Remember Springers a type A FA. Mercker looks the best fit in the short-term, he’s a veteran who had a very good year last year and he’s down in the pecking order with so many decent relievers still available.

the reality is that if our bullpen isnt as good as it was last year, our starting rotation suddenly isnt really as good as you think it is. blanton, myers, moyer, happ/5th starters were all baied out after 5-6 innings by this bullpen. if the bullpen does not repeat this performance then its all on the 2-5 starters to log more innings or else the rotation will regress.

i recommend bringing in another starting pitcher or another bullpen arm or both ro really bolster this staff. they have to without romero. look, i dont think they need to go out and spend all kinds of money and sign all kinds of people, but sitting back and saying they dont even need to bring in just simply reenforcements to cover for romero or to compete for the 5th starter spot is just being too complacent. its ok if they have a logjam in their bullpen when romero comes back, in fact, i want that to be the case. it means theyre in great shape and they then have more assets with which to improve whatever other areas of the squad may need help midway through the season.

so, at the very least, id like to see them sign joe beimel or russ springer, and odalis perez. that should all be really cheap, affordable options who at the very least can come in and log innings for this staff. perez can compete for the 5th starter spot. also….the longer ben sheets lingers out there the more his price and year commitment will come down…once the desperate mets, braves and angels make their moves, there will be a paucity of spots left for some quality starters out there and the phillies can grab one of them like garland or sheets for cheap. thats a possibility at this stage because the prices after lowe and oliver perez are going to go way down.

i recommend a few astute bargain moves, like some of those by the red sox, would plug some holes in this squad and bolster a pithcing sraff that could use a few fresh arms in there to make it dominant once more.

This is in some way a rare opportunity presented, the Phils can really work someone early without worrying about him later in the year with JC Romero being one of the best mid-season acquisition any team will have this year. Too good a name though could really upset the set-up of the bullpen and leave someone like Park who could be very useful rusty and ineffective.

anyways, if overwork is your concern, how badly will it hurt to put another few bodies in teh mix in teh starting/bullpen sets to add competition and depth? depth is good especially since last year everything magically went strangely well with this rotation…

I also agree that we need our starters to go further into games this year. Last year we knew we’d probably see Condrey or Durbin every time Moyer or Kendrick pitch….ughh..and Eaton!

I’d expect the rumors of a replacement for Romero are exaggerated, makes no sense to add more than a stop-gap veteran reliver (preferably a lety) on a minor-league deal. Wouldn’t mind seeing Jnr add a veteran starter to a minor-league deal too with the multitude of them camping on the scrap-heap.

As for Park, he will probably make a good spot starter/LR guy. Luckily the Phils didn’t need spot starters often in 2008, and when they did, Happ stepped up and did a good job. I’m hoping Happ takes the 5th in 2009, however.

Is no one concerned about Madson? If he doesn’t fufill the SU role everyone just assumes he will, then Durbin suceeding or a trade will be very necessary. There’s depth, but are any of these guys that great? Is it because Madson’s a FA next year so we’re all sure he’ll show his Sept ’08 lights out form for all of 2009 that no-one questions his new role?

BTW – what ever happened to JD Durbin? Was he released or is he still in the system?