Philadelphia Phillies: 3 Ways Amaro Could Have Spent Phillies’ Money More Wisely

There is no doubt that Ruben Amaro has done what he could to get the best talent for his money. We have seen him bring in Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee twice, Roy Oswalt, Hunter Pence and Raul Ibanez, as well as allow Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard to remain icons of the franchise. The talent he has brought in is unprecedented in Phillies history.

Having said that, he could have spent it more wisely to maximize the talent he brought into the organization. This would have ultimately allowed him to of course bring in even more talent.

Here is a look at three key philosophy changes that would allow him to have spent more wisely.

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MLB Free Agents: Who Are the Winners and Losers of Ryan Madson’s Offseason?

We do not know exactly what happened with the breakdown of the Phillies-Madson reported agreement. We do know that the reliever’s offseason has gone differently than expected.

The expectation, going back to the beginning of Spring Training 2011, was that Madson would stay on with the Phillies as their “closer of the future.” There also was the expectation that Madson would be rewarded with a big contract after putting together a nice run closing games in 2011 for the Phillies.

One other aspect in the whole process was that Madson’s agent is Scott Boras. Boras typically does not let his clients accept hometown discounts, and players only hire Boras if they are looking for big money (i.e. Jayson Werth).

So when the report came out that the Phillies and Madson had agreed to a four-year, $44 million deal, everything seemed to be going as expected.

When it broke down, everything changed and went off the expected course. With unexpected outcomes, we have unexpected consequences.

Who benefited the most from the development? Who was the biggest loser? We’ll take a look…

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Philadelphia Phillies: 6 Worst Ideas During Ruben Amaro’s Tenure as GM

What a start Ruben Amaro Jr. has put together in his career as general manager. He’s acquired All-Stars more than annually, often multiple times per season.

Amaro has maintained the winning mantra that was created in Philadelphia when Pat Gillick was in charge, and arguably has added to it by being able to have players such as Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Jonathan Papelbon all want to come to Philadelphia to play.

He has not been without his errors, though; and for all his brilliant moves that put the team in a tremendous position to succeed, he has often prevented his team from being well-rounded enough to completely capture that World Series title.

Here are the six dumbest moves of Ruben Amaro’s tenure.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 10 Things They Still Need to Do Before Spring Training

The Phillies appear set to go for the 2012 season after another aggressive offseason. This winter, we’ve already seen an upgrade in the closer position and bench, as well as retaining the team leader in Jimmy Rollins.

With most of their pieces in place, they appear poised for another championship run.

They aren’t quite done, though, as there still are a few things they need to do before heading from their homes around the world to Spring Training in Clearwater, Fla.

Some of these would not only help 2012, but they could help the team prepare for future seasons beyond this upcoming one.

It’s all part of keeping that championship contention window open for as long as they can.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Making Sense of the Curious Dontrelle Willis Signing

It’s been over a week now since the Dontrelle Willis signing was announced, and it’s still rather curious. Since then, the Philadelphia Phillies have brought back a franchise icon, and this is the move that is still one that still has some buzz and intrigue to it.

The buzz and intrigue is in large part due to the curiosity associated with the move. Every angle you look at the signing, you identify a new wrinkle that makes it even more of a curious move.

To start, why did they need to guarantee him a major league contract?

Willis’ last two deals had been minor league contracts, one with San Francisco in the middle of the 2010 season, and one with Cincinnati last offseason for the 2011 season. He went 1-6 for Cincinnati last season as a starting pitcher, making 13 starts, with an ERA of 5.00. Why did he need to be signed to a guaranteed major league contract? This represents a “promotion” in a sense.

If he is getting a “promotion,” or a salary increase, is he having a more demanding role?

The early indication is that Willis will be a left-handed reliever.

“Dontrelle, I believe, is at a point in his career where he is ready to make the transition to being an effective reliever,” General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said.

Willis has never been in that role, so why would you guarantee a contract to someone for a role you are only predicting they can thrive in based on split stats. You don’t know how they can handle it.

LOOGYs, as they’re called, typically don’t pitch much more than 50 innings, and those are typically the primary left-handers in teams’ bullpens. Antonio Bastardo will be the premier left-handed option, and will be the one used late in games. 

The last true LOOGY and second left-handed option out of the Phillies bullpen was Scott Eyre in 2009. Eyre pitched 30 innings that year, and that was on a team whose rotation does not pitch deep into games as frequently as this rotation does.

So does the role warrant the increased salary?

Willis threw 75.2 innings last year in his 13 starts from the rotation. That’s about as many innings as you could expect from one of the better relief pitchers in the game, something Willis is not. In fact, it’s actually more than each league’s Rolaids relief pitcher, Jose Valverde from the American League and John Axford from the National League.

It’s safe to say that if Willis truly is signed to be a second LOOGY this season, he won’t pitch half the amount of innings he did last year, which raises doubts as to whether he will actually be a LOOGY this season.

That being the case, what are the Phillies paying for with the additional salary?

The Jimmy Rollins connection has been made, but it’s hard to believe the Phillies brought in Willis to court his friend and former schoolmate in high school. You would have to think that the Phillies were going to sign Rollins anyway. If anything, Willis benefits from Rollins more than Rollins would ever benefit from Willis.

The smooth shortstop could take a step forward and calm Willis, who suffers from an anxiety disorder when innings start to slip away from him. What benefit could Rollins possibly have with Willis on the team, other than a friend to hand out with after the game? 

With that ruled out, we’ll keep looking, and look at Willis’ contract. An incentive that was included in it adds an interesting twist and suggestion to what his role could be:

If Willis reaches 30 plate appearances during the season, he will receive an additional $25,000.

That is an unusual clause to be included in a reliever’s contract. J.C. Romero had a clause in his contract that he signed last year that would allow him to receive a bonus—if he won a Silver Slugger. But Willis’ clause is interesting because it is for a counting stat that is achieved just by literally being in games, and not so much one for an achievement that is as unlikely as a situational left-hander whose last at-bat was in the 2008 World Series (which wouldn’t even count for consideration) getting national attention as the best hitter at his position in the league.

What could make them and Willis agree to this clause? 30 plate appearances really is not that high for a pitcher. Willis made 34 trips to the plate in a partial season last year.

One way he could accumulate plate appearances is by pitching for more than one inning and staying in the game when the lineup runs through him. He hit .387 last year, so it is reasonable that they could do that. Even so, that would be troubling because it suggests the Phillies are trailing early and need to heavily rely on their bullpen for that game, as they would seemingly be needing to save Bastardo.

Do you really think the organization saw Halladay, Lee and Hamels blowing early leads often, and enough to make them want to sign Dontrelle Willis and ensure him coming here with that clause?

That can’t be the reason why. 

Another obvious way to accumulate plate appearances is if Willis is called on to pinch-hit. How many times do you see a relief pitcher pinch hit? It’s not like he can pinch-hit and then stay in the game to pitch—he needs to warm up; he needs some extra time to do so being a former starter.

Willis likely realizes this, and wouldn’t settle on 30 as the magic number to kick the clause into place.

That leaves only one way: Willis being a starting pitcher. This is obviously the most likely way to get steady plate appearances so could Willis possibly being a starting pitcher be in the back of their minds?

Thirty plate appearances as a starting pitcher is not as much as it seems, it could be achieved in maybe 12 starts, or two months in the rotation. Maybe even getting seven to eight starts could get him in position to flirt with reaching 30 through the other previously discussed methods.

Could the Phillies be planning to audition Willis for a starting spot in Spring Training?

They have a history of doing this, and sometimes even letting them take a spot should they put up a spring performance that warrants one.

Pitching coach Rich Dubee gave Jose Contreras a look for a starting gig before 2010. You’ll remember the ill-advised promise Amaro made to Chan Ho Park before the 2009 season to lure him to Philadelphia. Park was promised that he would have every chance to get a spot in the rotation, should he earn one.

Park had no business starting but competed with J.A. Happ, among others, for the final spot. Going into the offseason, it had appeared that Happ had the spot was Happ’s to lose. You could draw a parallel to that year’s situation to this upcoming year’s with Vance Worley. The only difference is Worley will have much more experience going into the upcoming year than Happ did in 2009.

But if the Phillies do make it a competition, things could get dicey. spring training games and performances are often hard to gauge because of the lack of steady, major league lineups pitchers will have to face. A pitcher could have a solid spring due to facing several poor teams who the Phillies caught while they were in split-squad action.

It creates skewed numbers, and if a pitcher has solid numbers, it is hard to justify any other determinant for that rotation spot.  

The 30 plate appearances clause would make more sense and have more significance, because it could be used as a method of increasing Willis’ salary for good play. If he’s making enough starts to get those PAs, meaning they keep running him through the rotation, chances are he’s being adequate enough.

Given his recent pitching history, that’s unlikely. So if there is more to this move and they really are looking at Willis in the rotation, this could become ugly.

Remember, the thought was the Reds would audition him exclusively as a third or even fourth left-handed option out of the bullpen when they signed him last season. He ended up making 13 starts and appearing in the batter’s box 34 times.

It’s an intriguing and curious move any angle you look at it. It’s also very worrisome.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies: 10 Ways To Replace Roy Oswalt in the Rotation

The Phillies declined to offer arbitration to Roy Oswalt earlier this month, an indication that they do not see him as part of their plans for future seasons. Oswalt is coming off back injuries and had a mediocre season last year as one of the Phillies’ “four aces”.

A veteran of 11 seasons, Oswalt is a three-time All-Star and was a big reason why the Phillies were able to turn their 2010 season around and reach the postseason.

Oswalt finished 2011 with a record of 9-10 and a 3.69 ERA after making 23 starts. With him, the Phillies won a franchise record 102 games.

It is even possible they could upgrade the position and get more than nine wins in 23 starts, but at the very least they should be able to have a successful 2012 season, regardless of the replacement.

Here are 10 options they have to fill the slot, as well as what potential impact each one could have.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 11 J-Roll Moments from Jimmy Rollins

The show goes on in Philadelphia. Jimmy Rollins will be back after signing a three-year deal with the Phillies, along with a vesting option for a possible fourth year.

Rollins, No. 11, will make a reported $11 million annually for the contract to play with the team he’s been the starting shortstop the past 11 years.

So what can we expect from J-Roll the next few years? Maybe some more J-Roll moments. He’s had many already.

Here are the 11 greatest moments of the Phils $11 million/year shortstop, from the past 11 years. 

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Philadelphia Phillies: Why Trading Domonic Brown Right Now Makes Sense

Think back to July 2009 when the Phillies were hot for Roy Halladay. The only way they could get him from Toronto was a package that included Domonic Brown. Talks stalled and eventually the trade deadline passed without a move.

During the offseason and 2009 Winter Meetings, the teams revisited the idea of trading Halladay to the Phillies. The Phillies again refused to let go of Brown and eventually they settled on three other prospects in exchange for Halladay.

Catcher Travis d’Arnaud seemingly replaced Brown in the deal that was agreed upon, and the Phillies also sent Michael Taylor and Kyle Drabek, both of whom were rumored to be part of the deal, to Toronto.

Recently, the Phillies made an attempt to get d’Arnaud back from Toronto, seemingly implying regret. Remember, this trade happened on the same day as another trade that sent a player to Seattle whom the Phillies ended up bringing back.

If it was Brown and not d’Arnuad that the Phillies had traded, would they have been calling Toronto two years later to reacquire him?

With the way Brown has played in his two partial seasons of Major League ball, it wouldn’t even be a thought. Instead, you have to wonder if Roy Halladay is insulted that the team refused to give up a struggling outfielder for his potential Hall-of-Fame talents.

Brown has contributed to making Halladay look bad with some of his blunders in the outfield. You’ll recall his helpless dive forward in attempt to be on Sports Center on a ball hit in the ninth inning of a shutout bid for Halladay.

 

The ball went past him and resulted in a triple by the baserunning-challenged Miguel Montero. If Brown played it correctly, it would have just been a single, not a run-scoring triple.

 

That was just one of many blunders by the oft-struggling corner outfielder.

There have been some other notable screw-ups, such as mistaking a ground-rule double for a foul ball, not being interested in touching a base he knew he missed, failing to back up plays in the outfield and, of course, jogging to first base three times in the same game.

There was also this game against Syracuse in a AAA double header.

To say the least, Brown has made a fool of himself in his two big-league seasons.

So where does he fit into the Phillies’ plans? It’s tough to find him a spot, for 2012 or the beyond.

John Mayberry Jr. is under club control through 2016. He has clearly outplayed Brown after slugging .513 last season, and is better than Brown in every aspect of the game except maybe foot speed. Mayberry makes up for this very marginal difference with being a smart, sound baserunner, contrary to Brown.

Hunter Pence is under control through 2013. He’s a two-time All-Star, if you needed any justification to play him in right field over Brown. He also led all Phillies regulars in batting average in 2011.

 

You can forget about considering him for that “left-handed-bat-of-the-bench” role. Ahead of him for that role is future Hall-of-Famer Jim Thome.

The Phillies also brought in reserve outfielder Laynce Nix with a two-year contract. Nix too bats left-handed and hit 16 home runs last season.

 

If Brown does not have a clear path to return to the Majors, what is the point of keeping him? Depth at this point may be the only motivation, but that’s no reason to keep him.

Theoretically, if Toronto wanted him more than d’Arnaud, then they would accept a Brown-for-d’Arnaud deal, right?

Not anymore, not the way Brown’s stock has plummeted. He’s been exposed. It’s going to continue to plummet if they keep exposing each and every one of his flaws.

Before Brown’s stock falls anymore, it’s time to make a move and at least get something.

In what is a pretty obvious correlation, the more a prospect is exposed as being a fraud, the more their value decreases.

They no longer will have a chance to capitalize on a J.A. Happ-type hot start to a career to score a big return. Brown’s lack of a hot start is at fault for that one.

Just as a prospect’s return value can reach a high, it can also reach a low: nothing.

Consider Brandon Wood, who hit 144 home runs in fewer than four full Minor League seasons. After hitting .168 in his first five seasons for the Angels, it became evident that he was not a big-league hitter. When the Angels moved on, they could not get anything in return for him; they had to cut him.

 

Before Brown reaches the point of becoming a bust, which is starting to look likely, try and settle for getting at least something for him.

 

There have been a few players and teams that have been in similar positions to the one in which Brown and the Phillies now find themselves.

Cameron Maybin, who at age 23 (same as Brown is now), was traded to San Diego for two quality relievers. Maybin was a highly-touted prospect (traded for Miguel Cabrera), but had a start to his Marlins career below expectations. They capitalized on whatever value he still had left and made sure they got something for him.

Former Mets prospect Lastings Milledge, who like Brown would often Cadillac his way through games, was traded to Washington following the 2007 season, his second in the Majors, for starting catcher Brian Schneider and starting outfielder Ryan Church.

Again, the team that traded the plummeting prospect got significant value in return.

An important thing to remember this offseason is that the Phillies are in win-now mode. Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee are in their mid 30s. Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are getting there.

Brown’s career WAR is below 0, meaning his replacement literally would result in more wins than he does. In other words, he’s not contributing in any way to the win-now mantra.

We have no indication he ever will. We don’t even have an indication he’ll have a spot, as he’s currently blocked at the two positions he plays.

Get something while you still can.

 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Realistic Offseason Moves the Phils Need to Make

The Phillies have often followed up Winter Meetings with substantial moves the following week. They use the meetings to set groundwork for moves, and they finalize them once they return home.

With this being the week on the calendar which saw moves such as the Raul Ibanez signing, Roy Halladay trade and Cliff Lee signing, there is reason to believe Ruben Amaro will be active this week. We already have seen him move Ben Francisco as part of his reconstruction of the bench.

Monday night will also see the team tender contracts to their arbitration-eligible players. Matt Gelb reports that a source says the Phillies expect to tender contracts to Wilson Valdez and Kyle Kendrick.

Fans of Cole Hamels, as well as those who enjoy “Pence’s Proverb,” should have no reason to worry about Hamels and Pence being non-tendered. They’ll be back.

So what could be next? Having already been active, the Phillies have addressed several spots on the roster. However, there are still five types of moves the Phillies will look into making during the remainder of the offseason, ranked in order of when you should expect to see them occur.

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2011 MLB Free Agents: Determining Jimmy Rollins’ Value on the Market

Determining the open market for a baseball player can be difficult and very ambiguous. It is even more so for a shortstop with more tools than most because of the scarcity of the position.

In the following presentation, we look at a breakdown of each aspect of Rollins’ game and assign a monetary value to it, as dictated by the market.

We will cover everything from hitting, base running, fielding, intangibles, signing him away from the Phillies and contract length.

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