Comments on: At The Half: Step It Up A Little, James

By: Chase

Chase — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:24:08 +0000

blanton is actually a great pitcher if he is consistent. look at the game by game stats. he comes cheap too.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=7461

By: cramer

cramer — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:18:34 +0000

The phillies got blanton. What the fuck!!!!!

By: oaklandphilsphan

oaklandphilsphan — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:16:40 +0000

I think its a good trade. Blanton’s gonna eat innings, he’s better than Eaton and we didn’t give up carrasco or marson. Moyer on Fri, Kendrick Sat, Hamels Sun, Blanton Tues, and Myers on Wed. Taguchi gets released for the roster spot, Eaton gets moved to the pen, and Swindle leaves when we get a bat off the bench at the deadline.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:16:07 +0000

i wonder if they have the balls to put him in the rotation as the number two. hes a decent three i suppose.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:14:09 +0000

hahahha, billy beane is an awesome general manager. give up some average innings eater for a guy thats going to be an all star and filler. damn, hes good.

gillick did need to act earlier. but this guys 27 and is under contract for a while at least. they better go beef up the offense if all they want out of their pitching is innings

By: Gavin

Gavin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:13:41 +0000

hey, just gotta hope it works out. Thats all you can do. He’s just like Myers and Eaton. He has good stuff, but………

By: TJ

TJ — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:09:51 +0000

Cardenas is gonna be a hell of a player too. Fuck Gillick, he blows. We could’ve gotten someone alot better if we had acted earlier this month.

By: TJ

TJ — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:08:44 +0000

If its CC or Cardenas I’ll be pissed. Donald and Golson hopefully.

By: Gavin

Gavin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:08:13 +0000

We got robbed. We gave them Cardenas, Outman, and Matt Spencer. The Cubs gave them less for Harden. This better pay off.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:58:30 +0000

From Rotoworld.com:

Report: Phillies acquire RHP Blanton

ESPN’s Buster Olney says the Phillies have acquire Joe Blanton from the A’s for three minor leaguers.

No word yet on the prospect, but the A’s needed to get either Carlos Carrasco or Adrian Cardenas here. Infielder Jason Donald and catcher Lou Marson are the Phillies’ next-best prospects. Getting both Carrasco and Donald would have been a coup for the A’s. What this does for the Phillies’ plans for Brett Myers is unclear. If Myers would be happy in a setup role, it’d now make sense for the Phillies to convert him. Jul. 17 – 6:49 pm et

By: Gavin

Gavin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:53:55 +0000

I guess its better than Eaton. We’ve place 1st place baseball with Eaton in our rotation, lets just all hope and pray that he’s an upgrade. Dennis Cook anyone?

I hope we’re not done. I still think Randy Winn is very much needed on this team.

By: MIKE FLO

MIKE FLO — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:51:24 +0000

well this ensures the phillies wont actually get a good starting pitcher at the trading deadline

By: Gavin

Gavin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:50:13 +0000

Anyone know who we gave them?

By: Bruce

Bruce — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:48:30 +0000

It’s easy to speculate with hindsight but I had wondered prior to this season whether Rollins can duplicate his MVP year or be true to his career stats of the previous eight seasons. I think I’m beginning to get the answer with 66 games to go this season when I look at his……

Career average: .277 BA, 16 HRs, 70 RBIs, 110 runs, 37 SB, .332 OBP

As TIm said, this season his power numbers (HRs, RBIs, OPS) are way down and more significantly he has scored only 39 runs so far. Of course, one must take into consideration the time spent on DL and the difficulty in finding his rhythm & stroke in hitting once back into the lineup. Rollins usually does well in the 2nd half of the season and can built on his current stats. However, the Phillies better not pin ALL of their hopes on Rollins to help them get into the playoffs. Victorino, Utley and the rest of the lineup must pick up the slack.

By: chris m

chris m — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:40:15 +0000

we just got blanton. What a jk gillick is

By: fred

fred — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:13:29 +0000

Last year Rollins’ OPS was .875, so how can your prediction of a .779 OPS be ”similar to last seasons MVP year” ? A 100 point drop off is huge, although not unexpected due to last years spike in his power numbers. His slugging pct. last year was 50 points higher than it had ever been before, so a return to an OPS of about .840 would’ve been a reasonable expectation. However you are right about him not living up to general expectations, and having him on base in front of Utley, Howard and Burrell would make a world of difference. Interestingly Victorino also has suffered a 15 point decrease in his slugging pct., but because of his remaining more healthy this year than last he’s on pace to smash his total of XBH from last season. A bit more power in the 1 and 2 holes would be terrific.

By: clicheguevara

clicheguevara — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:50:13 +0000

A little snippet from another Phillies blog that portents good times:

“in 60 July plate appearances, Rollins has posted a .321/.400/.472 line, and his overall .274/.340/.438 line is a bit ahead of his career first-half averages: .269/.321/.421. For his career, Rollins has hit .288/.346/.468 after the all-star break.”