The point is there are moves that people would love to do, but you have to be realistic… 2 years ago everyone wanted Barry Zito… look how well that turned out. I really like the Phillie stance of not going too long on a deal for a pitcher, as a fan it sucks, but as fans that really know the sport, we have to realize what is better for the team.

Like all the morons that wanted the Phillies to pay Howard $20 million this year… WHY? They have him under control for the next few years…making $10 million a year is more than enough for the ryan K howard. Same thing with Hamels… lets see this guy win 18-20 games, stay healthy for a year, and then worry about overpaying him…

Also…again, we see this all around the league now: the brewers just signed ryan braun to a 7 year extension. this is what you have to do. the rays signed kazmir and shields longterm.

its really dangerous to meddle with arbitration with people like hamels and howard. they get really ticked off and it messesd up their mental approach (with howard). if i were a gm id see someone like hamels, look at the going rate for someone like him (fausto carmona) and tweak it and then offer him the deal. thats what every other GM does and gillick did with utley and jimmy. its all about buying out arb years and FA years. to their credit, chase utley is a bargain right now because they locked him up long term.

i like what bean has done with his team. they suffered for a while but he got rid of a lot of overpaid junk for primo prospects. although dan haren isnt junk of course, they just got an offer they couldnt refuse. Brett Myers as the Yankees closer post-rivera? interesting…

I agree that if the guy isnt horrible, he can close. Now, if youre a very good pitcher, you can be a lights out closer. Id make two rotation moves. First, Id take myers and sell him as a closer to someone that needs one. I see a lot of teams on the mlb stats list that have too many blown saves. Basically, if a team doesnt have a top 10 closer then theyd be interested in myers. You trade them myers plus a prospect or adding madson is a good idea and you take a number 2 guy in return. Blanton eats innings but the A’s wouldnt do that. Baltimore would take it with cabrera (he is better than our number 3 so id take him). id take burnett and try to extend his deal for 3 years if he stays healthy down the stretch. i dont care about their self-imposed salary cap. im trying to win here… id also go out and get a starter to solidify the back end of the rotation and replace adam eaton. im not counting on benson, if he can help us thats fine.

there are some other guys as well but i have to end my mid-morning break and get back to work.

Question: If the Phillies (22-19) are “not a good team”, what team is in the NL East Division at this moment? ;-)

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its like the marian hossa thing. the penguins wont be able to keep him, so if they dont win the cup they gave up a bunch of guys for no rings

by the way, you gotta like the rays stepping up to the plate and signing their top two starters long-term. good for them. who did the mets give up kazmir for anyway? i dont remember. couldnt have been a good trade.

If you were another GM… would you give up young top pitching prospects, or an established #2 for Ryan Howard or Brett Myers??

Eaton was a bad signing, but considering what Silva, Vicente Padilla, etc… get per year, its not that bad. The key to winning right now is developing your farm system through trades and draft…. not trading away your system for stars (ala Yankees).

I really think that they need to decide that Brett Myers is a closer, not a starter… and sell that idea to a team that needs a Closer. Get what you can for the guy and def by next year Carrasco is in the rotation, maybe see what happens with Savery, Outman and those guys

most teams have the ability to put someone from the minors in their rotation and have it work every year or if theres no room, then use them in a trade.

what it comes down to is they DID go and make a carlos silva signing when they signed adam eaton. you cant throw money at that junk, so youre right there. carlos silva got 11mm per year! thats insane. freddy garcia’s injury killed them too. if those two things work out then they have plenty of pitching. thats gillicks fault for not doing his homework.

they can be like, oh were not cheap we spent money: yeah, but do you spend it wisely? there is no excuse for not adding lohse to the back end of your rotation though for that cut rate of 4mm. they made one good move this offseason. they needed to make one more (trade probably) and add number 2 starter. thats what they need to go deep into the playoffs (assuming everyone else is healthy). they also need someone else to stabilize the back end of the rotation. yes that all costs money (at least the 10mm they lied about spending) and yes they dont grow on trees. but if you want them you can get them.

also, its time for myers to go close for some team in the AL, because ive seen enough

As for Myers, we’re just going to have to endure him working through it, just like Howard. he’s proven he can be dominant in the bigs….so I think they will just have him work it out. As painful as it is for us.

As for the negativity……this is a blog….and most of us use this as an outlet to vent, So it is what it is. Chill. I agree that its almost always negative….me included….but thats the fun of it.

*MLB.com

Our SP shortage is more a factor of lack of available talent, the lesson learned from the Eaton debacle, and no serviceable MLB-ready talent to employ or trade away in the minors. Its real easy to GM when your hindsight is 20/20, and for all the talk of the Phils cheapskate ownership, the one player that was a great fit for the team was Lowell and they outbid everyone, but to no avail. The patchwork was the next best option.

I do agree that expectations may have been on the high side for Myers, but who could forsee this? He IS a career 4 ERA guy.

I love the rally they made at the end of the game.

but I have seen enough of brett myers. its time to get him on out of here and get whatever you can squeeze out of it for him. he gave up 8 runs!!!!!! technically. thats terrible. either get him out of here or zito him and make him a junk reliever.