Spring Training is here, and with it, lots of questions. You can see how this is going to work, so let's just get to it... 1. Should we be prepared to be disappointed by Vance Worley and John Mayberry Jr? I hate to start out with a negative, but these two guys are probably my biggest concerns in 2012. Both of them will be relied upon heavily after very solid 2011 campaigns, and both of them have no track record to suggest that they can replicate that performance for a full season in … [Read more...]

Apologies for the severe lack of posts - lots of non-blog related life events going on recently. This is about the time of year I forget about everything that happened to the Phillies in 2011 and start getting really excited for 2012. Since I haven't been able to examine each move individually, I figured I'd do an overview of all the moves they've made now that they are pretty set. I'll rank them by size of commitment. 1. Signed Jonathan Papelbon to 4 year, $50 million deal with vesting … [Read more...]

Jerry Crasnick was the first to report that Jimmy Rollins will back in Philadelphia on a 3-year deal with a easily vesting 4th year. The yearly dollars have not been reported yet, but I'm sure they are high (update: looks like $11 mill a year, actually not that bad), and frankly don't really care. I'm thrilled to have Rollins on board for the long term. Rollins' deal means that, barring a trade, he will be a Phillie for at least 15 (if you count his 14 game stint in 2000), likely 16 years, … [Read more...]

Brotherly Glove beat me to it here, and I'm sure others will do similar stories, but here is my take on today's winter meeting development that the Phillies have balked at J-Roll's insistence on a 5-year deal and have turned their attention to 3B Aramis Ramirez while exploring trades for Placido Polanco. The basic question I want to answer (ignoring the implications of a long-term deal for Aramis or J-Roll for the moment) is, which tandem makes us better in 2012: Ramirez/Galvis or … [Read more...]

In a saavy move (did Gillick lock Ruben in the closet and make the call?), the Phillies acquired Ty Wigginton, and his giant head, from the Rockies for a player-to-be-named or cash. Wigginton will give the Phillies 70% of what Michael Cuddyer might have, but at a fraction of the cost ($4 million, with a $4 million option for next year) and risk. Though he's not a great defensive player, Wigginton can play 1B, 2B, 3B and the corner OF spots. He hasn't been a great hitter the last couple … [Read more...]

With player movement in full swing, I'll try to get this updated (it's always available on the right side-bar) as often as I can. First, let's take a look at our payroll situation post-Papelbon. The players are in order of team control (oh, hey Ryan Howard), and in secondary order by salary amount. And it goes out as far as we have salary obligations. Some comments: Hmm...so we will be paying a 35-year-old Ryan Howard, 36-year-old Cliff Lee and a 34-year-old Jonathan Papelbon … [Read more...]

Jim Salisbury is reporting on Twitter that... The Phils and Papelbon have reached agreement sources tell CSNPhilly.com. Pending physical. My initial reaction is... it better be for less than 4 years, $44 million, because I would have greatly preferred to retain Madson. Papelbon was extremely dominant his first 4 years as a closer, but somewhat shaky the last two. On the plus side, he had excellent K/9 and BB/9 numbers last year and actually had the best FIP (1.53) of his career, meaning … [Read more...]