Alfonseca finally signed his deal at the conclusion of winter ball (look at the sixth finger!). To recap, it's 380k guarenteed, and 700k if he appears on the roster, with incentives up to 1.1 mil. I will not be confident in this team if he is the 8th inning set up guy. At 34, he's a shell of his former self, and only lasted 19 games last season, being shut down with elbow problems and finally deactivated. After putting up a 1.69 ERA through his first 11 appearances, he finished with a 5.63 ERA. He gave up 8 earned runs in his last 5.1 innings. This move was dubbed a low risk, moderate reward signing. The problem is, it's only low risk if this guy pitches well in spring training and surprises people by making the roster. Right now, he's got the most experience in a young bullpen and is a candidate to be the set up guy to Flash. If he makes the team out of spring training, he should be at least 4th on the depth chart behind Madson, Geary, and hopefully a proven guy we get for Lieber.
Speaking of the bullpen, a minor transaction took place recently as the A's sent Kirk Saarloos to the Reds for a 25 yr old AA closer with a decent stuff and a chance to one day crack a major league bullpen as a set up guy. There were players to be named on both sides of this deal. Saarloos is a 5th starter/bullpen arm with average ground ball producing stuff. He won't blow anyone away, nor has great control, instead relying on the defense, especially up the middle, to make outs for him. Now here's the kicker, he only makes 1.2 mil this year. While Gillick has been stockpiling arms, why didn't he take a chance on Saarloos? Once we trade Lieber, we're going to be relying heavily on guys like Eude Brito if a starter gets injured (see Hamels, Eaton). Saarloos would have been a perfect guy to pitch the 6/7th inning, and provide spot starts for injuries. You can never have enough ground ball pitchers at the Bank, either. Unless they are getting a stud back in the "to be named" portion, couldn't we have traded a guy like, say Ryan Cameron (Who? Exactly. Who is David Schafer, the guy traded for Saarloos? Cameron is our AAA closer who projects as a middle bullpen guy and is ranked 42nd on scout.com's Phillies list.) I'd rather pay Saarloos 1.2 mil than Alfonseca 1.1 mil. But maybe Gillick never got wind of his availability. Who knows.
As anxious as I am for the Phils to trade Lieber, I do not want them to give him away. I trust Gillick to "Stand Pat" and wait for the best offer, even if it takes until spring training. If Clemens burns the Yanks, I'd imagine they would take a flier on Lieber, but they don't have much they'd let go from their pen. I would consider Lieber for Farnsworth and a minor prospect. Farnsworth had good years for the Cubbies in '01, '03, and then in '05 split between Detroit and Atlanta when he amassed 16 saves. That puts him on pace to have a good 07, right? But seriously, I would trust him a lot more than Alfonseca, and I would like Geary and Madson a lot more if they both got knocked down a peg on the pecking order.
By the way, I figured this out a while back and shared it with Jeff. In a weird twist of fate...when the Phils signed Lieber from the Yanks, they gave up their first round pick in the following draft. Who did the Yankees draft with that pick? CJ Henry, acquired in the Abreu trade. Funny how things work out. Henry is still only 20 (man I feel old) but he's striking out in a quarter of his ABs (call it the Jimmy Rollins effect), though he did hit .253 while at Lakewood. Even more alarming, he makes an error every other game in the field, with 13 in 25 games at Lakewood and 25 errors in 58 games with Charleston before the trade. The Abreu trade was necessary, and while his salary looks a lot better in the exploded market, Gillick couldn't predict that, and at least we aren't paying any of it.
Alfonseca finally signed his deal at the conclusion of winter ball (look at the sixth finger!). To recap, it's 380k guarenteed, and 700k if he appears on the roster, with incentives up to 1.1 mil. I will not be confident in this team if he is the 8th inning set up guy. At 34, he's a shell of his former self, and only lasted 19 games last season, being shut down with elbow problems and finally deactivated. After putting up a 1.69 ERA through his first 11 appearances, he finished with a 5.63 ERA. He gave up 8 earned runs in his last 5.1 innings. This move was dubbed a low risk, moderate reward signing. The problem is, it's only low risk if this guy pitches well in spring training and surprises people by making the roster. Right now, he's got the most experience in a young bullpen and is a candidate to be the set up guy to Flash. If he makes the team out of spring training, he should be at least 4th on the depth chart behind Madson, Geary, and hopefully a proven guy we get for Lieber.
Speaking of the bullpen, a minor transaction took place recently as the A's sent Kirk Saarloos to the Reds for a 25 yr old AA closer with a decent stuff and a chance to one day crack a major league bullpen as a set up guy. There were players to be named on both sides of this deal. Saarloos is a 5th starter/bullpen arm with average ground ball producing stuff. He won't blow anyone away, nor has great control, instead relying on the defense, especially up the middle, to make outs for him. Now here's the kicker, he only makes 1.2 mil this year. While Gillick has been stockpiling arms, why didn't he take a chance on Saarloos? Once we trade Lieber, we're going to be relying heavily on guys like Eude Brito if a starter gets injured (see Hamels, Eaton). Saarloos would have been a perfect guy to pitch the 6/7th inning, and provide spot starts for injuries. You can never have enough ground ball pitchers at the Bank, either. Unless they are getting a stud back in the "to be named" portion, couldn't we have traded a guy like, say Ryan Cameron (Who? Exactly. Who is David Schafer, the guy traded for Saarloos? Cameron is our AAA closer who projects as a middle bullpen guy and is ranked 42nd on scout.com's Phillies list.) I'd rather pay Saarloos 1.2 mil than Alfonseca 1.1 mil. But maybe Gillick never got wind of his availability. Who knows.
As anxious as I am for the Phils to trade Lieber, I do not want them to give him away. I trust Gillick to "Stand Pat" and wait for the best offer, even if it takes until spring training. If Clemens burns the Yanks, I'd imagine they would take a flier on Lieber, but they don't have much they'd let go from their pen. I would consider Lieber for Farnsworth and a minor prospect. Farnsworth had good years for the Cubbies in '01, '03, and then in '05 split between Detroit and Atlanta when he amassed 16 saves. That puts him on pace to have a good 07, right? But seriously, I would trust him a lot more than Alfonseca, and I would like Geary and Madson a lot more if they both got knocked down a peg on the pecking order. 
By the way, I figured this out a while back and shared it with Jeff. In a weird twist of fate...when the Phils signed Lieber from the Yanks, they gave up their first round pick in the following draft. Who did the Yankees draft with that pick? CJ Henry, acquired in the Abreu trade. Funny how things work out. Henry is still only 20 (man I feel old) but he's striking out in a quarter of his ABs (call it the Jimmy Rollins effect), though he did hit .253 while at Lakewood. Even more alarming, he makes an error every other game in the field, with 13 in 25 games at Lakewood and 25 errors in 58 games with Charleston before the trade. The Abreu trade was necessary, and while his salary looks a lot better in the exploded market, Gillick couldn't predict that, and at least we aren't paying any of it.
4 comments:
Hey nice blog fellas. See you got me linked, so of course I'll return the good natured favor.
Phils are my passion, let's hope this really is their year.
Awesome...I love Farnsworth and futurama. Top 5 best cartoon of all time.
SSaarrllooss walks more batters than he strikes out. His gb rate is nice, but more walks than K's is a recipe for disaster.
Oh wow...I should clarify. I love HUBERT Farnsworth. Not Kyle...I just realized my mistake
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