Delaying clocks is sometimes a good thing. But I think they brought up Nola at the right time. If he turns out to be good they'll probably extend him anyway. Nola was ready to go. More minor league time could have hurt his progress.

I guess I view it like Luhnow would if he were running this team: why sacrifice another year of control when you're going to be terrible the next two years anyway? What's the difference between 95 losses vs 100: you're still bad either way.

Hate short term thinking in any sport, and that's what this appears to be.

PSUEagle wrote:I guess I view it like Luhnow would if he were running this team: why sacrifice another year of control when you're going to be terrible the next two years anyway? What's the difference between 95 losses vs 100: you're still bad either way.

Hate short term thinking in any sport, and that's what this appears to be.

they delayed his clock by a year. there was no way they could keep him in the minors until that point next season.

But in the even LONGER term, if the team consistently (continued to) hold back guys who are obviously ML ready, it would damage their rep amongst players. And there's a human aspect, too. It's possible that they set a timetable based on goals for Nola, and if he reached them, you really couldn't hold him back. All in all, not the worst thing in the world. Lets him go into spring next year with lots of confidence and allows him to use spring as a time to work on stuff against ML hitters instead of it being a tryout.

They have a chance to be decent as early as next season. Don't want to end up like the Nats with their loser mentality. Next thing you know, Giles and Franco will be ducking it out in the dugout.

Spend some dough in a smart way. Maybe add a Cuban and an Aruban. I think they have a decent chance of having a pretty good pitching staff next season. Franco and Altherrr look like a nice start. Add in Odubal and maybe a FA and you have the beginnings of a good lineup.

Thanks for the responses everyone: appreciate hearing different opinions.

You're a smart guy PSU E.

The team also doesn't lack for money. By the time Nola's ready for a salary bump, they're going to have a pretty wide open payroll.

He's well short of super two and controllable until 2021. More importantly, he was ready. Alot of teams were active in promoting prospects this year - contending and non-contending

Phillies made it official that they're not picking up CLIFF LEE's option.

ReadingPhilly wrote:

PSUEagle wrote:I guess I view it like Luhnow would if he were running this team: why sacrifice another year of control when you're going to be terrible the next two years anyway? What's the difference between 95 losses vs 100: you're still bad either way.

Hate short term thinking in any sport, and that's what this appears to be.

they delayed his clock by a year. there was no way they could keep him in the minors until that point next season.

Yeah, I agree with you. He was ready early this season and probably could've been ready to go on the opening day roster. They waited until July to delay his clock one year and avoid super 2 status. There was no way they could wait until next May. At some point, having a guy just dominate the minors hinders his long term development too.

Altherr (and Cord Sandberg) won a minor league Gold Glove

ReadingPhilly wrote:

PSUEagle wrote:I guess I view it like Luhnow would if he were running this team: why sacrifice another year of control when you're going to be terrible the next two years anyway? What's the difference between 95 losses vs 100: you're still bad either way.

Hate short term thinking in any sport, and that's what this appears to be.

they delayed his clock by a year. there was no way they could keep him in the minors until that point next season.

IMO, there's also a concern that a young pitcher can stagnate by not being challenged.

Besides, this way of thinking is flawed when applied to your particular approach. You delay the clock by waiting until June to promote--not by waiting an extra year. At some point, you need the kid to learn how to pitch to ML hitters. The longer that you wait to put him into that role, the longer it'll be before he's a reliable spot in your rotation.

Not to mention that there's incredible value to the Phillies in knowing that Nola can handle himself at the ML level. You don't know that until you actually see it, no matter how "sure thing" a prospect is.

Also, his ceiling is "only" that of a #2 starting pitcher who won't cost as much in arb as he would if he was a solid #1 type pitcher. You aren't going to be breaking the bank for Nola even if you have to eventually pay him what he is worth. I don't think it is worth delaying his development to keep him down.

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:Phillies made it official that they're not picking up CLIFF LEE's option.

whatever

On this day in 2007, shit was getting real

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI200709280.shtml

woah. they actually beat tim redding.

my cousin mose wrote:On this day in 2007, #$!&@ was getting real

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI200709280.shtml

Good lord, and I thought that the 2015 Phillies lineups were bad:

D'Angelo Jimenez SS 4 0 1 0 0 2 4 .248 .382 .376 .758 20 14 -0.076 0.76 0.005 -0.081 -0.3 4 0 2B
Ronnie Belliard 2B 4 0 1 0 0 1 4 .288 .331 .425 .757 18 12 -0.025 0.63 0.024 -0.049 -0.5 2 3
Ryan Zimmerman 3B 4 0 0 0 0 3 4 .266 .327 .457 .784 19 14 -0.060 0.59 0.000 -0.060 -1.0 1 0
Austin Kearns RF 3 0 0 0 0 2 4 .265 .355 .412 .767 15 10 -0.057 0.59 0.003 -0.061 -0.2 4 0 HBP
Wily Mo Pena LF 3 0 1 0 1 1 4 .256 .324 .448 .772 14 8 0.042 0.62 0.065 -0.024 0.4 2 0
Tony Batista 1B 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 .260 .350 .350 .700 13 9 -0.078 0.81 0.000 -0.078 -1.2 3 0
Jesus Flores C 4 0 1 0 0 2 4 .247 .309 .365 .674 16 10 -0.015 0.81 0.037 -0.052 -0.5 6 1
Justin Maxwell CF 3 0 2 0 0 1 3 .304 .333 .565 .899 9 7 0.080 1.10 0.093 -0.013 0.7 2 0
Tim Redding P 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 .071 .071 .107 .179 4 4 -0.190 2.06 0.000 -0.190 -1.9 0 1 GDP
Jonathan Albaladejo P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.00 0.000 0.000 0.0 0 0
Arnie Munoz P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.00 0.000 0.000 0.0 0 0
Chris Schroder P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0.000 0.00 0.000 0.000 0.0 0 0
Nook Logan PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .262 .302 .343 .645 4 3 -0.004 0.16 0.000 -0.004 -0.3
Jesus Colome P

at least they weren't strangling each other

I think the point several have made about Nola meeting organizational criteria is a good one: I just assumed that they rushed him up (he was in AA I believe) but he's obviously held his own in the majors. It's probably important to reward young players when they play well in the minors: didn't really think about that TBH.