to stretch in search of talent.

smitty wrote:It would definitely be kewl if he was awesome. Him and Diekman. Maybe even Bastardo and DeFratus. Bullpen of the year.

And you didn't even mention Rosenberg and Paps!

Warszawa wrote:

smitty wrote:It would definitely be kewl if he was awesome. Him and Diekman. Maybe even Bastardo and DeFratus. Bullpen of the year.

And you didn't even mention Rosenberg and Paps!

Horst, Savery and some random Dominicans too!

Don't forget Brad "other than that how was the 7th inning, Mrs." Lincoln

Grotewold wrote:Don't forget Brad "other than that how was the 7th inning, Mrs." Lincoln

Fourth overall pick in 2006. Holy moley. Ahead of Kershaw and Lincecum among others.

OMG! Are bullpen is going to be lights out!

Marcc it down

smitty wrote:

Grotewold wrote:Don't forget Brad "other than that how was the 7th inning, Mrs." Lincoln

Fourth overall pick in 2006. Holy moley. Ahead of Kershaw and Lincecum among others.

This is the kind of guy that could pan out well for the Phillies. When he started, his WHIP was a lot better than when he was in the BP. He has skills. The TJ surgery set him back a bit and so probably did being in the Pirates and Jays organizations. They haven't been the best for developing arms.

Bullpens vary so much year to year that it wouldn't be shocking if essentially the same cast came back and performed much better. This is why it always infuriated me when Wade would sign guys who pitched 60 good innings to multi-year deals. (That said, I didn't hate the Adams deal because when he was right, he was worth well over what they're paying him, and I figured they would have done due diligence on his health.)

This group has talent. Diekman could be a stud. Rosenberg and DeFratus and Aumont all might be effective. Bastardo is a great 7th inning guy or an ok 8th inning guy. Lincoln and Gaudin were great guys to buy low on. I'm really fine with them going into the season with this set of relief arms.

now if we can just get to them with a lead.......

OMG LOL DEBbIE DOWNER

Zo says they're still in on Burnett.

I really hope they get him if for no other reason that at least one aspect of our team will be above league average.

Hamels; Lee; Burnett; MAG (The Cuban Missile Crises); and Roberto(The Big Fausto) Hernandez.

They COULD be awesome. Fausto was real good that time. The Cuban? Who knows? Not even the Phillies. But maybe no MLB hitter can figure him out and their managers all tell them that have some splaining to do about that one.

And the bullpen will be totally awesome trust me on this one.

The Red Sox won the WFC last year. They had a pitcher named Penny. Guess who is on the head of the Penny. Lincoln!!!!

Connect the damn dots y'all.

Tomorrow -- analysis of the offense.

Zolecki says Phils are in on Burnett according to "sources".

burnett will be one of the tests the phillies have to pass in order to switch me back to optimism, albeit one of the less significant ones.

i think the rational move consistent with trying to thread the rebuild/compete needle is to sign burnett, but for just this year. that should be achievable. give him $17-18 million plus plenty of incentives, and a no-trade except for pittsburg, baltimore, washington. if he goes elsewhere for just a year, i'll be angry. if he comes to philly for 2+ years of guaranteed big money, i'll be angry. if he goes elsewhere for two years of big money, fine, that's someone else's problem. if he is signed to pitch for the phils for just this season, i'll be very pleased. with health concerns surrounding mag and p-bone and biddle, the huge career inconsistency and age of camora, the age of lee, the loss of our other top prospect starters to injury, and the fact that martin should never be allowed to start, the current staff is too thin for much more than a 1 in 10 shot at the playoffs. at this point on the probability distribution, adding a 2 win pitcher makes a huge difference.

but to have real hope this season i will need to see lots of ruf and galvis (even if howard and rollins are miraculously awesome i want to see them getting lots of rest and the younger guys getting the chance to develop further), rupp as backup catcher most of the year, utley getting regular rest, papelbon and adams on short leashes, and martin being groomed for the backend of the pen and never gettting another start. without that, the old stars are going to fall apart long before the stretch run, and their replacements will have lost much of another year of big-league experience.

I'm hearing that the Phillies are still in on Burnett, according to Zolecki

I'll be mad if Burnett is willing to come here and it doesn't happen. I'd even go two years or surrender Jen Utley

Grotewold wrote:I'll be mad if Burnett is willing to come here and it doesn't happen. I'd even go two years.

he had weak seasons in 2010 and 2011. at his age, that makes the risk too high for my tastes.
i guess i could make an argument that having him through 2015 could let the team maintain the facade of a functional rotation if this year is a bust and they want to accelerate a rebuild by trading lee. that is theoretically a reasonable option, but one it's hard to imagine amaro both pursuing and doing so correctly.
so... no. two years will give me more concern than comfort if it happens.

I'd like to see us get one of these other starters out there because I'm feeling pretty bad about the rotation right now. Too many question marks. If we have to depend on 3 of the 4 from Kendrick, Pettibone, Mags, and Fausto, we'll probably end up with at least one black hole of a rotation spot unless we get a little lucky. 4th and 5th starters don't have to be great, but it's a place we could pick up some ground on other teams if we can land another solid starter. I actually feel better about the pen than the starters right now.