This isn’t really news, but I feel like thinking about baseball season, not the upcoming Eagles’ game.
(here’s my Eagles preview: We’re probably gonna lose, and all hell is probably gonna break loose. Have a stiff drink available.)
Anyway, the Phillies’ announced some non-roster invitees to spring training (only 40 days away people!) and there are plenty of guys to keep an eye on. Among the new invites are Domonic Brown, Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, Joe Savery and Brian Rosenberg.
Brown and Gillies have a 0% chance of making the roster, but it will be good to get some reports on how they look.
Savery also has no chance of making the team, but if he pitches well, he could cement himself as a 5th starter option should Kendrick fail.
Aumont and Rosenberg have about a 1% chance of making the team. There is still one open bullpen spot available. I’m hoping it goes to Scott Mathieson and I’m hoping Ruben doesn’t sign anyone to fill it cause we need to see what the young guys have. I don’t know whether they see Aumont as a starter or reliever but I believe his future is in closing. Rosenberg, 24, sported a 1.18 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 61 innings last year (in Clearwater and Reading) with 73 strikeouts. He probably needs some more time in Reading, but I see no reason why he shouldn’t get a shot late this year or at the start of next year.
One other random note… I put together a chart of our starting 8 and Bill James’ projections for the 2010 season. The results are below. I don’t think these numbers are adjusted for Polanco playing at CBP.
To give you an idea of how his projections predict they will perform compared to last year, I’ve ranked them by change in OPS 2009 vs. 2010.
- Jimmy Rollins, +.47
- Placido Polanco, +.19
- Ryan Howard, + .16
- Chase Utley, -.08
- Jayson Werth, -.20
- Carlos Ruiz, -.28
- Shane Victorino, -.42
- Raul Ibanez, -.92
So he forecasts bounce back years from Rollins and Polanco. Utley has been so consistent with his numbers, he stays pretty much the same. Ibanez gets a big drop likely because of how his age factors into the projections, and Victorino and Werth see a drop from their career years. Nothing earth shattering, but I always find these things interesting. I’ll compile together the pitchers once he adjusts Halladay for playing in the NL.
What’s on everyone else’s mind right now when it comes to the Phillies?
I have to be honest it is not the same feeling coming off of a WFC as it was last year. Even though some people did not want to admit it most people had that “I don’t care what we do we are playing with house money attitude” because of the ring. Now we have to go back out there and take it down. I am anxious to see more than anything how Carrasco and Marson pan out this year as they have a chance to play everyday, but mainly if Drabek gets a call-up and if Taylor gets a chance in left for the A’s. I will be following all four of those guys this year for sure. I am excited for Doc to see if he really dominates the NL East like he should after beating up on the AL East.
Richie, forget about those guys. They are no longer Phillies, you’re going to cause unneeded stress on yourself (doesn’t Lidge provide enough of that already??). Forget about them, they are like ex-girlfriends when you are happily married (to Halladay)
carrasco and marson aren’t going to do anything special. and I’ve continued to say I don’t think Drabek will be any more than Brett Myers.
Michael Taylor is the only one I think we might regret, but as long as Dom Brown is good, it doesn’t matter.
Yeh I guess so, I just don’t want a situation like what happened to seattle in the Bedard deal or Montreal in the Colon deal. Where three of the four players involved were all-stars or soon to be all stars.
I think Richie is hitting on an intangible. Since no longer WSC’s, the pressure goes up again on this team to deliver. No more house money. They, of course, will react one of two ways. That is where Amaro comes in and why I like so much what he did about getting Halladay. Chemistry and fighting complacency will be the biggest obstacles this team faces and you address that by making a major change on the field and in the locker room. Bringing up a Drabek and Taylor from the minors is not a move that gets you back over them hump. we can debate Lee and Halladay all we want but I like Halladay more for this year because he is hungry, carries a big stick, and will alter the dynamic in the locker room. Sometimes you need change just to avoid getting stale. I am not saying they need leadership in the room, but they need some “salt” to get out the taste of last years disappointment and recharge. Halladay is the that more the Lee would be. Lee is a great pitcher but more of a wall-flower and follower type of personality.
One other thing. Eagles miss Shawn Andrews more than anyone right now. He was the best OL that the eagles have had in my lifetime (45 years) and a hall-of-famer if things had fallen right with his health. The beast was a steam-roller on those screen passes and a freak athletically. I knew it would eventually catch up to us as the games meant more.
i agree 100% I don’t know that much about Doc, but from reports about the way he carries himself he won’t let these guys get stale. Not that they did last year I mean coming off a WSC to make it right back is a feat in itself. Now you have a guy who wants it really really badly to win and these guys will notice that and try their best to make that happen. If they don’t they will have a few guys besides uncle charlie in their ear!
Even though some people did not want to admit it most people had that “I don’t care what we do we are playing with house money attitude” because of the ring. Now we have to go back out there and take it down.>>
Being as this is strictly outside opinion (at my end for sure at least), I won’t pursue a discussion seemingly so subjective and non factual, but I wante to at least offer hat I didn’t see any house money attitude last year. Rather what came across to me was a team following Rollins lead of we don’t want to win, we want to be legendary. Bumps along the way, to be sure, led by playing to the competition and circumstance, but when they had to win, they won. Anyway, that’s in the past, and based on impression.
Not many novice sports fans on this site, if at all. So we’ve seen it all before. Maybe the repetition varies, but you all know the various possibilities of Eagle performance Saturday night. Ranging from better executuion and less 1 sided momentum leading to a competitive game which speaks to the Eagles case with a field goal kicker advantage. Also possible that the emotion was sucked out of them less than a week ago, and another poor showing develops.
Matters what’s in the players guts of course, but I’m sorry, I just cannot write the Eagles off or feel helpless about this game. I’ve seen way, way too many times when everyone is so convinced of something, the opposite happens. I look for McNabb to be more accurate, the receivers to hold the ball, hopefully Roca kicks well again, and Dallas to make some mistakes. It’s cool not to want to feel the pain of losing to Dallas of all teams like this, and lessen expectations, but this was very possibly a 2 game series to begin with, and often, swaying off your initial impression compounds your misread of the situation. Anyway, I don’t feel bad about the matchup at all. Scoring early and stopping them on the next series would be a nice foundation to build from.
Brett Myers signs a 1 year, $5 million deal with the Astros and Ed Wade.
Lots of performance bonuses too, and a 2011 mutual option.
It’ll be interesting to see what kind of numbers he puts up.
Pretty sure they signed him as a starter
Its a final now, as Tony Bruno would say.
The final is that he might be a nice guy, and a solid citizen on a number of fronts, but now that he has admitted to having cheated with steroids, debatable as he was as a hall of famer, my feeling with a permanent tone is that I couldn’t ever support his HofF candidacy.
Pardon my positive feelings for Roger Maris, but its just pathetic how he stood there with the Maris family in a celebratory state and knew he had cheated his way to one of baseball’s truly coveted records.
No, I didn’t just wake up, no, I’m not naive, but for some inexplicable reason, I liked Mark McGwire better when he didn’t discuss the past.
How could something that was so much fun then turn out so empty?