06/07 Phillies Offseason Thread

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

vOrpMYGODPATBURRELL!

You should start going to meetings.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Phillies phodder

The Mets made a serious run at Garcia before the Phillies landed him from the White Sox on Wednesday night. The Mets couldn't come up with the young pitching the White Sox were looking for. The acquisition of Garcia has turned Jon Lieber into trade bait as the Phils trawl for relief help. "With the way starting pitching is, teams will be lining up for Jon Lieber at $7.5 million," one front-office man said. The Pirates, Brewers, Rangers and Padres all left the winter meetings with interest in Lieber, but the field could grow as the number of available starters shrinks... . The Phils like lefthanded-hitting Nationals outfielder Ryan Church but are reluctant to part with Ryan Madson. Veteran free agent Steve Finley might be worth keeping an eye on as the Phils continue to look for a part-time, lefthanded-hitting outfielder to replace David Dellucci... . The honors keep stacking up for Ryan Howard. The Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America has named him the winner of its annual Ted Williams Award, given to the game's outstanding hitter. The award will be presented Jan. 11, at the chapter's 68th annual dinner. Howard was the NL rookie of the year in 2005 and was named the NL's most valuable player, the Sporting News player of the year, the Hank Aaron Award winner, the Players Choice player of the year, and the Japan All-Star Series MVP last season. Howard led the majors in homers (58) and RBIs (149) while hitting .313 in 2006... . Sweeny Murti, who covers the Yankees for WFAN radio in New York, is the lead candidate to become the Phillies' new pregame and postgame host on radio broadcasts. Murti, talented and likable, is a native of the Harrisburg area.

Stole him from the Mets.

[NGM]

Take that Feva and Die-Hard.  Keep your stupid NL East pennants.

[BigEd76]

Sielski:

There is a myth about Pat Burrell — that the beleaguered slugger can't offer Ryan Howard adequate protection in the Phillies' lineup. This myth is why the Phillies' pursuit of free-agent Alfonso Soriano generated so much excitement among their fans.

After all, the logic goes, if Burrell, with his looping swing and his terrible average with runners in scoring position, hits behind him, Howard will never come close to repeating what he did last season: a .313 batting average, 58 home runs and 149 RBIs.

Except ...

Howard had 445 at-bats last season with someone other than Burrell — David Bell, Mike Lieberthal, Aaron Rowand, David Dellucci and Jeff Conine, among others — hitting behind him. He hit .317 with 45 home runs and 106 RBIs in those situations.

In his 136 at-bats with Burrell on deck, Howard hit .304 with 13 home runs and 43 RBIs.

Projecting those statistics over 445 at-bats, he would have homered 43 times and driven in 141 runs.

So: .304-43-141 with Burrell as protection, .317-45-106 with another Phillie as protection.

Forget the myth, then. Here's the truth: The batter behind Howard hardly affected his production, and hardly will.

[MDS]

No one is doubting that. It's that whoever is hitting behind Howard sucks balls. And those stats are sort of misleading, considering the different attention Howard got over the last month of the season, and the increased pressure opposing teams put on that player hitting behind Howard.

[Seabiscuit36]

Drabek among non-roster invitees to Phillies spring training
By SCOTT LAUBER, The News Journal

Posted Monday, December 11, 2006 at 3:39 pm
Nineteen players who aren't on the Phillies' 40-man roster, including 2006 first-round draft pick Kyle Drabek, have been invited to the major-league portion of the team's spring training.

Drabek and two fellow pitching prospects, right-handed reliever Joe Bisenius and lefty starter J.A. Happ, highlight the list of non-roster invitees, who must report to Clearwater, Fla., beginning Feb. 15.

Also receiving his first invite is speedy outfielder Greg Golson, the Phillies' first-round pick in 2004. Golson batted a combined .233 with 13 home runs, 48 RBIs and 30 stolen bases between Class A Lakewood and Class A Clearwater last season.

Phillies general manager Pat Gillick said Happ and Bisenius could see time in the majors next season. Happ, 24, went 10-9 with a 2.69 ERA last season between Clearwater, Class AA Reading and Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Bisenius, 24, posted a 2.25 ERA in 51 games with Clearwater and Reading.

Also among the non-roster invitees are right-handed pitchers Ryan Cameron, Kane Davis John Ennis and Jeff Farnsworth, lefties Brian Mazone and Jim Crowell, catchers Jason Jaramillo, Dusty Wathan, Tim Gradoville, Jason Hill and Lou Marson, infielders Randall Simon, Brennan King and Andrew Beattie and outfielder Ron Calloway.

[DH]

They should invite Doug Drabek too.

[Eaglez]

I wonder if Bisenius could actually add some depth in the bullpen. 51 games with a low 2 ERA is pretty good considering the amount of games he's pitched.

Everyone in the league has been put on notice about Howard's ability. There is no doubt Howard is a great hitter, but I doubt he is going to get as many good pitches to hit this year. We'll see though. I don't think he'll slump this year, but I don't expect him to hit 58 and 149 again. I'd be happy with .310, 40-45 and 125-35.

[Munson]

But how will his VORP be?

[mpmcgraw]

I know you arent being serious, but by definition Bisenus is most likely a replacement level player at this point, so probably somewhere around 0.

[Seabiscuit36]

Thats a small VORP

[ice grillin you]

how are we so sure that the lower the vorp doesnt mean the better the player

[mpmcgraw]

Well Ryan Howard had a VORP of over 80 and Abe Nunez had a VORP of -19.

It's pretty much your call there.

[SunMo]

so VORP is a number you figure out after the season is over?

[mpmcgraw]

No, not really.  You can find it during the season and it obviously gets more accurate as the season goes on.  It isn't really a counting stat though. 

It is more of a comparison of players compared to production of other players at their position. 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/sortable/index.php?cid=99976&PHPSESSID=2839dc1f5c04e12d8054f13936f7669a

There's VORP for batters in 06.