2010 MLB Season Discussion

[Cephius]

he did the same thing for the 500th he begins to swing for the fences and destroys his timing.

Nah, this is different. He couldn't buy a hit last time. He's still driving the ball, he's hitting .300 and has 6 RBIs since he hit 599

Amaro is an idiot for the initial trade and yeah, he let an incredibly good pitcher go for prospects, but he's not really trading much away for Oswalt. He'd be more of an idiot to not shore up the rotation for the playoffs.

Happ is 28 yo and had one good year where he actually got extremely lucky in getting out of jams.

Oswalt is a total upgrade and Halladay/Hamels/Oswalt will hopefully be able to cover for a lot of the bullpen issues (Oswalt is a 200+ inning guy).


I got to go to the game last night and Dom Brown looked fantastic. I don't even fault him for that misplay in the 9th to take away the CG Shut out, because that's what he made the play for.

No one is saying Oswalt is a bad pitcher, but (assuming the Astros are not paying anything) you're paying him around 6m this year and 16m the next two years. He is not worth that much money lol

[Penthesilea]

I agree it's a lot of money and he's not worth 16m here on out.

Someone pleeeease just take Ibanez for nothing, cause Blanton, Ibanez and Moyers contracts are painful for the Front Offices self imposed cap.

They did two of the three things so far that I said would get me back into them, firing Milt Thompson (although I know it has no bearing on how the team does, sometimes showing that someone is accountable flips a switch) and bringing up Brown. Brown unfortunately wasn't brought up because Ibanez was traded (my 3rd wish), but rather cause Victorino go hurt.

If management would be willing, I hope they can eat Ibanez contract next year, if they can't trade him, and resign Werth while keeping D Brown up in the bigs.

[*Shinzon*]

I think the phils have dug themselves a pretty deep hole by acquring Oswalt assuming he approves. Sure they are going to have a great 1-2 this year, but those contracts next year are absolutely going to murder the phils. That said, if the Mets do not respond in the offseason by making a considerable offer to Cliff Lee, which is very possible since there is talk of the mets debt covenant not approving anymore money, Citifield is going to be empty all of next year.

Pelfrey has just been too inconsistent. When he's good, he's really good. But when he's bad you have no idea what to expect. Not to mention there is no guarantee Dickey is going to preform next year like he has this year. Going to be interesting this offseason for the mets. Really is.

[Conrad]

I think the phils have dug themselves a pretty deep hole by acquring Oswalt assuming he approves. Sure they are going to have a great 1-2 this year, but those contracts next year are absolutely going to murder the phils. That said, if the Mets do not respond in the offseason by making a considerable offer to Cliff Lee, which is very possible since there is talk of the mets debt covenant not approving anymore money, Citifield is going to be empty all of next year.

1-2-3*

Something needs to be done about Ibañez -- I think they'll platoon him with Brown once Victorino gets back, rather than Ben Francisco as they're doing now. Raul's making too much money for them to outright bench him, especially for a rookie, and there's no way they brought up Brown to have him sit as a bench player. He's going to be seeing considerable play time for the rest of the season, one way or another. Brown's ascension seems like it's something that the Phillies intend to be permanent.

[Cephius]

Brian Cashman has a man crush on Cliff Lee, assuming the Yankees don't add any payroll before the deadline it's all but certain he's going to be a Yankee next year. Considering how stubborn he's been about going to free agency, it's pretty clear he's going to follow the money. And I can't see anyone outbidding them.

Plus, aren't the Mets broke? That's what everyone keeps saying.

[Alderaan]

With the way Atl hits lefties, i'd like to thank the Phils for not keeping Lee.

Also looks like Strasburg will miss his next start.

All i can think of is Wood and Prior and hope the kids alright.

[Penthesilea]

1-2-3*

Something needs to be done about Ibañez -- I think they'll platoon him with Brown once Victorino gets back, rather than Ben Francisco as they're doing now. Raul's making too much money for them to outright bench him, especially for a rookie, and there's no way they brought up Brown to have him sit as a bench player. He's going to be seeing considerable play time for the rest of the season, one way or another. Brown's ascension seems like it's something that the Phillies intend to be permanent.

You don't platoon two lefties. I honestly am not sure what they can do because he's still only played in 1 ML game, so they need to have the utmost confidence in Brown to ship out Ibanez before the deadline.


As for the Yankees getting Lee, it's most likely 100% assured, but man I would love the FO if they made a heavy play for him this FA.

[Conrad]

With the way Atl hits lefties, i'd like to thank the Phils for not keeping Lee.

...You just made me realize that 4/5 of our starting rotation will be right-handed if the Oswalt trade goes through. fuuuuuuuu

[Kurp]

Any news about Morneau yet? The stuff on ESPN's fantasy news is kind of bleh. Is he actually making any progress? His injury is fucking killing me.

There hasn't been much news other than he's back at the stadium working out. I'm really hoping they announce that he'll be playing in a few minor league games soon. The post-concussion problems seems to have cleared up though.

[*Shinzon*]

1-2-3*

Something needs to be done about Ibañez -- I think they'll platoon him with Brown once Victorino gets back, rather than Ben Francisco as they're doing now. Raul's making too much money for them to outright bench him, especially for a rookie, and there's no way they brought up Brown to have him sit as a bench player. He's going to be seeing considerable play time for the rest of the season, one way or another. Brown's ascension seems like it's something that the Phillies intend to be permanent.

Cole Hamels has been decent, I wouldn't say he's having a great year right? I dunno I don't think he's even faced the Mets this year so I haven't checked out his numbers.

Brian Cashman has a man crush on Cliff Lee, assuming the Yankees don't add any payroll before the deadline it's all but certain he's going to be a Yankee next year. Considering how stubborn he's been about going to free agency, it's pretty clear he's going to follow the money. And I can't see anyone outbidding them.

Plus, aren't the Mets broke? That's what everyone keeps saying.

Well according to the NY papers the Wilpons owe money to people, but it's not exactly sure who he owes and whether or not they've made an effort to pay it back. I'd bet the Yankees get Lee, but the Mets can't dick around like they did with Lackey. Now Lee is a much better pitcher, but with Lackey they couldn't multitask and never got an actual offer together. Now it's practice for the Mets to backload their contracts and by the end of the year with the right offer and structure to the deal they could theoretically make a substantial offer. Whether or not Wilpon will authorize the money for it, is another thing entirely. I don't know how a family like the Wilpon's would get fucking owned by Madoff and then not pay whatever debt they could.

[Penthesilea]

Here's his line.

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/9295/hamels.png

[Penthesilea]

"According to the Fox 26 report, the sides have agreed on how much salary the Astros are paying, and ESPN is saying it could be a "significant amount." Oswalt is owed about $5 million for the rest of this season and $16 million next season."

It's ESPN as the source but the Astros are the Phillies South and their GM is a former Phillies GM so I could see them sweetening up the deal with some cash.

[*Shinzon*]

Hamels is quietly having a decent year yea. As far as the Oswalt details, the only way that deal works is if the Astros pick up the tab like originally intended. But Oswalt also wanted the option picked up by the team he is traded to, so the phils will still be on the hook for quite a bit of money.

10:17am: The identities of the other two players going to Houston remain unknown, but ESPN's Jayson Stark says the Astros have pushed hard for minor league first baseman Jonathan Singleton. Stark has an unconfirmed rumor from a strong source that the Astros offered to pay $12MM to the Phillies in the deal.

[Penthesilea]

9:04am: The Astros will receive three players for Oswalt, tweets Rosenthal, while also paying a "very significant" part of his salary. Happ will be one of the three. Astros owner Drayton McLane has been negotiating directly with Phillies president David Montgomery, reports CBS' Danny Knobler.

Hence Phillies South. The Flyers have a few other teams that are like their sister organizations, so it's always nice to build upon relationships/offer out future considerations type deals.

Sucks that Singleton has to go, but Howard is signed until the end of time, so... Win now!

[Vagrant]

Cole Hamels has been decent, I wouldn't say he's having a great year right? I dunno I don't think he's even faced the Mets this year so I haven't checked out his numbers.



Well according to the NY papers the Wilpons owe money to people, but it's not exactly sure who he owes and whether or not they've made an effort to pay it back. I'd bet the Yankees get Lee, but the Mets can't dick around like they did with Lackey. Now Lee is a much better pitcher, but with Lackey they couldn't multitask and never got an actual offer together. Now it's practice for the Mets to backload their contracts and by the end of the year with the right offer and structure to the deal they could theoretically make a substantial offer. Whether or not Wilpon will authorize the money for it, is another thing entirely. I don't know how a family like the Wilpon's would get fucking owned by Madoff and then not pay whatever debt they could.

The Wilpon family can't be to hard off still after the Madoff thing anyway as they are in the process of opening a new wrestling promotion based down in Florida as well with some big names attached to the group already that would cost a good bit of money(granted not baseball type money but still a good chunk).

[fren.]

The Phillies actively pursued Halladay at the trade deadline, but balked at parting with lefty J.A. Happ. The Phillies could have made this deal with Toronto and kept Lee to form a formidable 1-2 Cy Young punch at the top of the rotation.

This + the Howard extension reeks of retardation.

[Cephius]

Strasburg to the 15 day DL, incoming wave of all the pitching "experts" who knew this would happen.

[*Shinzon*]

Strasburg to the 15 day DL, incoming wave of all the pitching "experts" who knew this would happen.

He's thrown less than 40 innings no? ALSO WE LIKE IKE. My man RA Dickey going to hold down this lead now.

[Conrad]

This + the Howard extension reeks of retardation.

Happ was ridiculously good last year, although a huge amount of that was luck rather than skill. Happ's regressed to the mean this year, but we got what we needed out of him as a strong #3/4 in 2009. Trading him away for Oswalt is a pretty high cost, but I don't think anyone realistically expected him to be any more than a middle-of-the-rotation pitcher if he stays with us.

The Howard extension I can't argue with you about, because the huge amount of money he's going to get in his mid-30s will probably make him extremely overpaid by the end of his contract. However, though his power has regressed a ton this year compared to previous years, he seems to be compensating by batting for average instead; if he makes a switch in his style he'll last a little longer and be less overvalued by the end of his career. The Howard extension was a risk, but I kind of like the fact that the team's sticking their neck out in the pursuit of winning.

[Vedder]

I'm not going to complain about the Phillies getting Oswalt, especially if they get some salary relief as part of the deal, but they're going to need some bullpen help or else I don't think getting Oswalt is going to matter as much as some think it will.

The Pirates have 3 guys that would be great additions in their bullpen, go get one of them damn it!