After a post earlier in the day about the team’s interest in Fernando Rodney and Mike MacDougal, CSNPhilly is now reporting that the Phillies actually have an agreement in place with a reliever, but won’t divulge until he takes his physical after the holidays. A different source told them that the recent focus has been on Danys Baez, formerly of the Orioles.
So – they put 2 and 2 together and assumed that Baez is the signed pitcher, assuming a pitcher is actually signed. So nothing is confirmed, but it’s possible we have a reliever, and it’s possible it’s Baez.
Baez, 32, had a nice comeback year for the Orioles last year, posting a 4.02 ERA and impressive 1.13 WHIP in 71.2 IP with Baltimore. He was 16th in baseball in H/9 (7.41) among relievers with 70+ IP. He did not pitch in 2008, in 2007, his ERA was a horrid 6.44, presumably from whatever injury caused him to miss 2008.
Honestly, I would rather give the young guys (Bastardo, Mathieson, Escalona) a shot that sign a guy like this. He is a high risk, medium reward type of guy. Might as well save the money for a mid-season trade.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I have to agree with you Pete. When I heard about this my exact thought was: woohoo, another mediocre, middle-aged right hander. I don’t really see how this makes the team any better, now or in the future.
I think we can all agree Gillick’s moves up through ‘08 were conservative, low-risk/high-reward moves that made us a deep club. However, I don’t feel like that integrity is there with Amaro who seems to want to sign big names without the appropriate emphasis on character (although it is still rather early to make this assertion). I don’t think this Baez move makes that much of a difference, and I would agree with the proposition of giving young guys a shot to solidify the pen. This guy’s numbers have declined since his rookie year (for the most part).
Will -
I think the emphasis on character is there (see Polanco and Halladay) but I’m not sure we will see any Jayson Werth / Greg Dobbs type thefts by Ruben.
Alright guys and gals -
What would you think is an appropriate contract for Danys Baez?
I’d say 1 year, $3 million. Though I’m sure his agent is pretending he pitched like he did in 2009 for the last 10 years or something.
A 2-year contract would not be smart, in my view. Maybe 2 years, $4-5 million or something?
It better not be 1 yr $9M!
His recent numbers are brutal. Don’t know what role he would fill. I wouldn’t sign him. Gotta sign Park. We couldn’t have gotten Morrow somehow in the Lee trade? I bet Park is a teammate with Cliff Lee this year.
sfw-
he was good in 2009.
the couple seasons prior weren’t good though. 2008 he didn’t pitch at all, and he wasn’t all that great in ‘06-’07.
I think the contract should be around what matt capps signed for 1yr $2-3m.
Also did you ever hear anything about the phillies looking into Matt Capps? I was always a fan of his though he wasn’t great last year, I thought he was one of the best bullpen pitchers from 2006-08.
i agree, i would add through the farm. Baez isnt the reliever we should get and im glad the angels signed rodney instead of the phils. imo both rodney and baez sucks.
to jesse – i hope your joking cus capps is worst than both baez and rodney. if it wasnt for lidge capps would have been the worst closer in the majors last year.
John-
I said Capps sucked last year for the first time in his career. But from 2006-08 Capps was one of the best bullpen arms in baseball. Take a look at the stats.
hey jesse, do you have faith in lidge? if i had to make a guess than probably not. i dont know maybe you do, if that is the case than capps is your guy. however, like most phillies fan i dont have a whole a lot of faith in lidge for next season. when capps is at this best hes a good arm and its the same for lidge. but for lidge when hes at his best, hes a one of the best closer in the league. if phillies fan dont have a lot of faith in lidge then it would be illogical to have faith in capps to return to his former self and to want him in our pen. when lidge is right hes one of the best and when capps is right hes just an effective pitcher. like most relievers, hence lidge, theyre fragile. who knows maybe capps will get his head straight and become a good pitcher (which i dont think will happen) but we dont know and hes not a guy i want to phils to gamble on, just like baez. well anyways….. capps signed with the nationals so it doesnt matter anymore.