the pinjockey

One thing Bradley is a tool about is wanting to play CF, isn't it? I wouldn't mind seeing him come back if Burrell or Abreu were moved, but not if he is going to whine about playing CF (IMO, if you have a Rowand in CF you don't move him from that position).

Baseball America has their Rule 5 preview up. Link Is it a good thing or a bad thing when your team has no one "worth a look". And from Stark's latest column: Ugh, decent starting point if plenty more is coming back, ugh, ugh, are you fucking kidding me?!?,when did Vazquez get decent again?, and Zito+CBP=Miltonesque HR totals. Another from Stark: I didn't realize that he was that likely to get moved. With the Furcal talks, looking like they are going to be desperate and overpay someone, why move a fairly cheap talent like Bradley?

I guess beggars can be choosers. They might have been able to pry Cano away from them before it got to full scale fire sale mode, doubtful but possible. But why would anyone give them a good, young major league player (who is better than Pierre right now anyway) at this point when you know they are going to get rid of him? According to Rotoworld: The Royals appear close to signing Todd Pratt to act as John Buck's backup. An agreement might already have been reached, but the Royals would want to wait until after the arbitration deadline to announce it. It's a tactic they're already using with Elmer Dessens. If they have a deal imminent/in place, the Phils have to offer arb to Pratt. He won't accept and come in as the 3rd/4th string C, and you might be able to get a low level prospect from KC if they aren't willing to give up their 2nd round pick.

If they wanted to actually discuss the issue, they should bring up Rudy Seanez since he would probably only cost 1/2-2/3 of what they paid Farnsworth. Since they only need a setup man, Seanez would be fine. But if they are shitting over it without bringing up anything, I doubt they are concerned about discussing the issue and just want to rant and rave. Or are they the type who aren't happy unless BJ Ryan was signed to pitch the 7th, Wagner for the 8th and Rivera to close?

Um, yeah. I am starting to find myself liking the Rollins deal. I thought 8 mil/yr. was a little much, but god damn. At least they would only be overpaying for three years, get some of his peak years and hope the market comes back to earth by that time.

Then move Wright, point remains the same that a bullpen can still be constructed. I wonder if Baltimore would have interest in Wright, to try and recapture what Leo did with him in Atlanta. And the Phillies released both Liriano and Perez, IIRC. Not signed Perez.

Providing the rotation stays remotely healthy they can move Chacon back to the pen, put him there with Small, give Colter Bean a shot and you have Rivera/Sturtze/Small/Chacon/Bean/Henn-Smith. Throw a Julio Santana level signing in there and you have a bullpen. Note: I don't mind the Farnsworth signing. Not being a Cubs fan, I don't have any horror stories of him. But a bullpen can be put together without him.

Has there been any talk about Sammy Sosa going anywhere? If he is willing to go somewhere on the cheap, he would still make for a solid platoon player (.288/.370/.471 vs. lefties last year, just never let him see a righty) and provide some pop off the bench. And I can't see him causing too many problems, when he is only 12 HRs away from 600. I would think he'll at least want to limp there before becoming a distraction.

I can live with some postseason suck, as long as he is a key component in getting them to the playoffs. I would have preferred Hoffman though, especially after going to three years. I have more faith in him holding up, plus Hell's Bells with the big bell in the background would have kicked so much ass. I am concerned about the number of appearances/innings pitched Gordon has had the last couple years. Combine that with Cholly's tendency to ride a reliever or two (dear god, please let Ryan Madson's arm survive the year) and that could spell disaster. Hopefully they don't think that now they have Gordon, they can afford to not offer arb to Ugie.

Phillies signed Sal Fasano to a 1yr/$425k deal. I guess Ruiz is not getting a shot at the backup job. Fasano has some pop in his bat, so there is a some upside to this. Not thrilled with the fact he only threw out 7 of 44 base stealers lsat year. I love this shit spewed by Amaro, though. "He's a winning player which is the kind of character we are trying to bring to our big club." Here is his history: Royals (1996-99, 2001) - Ah yes, the winning tradition of the late 90s KC Royals. Oakland Athletics (2000-01) - 91-70 (127 ABs) in 2000, 102-60 (21 ABs) in 2001 Colorado Rockies (2001) - 73-89 (63 ABs) Anaheim Angels (2002) - He had a whole 1 AB in 2 games for them. Orioles (2005) - 74-88 (160 ABs)

Hearing the report again, they said it was the NYT reporting that the deal was close to being finalized, not ESPN itself. With that I would put it back to being a rumor as much as anything else in the thread is. Back to the Abreu-Manny deal for a second. I am hating the idea that they only want to trade Abreu for a top of the rotation starter. If they are willing to trade Abreu, they need to trade him in ANY deal that makes them better. Pitching or hitting returning. There is no such thing as scoring too many runs. If they aren't willing to deal him, then pull him off the market period.

Yeah, I don't see Boston throwing in the moon just to get rid of Manny. The Mets will cave in eventually. ESPNnews reporting a deal being finalized, the Anna Benson Show goes to Baltimore for Jorge Julio.

They get a lot more pop in the bat with Manny, without sacrificing any OBP. Plus it would balance the heart of the lineup with lefties and righties, Utley-Manny-Howard-Burrell. I would like to see some money or a prospect (coughShoppachcough) come back, but in general I like Manny-Abreu.

I have concerns about paying any of the FA class of closers what they are looking for, not to mention losing a 1st round pick for them. Thinking about it today, I'd love to see them try and pry Mike MacDougal away from KC. He is entering his arb. eligible years and might get too expensive for them in a hurry, since he will be getting the saves and lord knows cheap saves = $$$.

IIRC, there have been some rumblings that they do have a salary cap based on their revenue as part of the stadium contract. I'll have to dig around to find that, but regardless to say "grow some balls" is idiotic. Throwing around long term contracts isn't ballsy, it's moronic. They get killed now for having Lieby, Bell, Abreu and Burrell in high money long term deals. Plus they will still be spending over $90 million dollars. In the real world (read: not Red Sox, Yankees, Mets), that is big spending.

Gather round boys and girls, it's time for today's BOBBY ABREU RUMOR....... :holds envelope: Let's see what it is today. :opens envelope: ....Bobby Abreu for Jason Schmidt Today's entry was submitted by a Mr. Howard Eskin from Philadelphia, PA. Thank you Mr. Eskin for your entry. Thankfully, given this entrants history we feel safe in disregarding this rumor.

Santana signing isn't a bad deal. Last year his K rate jumped to 10.4/9 from a previous career high of 7.2/9. If it was due to something he learned in the minors, then you have a solid bullpen arm. If it was a fluke then for 800K you can just dump him. Hell, if you stock up enough middle relievers, at least one should jump out like Fultz last year.

Michaels for Duncan and Colter Bean has been my dream scenario for a JMike trade. Bean adds another bullpen arm, with Madson, Fultz, Lopez, Geary, Tejeda and that is decent if unspectacular.

Would you offer Urbina arb? Since he made $4 mil last year, he likely wouldn't cost more than $4.5 mil after arb (his terrible first couple weeks with the Phils lit up his ERA enough for the season he won't command a huge raise) and I am sure there is some way to get out of his deal if he is in prison. So if he is acquitted, you have a closer at a steal in this market.

Now if only we could get a Bell replacement instead of Bell insurance. Now I just find myself hoping he doesn't sign Gordon until we at least see if the Yankees offer arbitration. No need to rush into it and lose a 1st rounder if they don't have to.

One thing it appears that Gillick was passed down from Ed Wade is a love of light hitting "ez"-es, as the Phils signed Abraham Nunez to a two year, $3.3 million deal. I don't see how Matt Kata or Danny Sandoval could be any worse for less money. I guess since they have quality backups in the OF (Michaels and Victorino), they are shooting for the worst infield backups in the league (Tomassssssss Perezzzzzzz, Nunez).

The Orioles would learn in a hurry what kind of player Abreu is when he stays at second instead of going for a triple so he can "pad his doubles stats" (the greatest quote in the history of quotes).

The OBP is just too terrible (.317 this year, .315 career) considering that they would move Abreu (.405 this year, .411 career). You just can not give up a hundred points of OBP like that, especially since as of now Rowand is their CF meaning a huge OBP drop from the Lofton/Michaels platoon last year. People seem to forget that the Phils were among the top 6 (may have been top 3 but I am not sure) in production from CF. That drop alone is survivable, but to remove two huge chunks from last year's offense can not work.

I'd rather do Abreu for Bedard straight up, to hell with taking back Gibbons. Of course, either way that would be a terrible deal. I like Bedard and he could be the foundation of an Abreu deal, but there needs to be some quality coming with him.

4yr/$43 mil or 5yr/$50 mil? That is insane. Why would the Mets even begin to think of a 5th year on that deal? I hope that no one gets stupid enough to blame the Phillies for losing him to this deal, I won't hold my breath though. Gonzalez, Haigwood, and two draft picks in the span of a week. This time next year the Phils might have a legitimate farm system.