Josh Hamilton Would Be a Perfect Fit with Philadelphia Phillies

It may be a long shot to actually happen, but free agent Josh Hamilton could be exactly what the Philadelphia Phillies need.

In the midst of one of their most disappointing seasons in recent memory, the Phillies traded away their top two outfielders, Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino.

While Pence and Victorino yielded decent returns, the Phillies still have some work to do to prepare them for next season, but even more work to do for their future.

The Phillies’ core is getting old—Chase Utley is 33, Ryan Howard is 32, Roy Halladay is 35 and Cliff Lee and Jimmy Rollins are 34. While Hamilton isn’t that young himself at 31, he only broke into the league in 2007, when he played 90 games with the Cincinnati Reds, so he has a lot less wear on his tires.

The Phillies need outfielders, and while Hamilton is best in center, he can play any of the three outfield positions. Signing him would give the Phillies a lot of leeway with how they want to approach rebuilding the rest of the outfield.

Hamilton’s biggest contribution would be his bat. In the four seasons where he played more than 120 games, Hamilton averaged roughly 170 hits, 33 home runs and 113 RBIs.

Over his entire six-year career, Hamilton has a .304 BA, .363 OBP and .549 slugging percentage. He would provide an instant boost to a Phillies team that struggled at times, with Utley and Howard looking less and less like the sluggers they were a couple years ago.

Hamilton brings some baggage with him, but Phillies fans are in need of a boost heading into next season, and there’s no other free agent that would pick up an entire city like Hamilton.

Philadelphia has dealt with baggage before, and will embrace any player that gives their all on the field and helps the team win, which is exactly what Hamilton will do.

He is not only a great hitter but a smart all-around baseball player who plays a good outfield, possessing underrated athleticism and a strong arm.

Hamilton would be pricy, but the big contracts of Utley and Halladay come off the books after next season and the Phillies get to choose how they want to spend that money.

With a new big left-handed bat in the lineup, the Phillies could try to dump Ryan Howard and his huge contract. While it’d be difficult to find a team willing to take it on, crazier things have happened, especially if a team is making a playoff push and is in need of a guy like Howard.

The Phillies need to make a push for Hamilton. He would bring a big bat, fill a huge hole in the outfield and provide a general spark to a Phillies organization while re-instilling a little hope into the fan base.

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Report: Cliff Lee Claimed off Waivers, Joe Blanton Traded to Dodgers

The Philadelphia Phillies have continued remaking their roster after trading Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino at the trade deadline. For the first time in years, the Phillies were sellers at the trade deadline, and more moves have been made today.  

Joe Blanton was put on waivers by the Phillies, and the Dodgers then claimed and traded for the right-handed starting pitcher. The Phillies will receive a player to be named later or cash considerations. Blanton was expected to be traded at the trade deadline, but a deal with the Orioles fell through due to monetary issues.  

The Blanton move was expected. A more interesting story, however, is developing about Cliff Lee. Yesterday, the Phillies put Lee on waivers, with most expecting him to not be claimed because of his large contract.

But according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports, Lee has not cleared waivers. In Heyman’s tweet, no specifics were given, so Lee’s situation is currently up in the air.

If Heyman’s report is true, the Phillies will either have to pull Lee off waivers, let him leave or negotiate a deal with the team who claimed him.  

Updates will come as more details are released about Lee being claimed off of waivers.  

 

UPDATE 6:10 p.m. ET: Well, apparently the Red Sox are not the team who claimed Lee. 

UPDATE 8:32 p.m. ET: ESPN is reporting that the Dodgers are the team who claimed Lee. More to follow.

UPDATE 10:31 p.m. ET: Jon Heyman, CBS’s baseball insider who first broke the news of Lee getting claimed, tweeted that completing a trade for Lee is not very likely to happen. If a deal is not worked out, Lee would then just stay with the Phillies. If Lee was to be put on waivers a second time, the Phillies would not be able to pull him off like they can now, so Lee will almost definitely stay with Philadelphia for the remainder of this season.  

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Report: Phillies Trade Victorino and Pence, Take Cliff Lee off Trade Market

The selling has begun for the Philadelphia Phillies. Today is MLB‘s trade deadline, which officially ends at 4 pm ET, and Ruben Amaro, Jr., has swung two deals to clear up cap space and replenish the farm system.

The first trade sends outfielder Shane Victorino to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In return, the Phillies get Ethan Martin and Josh Lindblom.

Martin was a highly-regarded prospect in the Dodgers organization. The right-handed pitcher is 23 years old and could be in the majors by next season. Lindblom was a top-10 prospect in the Dodgers system. He’s a reliever, which the Phillies sorely need, so it looks like Amaro, Jr., did well on this deal.

Pence was apparently dealt very soon after the Victorino trade was finalized. Pence has reportedly been sent to the San Francisco Giants, who gives them a big boost on offense.

In exchange for Pence, the Phillies receive Nate Schierholtz and Tommy Joseph. Schierholtz is a decent MLB outfielder, but Joseph is the real key part of the deal. Joseph listed as a 1B/C, was San Francisco’s second best prospect.  

The moves are interesting, sending two good outfielders to rival NL West teams. But Amaro, Jr., is probably not done today either. Cliff Lee could be on the move, and Juan Pierre will almost certainly be dealt. Joe Blanton has also been linked to the Baltimore Orioles. 

Stay tuned as more action should occur over the next few hours.  

UPDATE: ESPN is reporting that the Phillies have taken Cliff Lee off of the trade market. The Texas Rangers had been rumored as a possible destination for Lee, but the Phillies reportedly wanted too much in return.  

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MLB Trade Deadline: What Does Winning Streak Mean for Philadelphia Phillies?

The Philadelphia Phillies are on a bit of a roll right now. Wednesday’s comeback victory over the Milwaukee Brewers was their fourth consecutive victory, and has given Philadelphia fans a little bit of hope. The team is 7-3 in their last 10 games, with some exciting come-from-behind wins along the way. 

But the team still sits nine games under .500 and 9.5 games out of the wild card, and their chances of making the playoffs this year are 0.3 percent, according to Baseball Prospectus. Don’t let the streak get your hopes up, because the playoffs are simply out of reach at this point.  

Ryan Howard’s return has been very positive for the Phillies. He has four home runs, nine RBI and six walks in 13 games. Beyond his play on the field, his presence alone has clearly had a motivational effect on the team.

On Tuesday, the Phillies announced that they had agreed to a six-year extension with pitcher Cole Hamels worth $144 million. With that contract finalized, the Phillies will end up paying Hamels, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley about $104 million next season. The chances that any of those five get traded are very minimal. 

Needless to say, the Phillies will most likely have to cut salary elsewhere. According to Ken Rosenthal, the Phillies are “eager” to move Hunter Pence and the $13 million to $14 million he is owed next year.

Pence and Shane Victorino are now the two most likely players to get moved with Hamels getting an extension. Lee is the most likely of the highest-paid five to be traded, but unless the Phillies are blown away with a deal, I doubt he leaves Philly.

But either Pence or Victorino will most likely be dealt. I believe that those two, along with Juan Pierre, Kyle Kendrick, Joe Blanton and Jimmy Rollins, should all be actively shopped by GM Ruben Amaro Jr.

Some people may balk at Rollins getting traded, but while he brings heart and effort to the team, he often forgets his bat. In his past three seasons, he has hit .250, .243 and .268. This season, he is hitting .254. He has only hit 33 home runs since 2010. He will be 34 in November, and his best seasons are far behind him.  

Apart from Hamels, the Phillies best players are 35 (Halladay), 33 (Rollins, Utley and Lee) and 32 (Howard). Combine that with only one under-25 player on the active roster who has big-time potential (Vance Worley), and the future doesn’t look too bright.

Add in the fact that the Phillies only have two prospects ranked in minorleagueball.com’s top 120, and it makes the future look even less bright. Pitchers Jesse Biddle and Trevor May were ranked 54th and 56th, respectively, meaning that the Phillies don’t have a single top-50 prospect either.

The Phillies didn’t have a first-round pick in June’s draft, and failed to sign one of their second-round picks, Alec Rash. The point is, while the MLB roster is getting older, there is not much help on the way.

Speaking of the MLB roster, Placido Polanco is only batting .255 and most likely will be playing somewhere else next season. The bullpen is currently in the hands of Antonio Bastardo, Michael Schwimer, Jacob Diekman and Joe Savery. John Mayberry Jr. has 12 more strikeouts than hits. Domonic Brown is nowhere to be found. Utley can’t be counted on to play more than half a season for the rest of his career. Upgrades and depth are needed all over the place.    

The farm system is in bad shape, the MLB roster isn’t looking much better, and dealing players like Pence, Victorino, Pierre, Kendrick, Blanton and Rollins could bring in a few prospects while dumping salary. The team’s window is closing, and will be hard to re-open in the future if deals are not made soon. 

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Philadelphia Phillies Need to Be Sellers and Completely Rebuild the Roster

Things are not looking good in Philadelphia. The Phillies have had a horrendous first half, and their 37-50 record reflects many issues with the team.

They are the second-oldest team in the MLB and do not have the depth to back up their injured stars. Their healthy stars have not played well at all, either.

Beyond the injuries and age, the Phillies have simply lacked heart and coherence this season. They are an embarrassing 0-37 when trailing after seven innings. While nobody expected them to be running away with the NL East again, being 14 games back in the division is unacceptable.

Blame can be spread all over the place. GM Ruben Amaro Jr. did pretty much nothing to provide insurance for the injured and aging Ryan Howard and Chase Utley.

After signing Jonathan Papelbon, he left the rest of the bullpen up to Chad Qualls, Antonio Bastardo and Michael Schwimer. He could have gone after someone to take over at third base, or play either corner outfield position, but he tried to plug in Juan Pierre.

Amaro is also stuck with paying Ryan Howard $95 million over the next four seasons and Cliff Lee $72 million over the next three seasons. Chase Utley will make $15 million next season, while Roy Halladay brings in $20 million.

These four players are 32, 33, 33 and 35, respectively. Meanwhile, they have played a combined 38 games this season. That is not good.

A couple of weeks ago, there was still hope that the season could be salvaged with the returns of Halladay, Howard and Utley. Halladay, however, has yet to return, Howard’s return saw the team go scoreless, and the Phillies have been 1-10 with Utley in the lineup. Though Lee has played the whole season, he only has one win.  

Any of those four—especially Lee and Utley—could be enticing to a team that wants to make a big push in the second half of the season. If Amaro can get a good prospect for one of them, it would be a smart decision. 

Cole Hamels is probably going to be on the move at the trade deadline, and he should be. The Rangers are rumored to be the favorites, which is fine, as long as the Phillies get some good talent in return.

Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino are the other two Phillies still with some trade value, and they should be packaged in a deal as well. Victorino is hitting an abysmal .245, and his attitude has been in question recently as well. Pence has been decent at the plate, but the rest of his game leaves a lot to be desired. 

Domonic Brown has seemingly disappeared as well, and not moving him last year is looking like another miscalculation by Amaro. He has been battling injuries but hasn’t hit well in the minors when healthy.

Juan Pierre has been a pleasant surprise this season and could be part of a package. Vance Worley and Kyle Kendrick have a little value, too.  

Carlos Ruiz is literally the only player I would want to keep. He is a rock behind the plate, among the top of the MLB in hitting, and should stay in Philadelphia.

Other than that, Amaro needs to make some major changes to turn around this franchise. The present is pretty bleak, but the future is even darker.  

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Philadelphia Phillies: Why Carlos Ruiz Is the Most Underrated Player in MLB

The Philadelphia Phillies‘ Carlos Ruiz is the best catcher in baseball. You may think it looks weird written out, or it sounds strange to hear it aloud, but it is true. Actually, it has probably been true for the past season or two. But somehow, nobody gives Chooch the acknowledgement he deserves.

Ruiz should be leading all catchers in National League All-Star voting. Instead, he is currently in third place. While All-Star voting should not carry much weight because a lot of it is about politics and marketing, it is still a disgrace that he is not in first.

He is, by far, the most underrated player in baseball.

Ruiz currently leads all of MLB in batting average. While everyone can’t stop sucking up to Bryce Harper (hitting .278), gushing about Matt Wieters (.255) and swooning over Giancarlo Stanton (.274), Chooch is quietly hitting a cool .361.

As Prince Fielder (.303) and Albert Pujols (.259) sit on their contracts worth more than $210 million each, Chooch is outhitting them on a three-year, $8.85M deal. In fact, Ruiz’s batting average is significantly better than Pujols’ on-base percentage (.320). 

And anyone who says Chooch is only a contact hitter can sit down, too. Ruiz’s 10 homers tie him for sixth among catchers, and his 41 RBI have him tied for third.

He leads all Major League catchers in hitting, slugging, on-base percentage and OPS. And this is not random luck, either. Ruiz hit .283 and .302 in the past two seasons, and is a career .275 hitter.

His clutch tendency is not to be ignored, either. I can’t tell you how many times I have watched Ruiz step up late in a game and deliver a big hit to keep an inning going or knock in the tying run.

In the 2009 World Series against the New York Yankees, he batted .333 after hitting an impressive .381 against the Colorado Rockies in the NL Championship. When the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, they did so largely thanks to Ruiz’s stellar play behind the plate, his .385 batting average and his ridiculous .500 OBP. 

The Phillies have dominated the NL East for the past five seasons, and Chooch is one of the few key players that has been there the whole time. In his time in Philadelphia, he has been the rock behind the plate for one of the strongest pitching staffs in the league.

And he has managed to do all this without drawing any attention to himself. But if he keeps playing like this, the attention and praise will come whether he likes it or not. So, ladies and gentlemen, I give you Carlos Ruiz, the best catcher and most underrated player in all of baseball.

UPDATE: After Tuesday night’s game vs. Pittsburgh, Ruiz is now batting .364, with 11 HR’s, 43 RBI’s and has a .430 OBP. Unbelievable.  

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Philadelphia Phillies 2011 MLB Playoffs Collapse: Morning After

The Philadelphia Phillies lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the National League Division Series. No, it wasn’t a dream. Yes, it is a massive disappointment for a Phillies team that won 102 regular season games. Last night, Philadelphia fans went through stages of shock, anger, sadness, more anger and then just utter disappointment.

These Phillies are beginning to look a lot like the Atlanta Braves team that won the NL East from 1995-2005, and advanced to the World Series three times, but only won a single championship. They need to prevent this and make a push to get over the hump, something another Philadelphia team, the Eagles, have not been able to do under Andy Reid either. Good but not good enough just doesn’t cut it, and Philadelphia fans deserve better.

Therefore, trying to put this Phillies team in perspective, here’s just a simple list of their best players. Try to look at this and not think of it as the Phillies team or any team in particular, just look at this list of players: Roy Halladay, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Roy Oswalt, Hunter Pence, Cliff Lee, Shane Victorino. 

That’s as good of a group of players as you’re ever going to see on one baseball team. So the question is, now what? Do they try again with the same group of players, or do they emulate the Flyers and overhaul the roster this offseason? 

The answer is obvious. The Phillies need change. They have talent, but something isn’t clicking. Not to make it to the World Series in either of the past two seasons, with the talent they have, is reason enough to make significant changes. More so to the offense than the pitching staff. So, what should they try to do?

The Phillies should let Oswalt go. His best days are behind him, and Vance Worley is a more than capable fourth starter. They also need to go out and get one more arm in the bullpen, other than that, the staff is solid.

 

Offensively, bigger changes should be made. Rollins and Ibanez should be let go via free agency. This may cause some controversy, but Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino and Placido Polanco should all be moved as well. They are all into their 30’s and don’t seem to have enough left in the tank when it counts for the Phils. 

Here are some possibilities on how to fill the vacancies left behind by those players:

Domonic Brown and John Mayberry can fill in the outfield gaps left behind if they can’t get someone in a trade or sign a free agent. However, Grady Sizemore and Josh Willingham are both good players who may be available.

In the infield, two names stand out over at first base. Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder could potentially both end up on the market. If the Phillies moved Howard for some prospects and took a big run at those two superstars, it would be franchise shattering (for the better). Aramis Ramirez and Michael Cuddyer are two other veterans who could get signed and shake things up for the Phils. 

It’s going to be a long, long winter without baseball in Philadelphia. If some big changes aren’t made, don’t be surprised to hear the boos start during spring training.  

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MLB Instant Replay: Phillies vs. Marlins Controversy

Earlier today, during the Phillies vs. Marlins game, Hunter Pence hit a fly ball to right field with Ryan Howard on first base.

As the Marlins right fielder, Bryan Petersen, jumped up the wall to catch the ball, one fan’s hand hit his glove and the other attempted to catch the ball. The ball bounced off the fan’s hand and went into fair play.

Crew chief Joe West awarded a double to Pence, and Howard advanced to third. Marlins manager Jack McKeon went out to argue, and the umpires went back to the instant replay booth. After reviewing the play, they determined that Petersen would have caught the ball had he not been obstructed, and called Pence out. Howard was forced to go back to first base.

Sounds simple, right?

But wait, the instant replay ruling is that only a home run call can be reviewed, and no home run had been awarded to Pence. Once this was unearthed, Charlie Manuel argued with West, and was promptly ejected. The game was played under protest for the remainder, and controversy is sure to follow. It will be interesting to see how the MLB handles this case.

Obviously the umps messed up, but should the ruling be changed to allow that type of review? How should the MLB handle the controversy that is sure to follow? What does everyone think about this? Personally, I think the replay system should stay as it is and only be used to review home runs.  

Also just for the record, Joe West might be the worst umpire in the MLB, not just because of this game, just because he’s terrible. Just saying. 

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3 Reasons the Philadelphia Phillies Will Win the 2011 World Series

September is upon us.

While other cities are paying attention to the exciting division and wild card races around the league, fans in Philadelphia are already looking to October, and for good reason.

The Phillies are a lock for the playoffs, and should also be the clear favorites to win the World Series. Here are the three biggest reasons the Phillies will be the last team standing this season.

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