Grotewold wrote:Real Ken on trade possibilities

No word of Chase in there.

stevemc wrote:Buster Olney has really been taking his shots at the Phillies on his twitter. Wonder if he's getting some sort of smug shoulder.

Or it's an easy way to seek cred with the online cool kids.

Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN)

11/4/14, 6:38 AM
Maybe the most comprehensive breakdown of the Phillies' offseason strategy you can find anywhere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evHTbyLKiWE

dajafi wrote:

stevemc wrote:Buster Olney has really been taking his shots at the Phillies on his twitter. Wonder if he's getting some sort of smug shoulder.

Or it's an easy way to seek cred with the online cool kids.

buster needs approval from Crashburn???

pacino wrote:

dajafi wrote:

stevemc wrote:Buster Olney has really been taking his shots at the Phillies on his twitter. Wonder if he's getting some sort of smug shoulder.

Or it's an easy way to seek cred with the online cool kids.

buster needs approval from Crashburn???

Crashburn has become oddly pro-front office. I was thinking more like the BP kids, that idiot Cameron, et al.

"Oddly" or "calculatingly?"

Murphcheese discusses the FA pitching targets

Morrow, Masterson, Brett Anderson, Franklin Morales and ol friend Gavin Floyd are the five he says we should go after

n n n n n

First 3 are absolutely the kind of pitcher they should sign.

Morrow is 30 and masterson is 29. If they don't plan on competing the next two seasons there is no point in signing them. I didn't realize anderson was only 26, that could work.

I'm not sure it's about finding guys who could be contributors to the next contending team so much as 1) securing assets they might be able to flip at the deadline or next winter, and 2) filling out the roster with semi-capable guys who won't get their brains beaten in every time they take the field.

exactly. they got two decent prospects for fausto. if one of those guys takes off in the first half, send them on their way.

dajafi wrote:I'm not sure it's about finding guys who could be contributors to the next contending team so much as 1) securing assets they might be able to flip at the deadline or next winter, and 2) filling out the roster with semi-capable guys who won't get their brains beaten in every time they take the field.

The cubs model the last few years...

ReadingPhilly wrote:First 3 are absolutely the kind of pitcher they should sign.

Yep, high-upside "if they stay healthy" types that will either net you a prospect or two in July, and if they suck, you're already bad, so who cares.

Problem is that a lot of other teams have as much or more motivation to sign guys like that. If you're, say, the Pirates, with your magic pitching coach and great defense, and Masterson could be the guy who gets you back into the playoffs, your pillow offer is likely to be more appealing than the Phillies' even if the Phils offer two million more for 2015. With a better season next year, he's set up for a bigger multi-year deal next winter.

Or some team will give him a Phil Hughes like deal that'll either be a waste or a huge bargain. That wouldn't be the Phils either.

Would any of those guys cost us a pick?

Nah. Any of them who got a QO probably would accept it. And Masterson, the only one you could maybe make a case for (going into the year he was considered about on the same level as Shields), was traded midseason so the Cardinals can't make the offer anyway.

Heyman says Phils are in big on Tomas and that he is Ruthian in his prodigious homeruns (and oh by the way - he'll cost $100MM)

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon ... -big-bucks

let's do this

Getting that feeling that this can only end in complete disaster.