Philadelphia Phillies "World farging Champs" 1 Week for Pitchers and Catchers

[LBIggle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws2Z_AQdDyM&feature=related time lapse of city hall celebration.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJA6JZ_TKaw  Utley- "World farging champs"

http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081103&content_id=3661056&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi -- Gillick staying on as an advisor.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081007&content_id=3602498&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb  players who have filed for free agency.

seanez and gordon are both FA's and are going to test the market. so taguchis option wont be picked up.  see ya.

as much as i like burrell he's slow and prone to epic slumps.  i'm glad he got that double in the 7th that would've been a triple for anybody else in the world so he didn't end his stay in a 0-13 skid in the world series he finally made it to.  it would be nice if they could land holiday.

i'd like to see moyer back as the 4th and blanton seems suitable for the 5th spot. they still need a number 2 or 3.  i'd really like them to go after lowe as he would be perfect for this park.

after the replacements for burrell and kendrick, there's obviously not much to do.  marson definitely needs to see playing time, they need more production from the catcher spot even though chooch came through in the playoffs.  if that means the coste fairytail is over.. then so be it.


WORLD CHAMPS BABY, LETS DO IT AGAIN

[LBIggle]

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/33812279.html

New Phillies GM Amaro talks about '09
By Mike Jensen

Inquirer Staff Writer

The convertibles used at the Phillies' victory celebration were still in the tunnel below Citizens Bank Park yesterday morning, parked just outside the clubhouse before Ruben Amaro Jr. was introduced as the team's new senior vice president and general manager.
The cars were from the '08 party, but the questions Amaro fielded at his first news conference as GM were almost all about the '09 Phillies. He's not in charge of looking back. He had to get to the airport, to fly to the general managers' meetings in Dana Point, Calif.

He's looking for ballplayers, but also to replace himself from his old job, as well as director of player personnel Mike Arbuckle, who didn't get the GM job and resigned over the weekend.

Amaro acknowledged that there were lessons learned even from guys who weren't at Friday's parade, that team president David Montgomery and the front-office staff all saw how the team was built, that it wasn't always the big deals that made the biggest impact.

"The beauty of Pat Gillick is he's taken some risks and not all of them have worked out,"Amaro said. "Adam Eaton has not performed the way we wanted him to perform. The Garcia thing didn't work out particularly well for us" - last year's trade for pitcher Freddy Garcia - "but we've worked around those, and I think David's noticed that. He's seen the work Pat's done. I don't think David's afraid to take a risk. I do believe it will give me license to do just that."

As for the biggest issue facing him, Amaro said, "It continues to be pitching. I think it's important for us to solidify our rotation. We won with pitching this year. We were a team built on offense, but we tweaked it enough to get to the point where pitching became the thing that carried us. If you were to ask . . . if pitching would be the thing that would carry us, probably we wouldn't have been that sure. We probably would have to bang them to win. But we know that it's the same deal - you've got to have pitching to win this thing."

The subject of free agents came up quickly. Amaro said he'd had "contact" with the agents for free-agent pitchers Jamie Moyer and Scott Eyre. Of the biggest free-agent question mark, Pat Burrell, he said, "I think Pat has actually changed agents. I believe he is now being represented by Ed Hayes. We have plans to talk with Pat and Ed Hayes fairly shortly. . . . We're not sure if Burrell's going to be back. We're not sure if Jamie Moyer is going to be back, or Eyre, or [Rudy] Seanez. We have to assess which players we want to bring back, number one, and if we can't bring them back, then we'll do some tweaking. There are some voids to be filled, no question."

Someone asked about another free-agent outfielder, Manny Ramirez.

"Manny Ramirez is obviously the finest offensive player out there," Amaro said. "He's going to be extremely costly. I don't want to laugh off the situation, but I think there are other ways to fill the role. We don't know what's going to happen with Pat Burrell yet. We haven't made a decision whether he's going to be our leftfielder for next year and beyond. I can't really comment on Manny Ramirez at this time, just because we have to figure out what's going to happen with Pat."

Another big-ticket free agent, CC Sabathia, was brought up. Amaro said: "It's a consideration."

Then he made it clear it wasn't a top consideration.

"I like the way our rotation sets up right now, at the top of our rotation, especially with the emergence of Brett (Myers]," Amaro said, referring to Myers' second-half resurgence. "Brett made it turn the corner for us. You can't have enough pitching. But I have a feeling what CC's asking for may be a little north of where we want to go. We have to keep our core intact. Bringing a guy like CC in may be difficult, putting that percentage of his salary on our payroll."

He mentioned he hoped Kyle Kendrick would compete for a rotation spot, but said they couldn't count on it. "It may very well be that [Carlos] Carrasco or [J.A.] Happ or somebody [else] steps up."

Amaro made a point of saying that budget considerations can be over-discussed when it comes to this ballclub.

"We don't have a budget," he said. "What's funny, I'll tell you, people talk about and focus on the budget and how important that is. The fact of the matter is, we are not really normally given like a straight budget. We operate based on what our needs are and how we want to move forward."

Moving forward, that was the theme of the morning. By the time Amaro finished his session, even those '08 party convertibles were gone from the tunnel.

please dont farg our team up.

sincerely,

everyone.

[Don Ho]

[

please dont farg our team up.

sincerely,

everyone.

proxy!

[Don Ho]

  it would be nice if they could land holiday.

pray, pray, pray, pray, pray and even more pray.

[BigEd76]

bye Walrond

claimed off waivers by Toronto

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Who?

[Wingspan]

I think you've seen the last of Coste, if Marson can hit, he'll assume the backup roll next season behind Rue—ez.

Outfield is anyone's guess. Obviously you have Victorino in CF, and Werth in RF, and Jenkins is going to get a chance to play based on his salary. Can Jenkins play LF?

Assuming Ramirez signs with NYY, I think they make a push for Burrell to come back. But I think Burrell is gone. I would go after Raul Ibanez to come in and replace him. You get 20 or so HRs from him, a lot of doubles and a respectable avg.

Bring in Rocco Baldelli to replace Taguci, and then maybe bring back Punto or Iguchi to round out your bench and you field a better team next season.

Rollins
Werth/Victorino
Utley
Howard
Werth/Victorino
Ibanez
Feliz
Ruiz

Three starters they should look at are Sabathia, Peavy (via trade) or Sheets...and with Hamels/xxxxx/Myers/Blanton/Happ-Carasco-Kendrick-combo and you have one of the deepest rotations in the NL.

[Rome]

No way is Peavy ever going to approve a trade to Philly.  Less than zero chance, actually.  His preference is to stay out west and play for a national league team.  His family now makes San Diego home, so basically you're looking at either the Dodgers or maybe Arizona.  S.F. is out because of the absurd amount of money they're paying Zito.

If those options are out then maybe he'd go to Atlanta (seeing as he's from Alabama) but that's about it.

You can forget Sabathia too because regardless of what the Phillies could offer him, one of the New York teams would offer a lot more, and the players union isn't going to let him take a sweetheart deal from Milwaukee either.

Sheets, on the other hand, might be a very nice option.  He'll be cheaper than A.J. Burnett or Derek Lowe plus he's got better stuff than either one of them if (big IF) he's healthy.

My guess is they get another third starter, re-sign Moyer to a two year deal and then let Kendrick & Happ (or maybe Carrasco) fight it out for the fifth slot.

In terms of hitters, please everyone stop bring up Holliday's name.  It ain't gonna happen if for no other reason than the minor league system doesn't have nearly enough talent to pry him away from the Rockies.

Burrell's gone, Ruiz should be gone, and in all honesty so should Feliz.  I'd keep Feliz, though, because he's a great fielder and because he's not David Bell.

[Geowhizzer]

Don't forget Blanton, Rome.  He's got to figure in there.

[BigEd76]

Steve Smith fired

Juan Samuel is a possible replacement

[Geowhizzer]

Steve Smith fired

Juan Samuel is a possible replacement

<--------------------------

[Rome]

Don't forget Blanton, Rome.  He's got to figure in there.

I don't think Myers will be there, actually.  I think he wants to be a closer somewhere and he'll be used as trade bait.

Hamels, Blanton, #3 pitcher I talked about, Moyer, Happ/Carrasco/Kendrick.

Or

Hamels, Blanton, Moyer, Happ, Carrasco/Kendrick.

[Wingspan]

Steve Smith just tried to send Burrell from second again

[Rome]

lol

[LBIggle]

Don't forget Blanton, Rome.  He's got to figure in there.

I don't think Myers will be there, actually.  I think he wants to be a closer somewhere and he'll be used as trade bait.

Hamels, Blanton, #3 pitcher I talked about, Moyer, Happ/Carrasco/Kendrick.

Or

Hamels, Blanton, Moyer, Happ, Carrasco/Kendrick.

i can't seriously see blanton being our #2 going into the season.  i'm not saying it can't or wont happen.. but i dont think that would end well.   or start well.