How Roy Halladay Could Have Been a Philadelphia Phillie
I have a question for all you Phillies fans out there: Do you want Roy Halladay?
Of course, that answer is yes on all accounts. There would probably be one or two saying no out of a survey of 100 people, but the large majority would answer that question with a yes, maybe with an adjective or two along with it.
Well, I know how to get Roy Halladay a spot in the Phillies rotation.
First, I’m going to hire a group of the top five scientists and engineers to figure out a way to create a time machine. Maybe Dr. Emmett Brown can help out a little.
The year we would go back to would be 1995.
Why 1995, you ask?
Well, here’s that answer: In the 1995 MLB Draft, the Philadelphia Phillies drafted outfielder Reggie Taylor with the 14th overall selection. Like 16 other teams, the Phils passed over high school pitcher Roy Halladay, who was drafted at No. 17 by the Toronto Blue Jays.
Mike Arbuckle, who is now the senior advisor to general manager Dayton Moore of the Kansas City Royals, was responsible for the scouting of players and the core of the current Phillies team, which includes Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Cole Hamels.
Arbuckle said that drafting Taylor over Halladay was his biggest regret with the Phillies, via Sam Mellinger’s Twitter. Take it as it is (Twitter you’re saying), but that’s not much of a surprise. It’s pretty obvious that would be one of this biggest mistakes.
Let’s compare Taylor to Halladay.
Taylor played just 14 games with the Phillies and 235 games with the Cincinnati Reds. While with the Reds he had 14 home runs and 57 RBI. In four seasons in the National League, Taylor had a .141 batting average. He didn’t fare any better in the American League; he had a .182 average in 11 at-bats with Tampa Bay.
He was a bust.
On the other hand, Halladay has been nothing less than a joy to watch. He’s arguably the best pitcher in baseball; he has been this season. “Doc” has a career record of 141-67 with a career ERA of 3.46. Halladay has 43 complete games in his career and 38 since 2003.
Those numbers are just a small indicator of how great he really has been. Last season, he was 20-11 with a 2.78 ERA with nine complete games. This season, he has been the same great Doc Halladay, with the MLB-best record of 10-1 and an ERA of 2.52 with three complete games and a shutout. He has 100 innings pitched in 13 games.
By the numbers, and common sense, Halladay was the better player. He was the best pick of that draft far and beyond.
Another way is to sell the farm and give another one or two major league players for Halladay. That’s, of course, if the Jays would trade Halladay. Why would they anyway? They are still in contention, but with Dustin McGowan coming back, the Jays could trade Halladay because they do have some holes on their roster.
The best way of getting Halladay into the Phillies’ uniform is to find Dr. Brown and the time machine, and convince Arbuckle and the Phils to draft him in 1995.
Philadelphia Phillies: Say No To Penny, Glavine and Padilla
The Philadelphia Phillies are looking everywhere for a starting pitcher (as if that’s a surprise to anyone) and they are looking at the top-of-the-rotation to end-of-the-rotation guys.
Names like Erik Bedard, Roy Oswalt, and Jake Peavy have been linked to the Phillies in the last week or so, but the lower-end pitchers have also been somehow linked with the Phillies.
With Brett Myers season likely over after hip surgery, the Phillies are in need for another pitcher, preferably a top-of-the-rotation guy. However, they have been also looking at a middle-to-low guy as well.
Take Brad Penny for instance.
Penny signed a one-year deal with a base salary of $5 million after struggling in 2008 and having a injury-filled season for the Dodgers, which got his option dropped and made him a free agent. He later signed with the Boston Red Sox.
Thus far into the season, Penny is 5-1 with a 5.63 ERA in 10 starts. The record is nice, but the ERA is way too high for my liking. He worries me too much, but you would think that he wouldn’t cost much.
Well that assumption is wrong.
Buster Olney of ESPN reported that the Phillies heard the Red Sox would want Jason Donald for Penny. I would have hung up the phone the second they said Jason and told them no thank you. Penny is not even close of a prospect of Donald’s caliber.
Why waste a talent like Donald on an average pitcher at best? Why not package Donald along with some other top prospects for a guy with the talent of Oswalt or Peavy? That makes more sense to me.
BaseballDigest.com suggested that the Phillies are going to sign either Tom Glavine or Vincente Padilla. Five year ago, I would have said yes to Glavine. Now, that reply would be an easy no thank you. Don’t get me started on the situation with the classless Atlanta Braves and how they handled his Glavine’s release, but he isn’t what the Phils need.
Padilla is a quick no because of a number of reasons. He failed here before, and he hasn’t been all-too-well in Texas. So what makes you think he can do anything with the Phillies this time? He was waived because he is making way too much money and well frankly, he doesn’t deserve anything over a million or two.
What I would do is keep Antonio Bastardo in the rotation for another week or two, maybe a little longer. See if you can acquire a big-name guy who can not only help this team get by without Myers, but make their rotation dominate and give Cole Hamels another guy to take the pressure off of him (not that he can’t handle it).
Go put together a package for Peavy, have the Padres accept the deal, and then have them go ask Peavy whether he’ll accept the deal to Philadelphia. If not, go after Oswalt and see if he’ll come to Philly. If not, go get Bedard or someone else on the market that we don’t know about yet.
Want to shoot for the moon, call Toronto and offer them a package of your top-five prospect and J.A. Happ in exchange for Roy Halladay. Do something that will make a huge impact on the team instead of small one that won’t help the team get back to the World Series.
Why Peavy Might Accept Trade to Philly Now
The burning question this past week: would Jake Peavy accept a trade to the Philadelphia Phillies?
I figured out the answer to that question.
Yes, he would.
This is what I believe. I think that he hasn’t said that he would or would not accept a trade to Philly, because he wanted to see how good they were in person, and after his one inning of work on Tuesday night, he figured out the answer to that question.
Here would be his response:
“As long as I don’t have to face those guys again, I’ll go!”
Peavy had the start on Tuesday against the Phillies, and lasted only one inning against the defending champions. He allowed four runs on three hits, and two walks in just one lousy inning.
Sure, maybe he had the flu, and maybe that ankle was bothering him, but it just comes to prove, the Phillies are for real, they’re contenders, and he saw that in person.
Peavy refused to answer any questions about trades until after he pitched against the Phillies. I wonder why he chose not to answer any questions until after he faced the Phillies—a team he’s been linked to lately.
Is it because he wanted to see how good the Phillies are? If he would accept a trade to Philly, is there a good enough chance to win the World Series to move his family across the United States? Maybe the reason why he only threw one inning is because he’ll be suiting up for the Phillies in the series finale against the Padres?
Lets face the facts: The Phillies are the best team in the National League, no matter what the Dodgers are doing. To me, the Phillies will remain the best team in baseball this year, until someone beats them in the playoffs, or wins that championship. That’s how it is for any team: you win the championship, you’re the best team…until someone takes it from you.
The Dodgers may be the best, record-wise in the N.L., but when push comes to shove, can they win in October against the Phillies? Who knows. Last year they proved they can’t. This year is probably a different story, but we won’t know that answer until October, when they meet in the NLCS again.
Back to Peavy. I wonder what really was going through his mind when he was walking off the mound after the first inning. Was it, “Damn, these guys are good!”
It’s a known fact that Peavy is not a fan of Citizens Bank Park, he said so two years ago. But he wants to come to a National League contender, preferably on the West Coast. The only contender on the west coast that is in the N.L. is Los Angeles, and if Peavy thinks that the Padres would trade him to L.A., he’s insane.
The only way he can go to a National League team that is a contender is if he packs his bag and move east, whether to Philly, St. Louis, Milwaukee, or even New York, to play for those measly Mets that have no chance.
Peavy, you’ll have to make your decision soon; July 31 will be here before you know it. Do you want to stay on the West Coast and play for the Padres, who aren’t going anywhere, or do you really want to play for a contender in the National League?
The answers will come, although I doubt he’ll be a Phillie.
Raul Ibanez: Writing His Own Legacy in Philadelphia
When the Phillies made it official that Pat Burrell would not return to Philadelphia, there was a huge void to fill in left field—both in the clubhouse and the stands as well.
Enter Raul Ibanez.
The Phillies signed Ibanez to a three-year deal this past winter to replace a fan-favorite—who by the way, the Phillies had plenty of chances to resign.
Not only did Ibanez have to replace Burrell, but he needed to replace his numbers as well.
With Burrell out of the lineup, the Phils lost a 30 home run, 100 RBI-guy and the only big threat in the lineup that was a natural right-handed at-bat. With Ibanez, the Phillies were getting a 20-25 home run, 100-RBI guy from the left side of the plate.
The fans were confused, angered and, frankly, not surprised with the move. Why did the Phillies add another lefty in a left-handed dominant lineup? Why did they let Pat get away? What are they thinking?
Ibanez was advertised as the same bat with a better average, better fielder and three years older.
When you looked at his numbers over his career, you saw that he got better as he got older. In the first four full seasons in the majors, Ibanez wasn’t anything special.
In his fifth full season, he drove in 100 runs for the first time when he was a Kansas City Royal. Over the next five seasons, Ibanez drove in on average 115 runs per year. While averaging 26 homers, with his career high being 33 hit in 2006.
So when you looked at the numbers, you knew the Phillies were getting a pretty good player.
Except one thing was missing. He wasn’t Pat Burrell.
As every fan does, it easy to compare the two guys at similar positions. From first sight, you see Burrell produced more runs and homers on average. In eight seasons with the Phillies, Burrell averaged 31 home runs—his career high is 37 hit in 2002—and 103 RBIs.
The biggest difference between the two: batting average.
Ibanez had a significantly higher average that Burrell.
So that was a positive in Ibanez’s favor.
Burrell’s low average and high strikeout numbers always were the negatives to his play, and of course, his fielding. However his high strikeouts and low average weren’t stressed as much as Ryan Howard’s numbers are now.
The fans always gave Burrell the benefit of the doubt because he always came up with a big hit when he needed it and his constant Met-killing. Burrell is second behind Chipper Jones for most career home runs against the Mets.
However, ask any Phillies fan, and they won’t lie. They never expected what Ibanez has done in the first 20 games with the Phillies.
Ibanez has made the city of Brotherly Love forget about Pat Burrell—the guy who received the biggest ovation at the ring ceremony—and has started writing his own legacy in Philadelphia.
Through 20 games this year, Ibanez has seven home runs, 17 RBIs, 20 runs, 11 walks, 3 stolen bases and leads the team with a .359 batting average.
He assisted in the Phillies epic comeback victory against the Atlanta Braves, had a walk-off solo home run against the San Diego Padres and the moment of the season thus far, Ibanez had the go-ahead grand slam against the Washington Nationals.
In 20 games, he already has some home runs and hits that Phillies fans will look back at when the season is over and say, “Remember that Ibanez homer?”
Not only has he filled the void with his bat, but he has done more than a swell job in left field as well. He has proven the city wrong about the perception that he isn’t a good defensive player.
He has made some great grabs in the field, thrown out a runner or two at home and has given manager Charlie Manuel the chance to keep him in the game after the seventh inning.
If you want to compare through 20 games how Ibanez and Burrell have done, then you’ll find out that Ibanez has been white-hot, while Burrell is off to another slow start.
Let’s take a look at Burrell’s stats through 20 games with the Rays:
1 HR, 9 RBI, 15 SO, 14 BB, .268 AVG.
The numbers say that Ibanez has been the better signing, but it’s too early to really compare the two players. At the end of the season and where the two teams are, that’s when we’ll know who got the better deal.
I can’t remember the last Phillie to win over the city in such a short period of time than Ibanez.
Certainly, “Raauuullll” has been a big difference maker for the Phillies in the first 20 games of the season.
The only question can he hit like this for the rest of the season?