Phillies Nation

This post was written by our newest minor league contributor, Jay Floyd of PhoulBallz.com. Jay will focus squarely on the Phillies farm system for Phillies Nation moving forward, but you can check out the rest of his stuff over at Phoul Ballz. Welcome him to the PN family.

By Jay Floyd:

Travis “Moose” Mattair is headed back to baseball after experimenting in the world of Division I college basketball. Following a difficult 2010 spring training in minor league camp with the Phillies, Mattair made the decision to leave baseball and persue a dream of playing NCAA hoops.

Mattair was a member of the Lakewood BlueClaws (Phillies single A affiliate) team that won the South Atlantic League Championship in 2009. Mattair was an absolute fan favorite in Lakewood. His followers would call themselves “Mooseketeers” in reference to Mattair’s childhood nickname. As a member of the BlueClaws in 2008 & 2009, Mattair posted a .245 batting average while smacking 7 homeruns and driving in 91 runs in 255 games

As a two-time second team all-state (Washington) player as a guard in high school, Mattair once dreamed of playing for Gonzaga University under head coach Leon Rice.

After taking a leave of absence from baseball, Mattair, who stands 6-feet-5-inches tall, was technically listed as retired, but is still property of the Phillies and will be welcomed back at spring training in 2011.

“This was a huge step in my life and something that I needed to experience,” Mattair said in an exclusive interview. “I knew it was something I always wanted to do. It was something I had to try.”

Earlier this year, when Mattair decided to leave baseball and dive into the deep end of his own basketball dream pool, he contacted Coach Rice, who is now the head coach at Boise State University. Rice promised to give Mattair a fair shot with the team if he devoted himself to playing and working out with the men’s team throughout the summer.

After training hard, Mattair was offered the final roster spot with the Boise State Broncos, but was informed by Rice that he wouldn’t see any game time as a 21-year-old freshman. Over time, Mattair certainly could have earned playing time, but once summer was winding down, he got the itch for baseball and began missing the sport he had played professionally for more than 2 years. The wonders of college life and playing basketball, at a level more advanced than high school, began to fade. His passion for one sport became prevalent over the other and he decided to commit himself to a return to the baseball diamond.

“Baseball ended up being something I had to have,” said Mattair. “My parents and people told me I was going to miss it, but until you experience it yourself, (the advice) kind of went in one ear and out the other. Without (experiencing this) I don’t think I could have ever poured everything completely into baseball. And now I feel like baseball is going to be with me for a long, long time.”

Mattair, a 2nd round draft pick out of high school by the Phillies in the 2007 amateur draft, plans to head to the Phils’ spring training home, in Clearwater FL, in mid-January, long before minor leaguers would be required to report. He is anxious to prove himself worthy of a roster spot within the Phillies’ organization.

Phillies assistant general manager in charge of player development Chuck LaMar has been in contact with Mattair throughout his time away from baseball. Mattair appreciates how accomidating the Phillies were when he expressed interest in persuing another option. “The whole organization has been gracious enough to give me another spring training and another opportunity to make a team,” Mattair stated.

A common feature included in the contracts of players who are drafted out of high school is that MLB organizations typically pay for a college education later in life, at a time of the player’s choosing. The individual has 10 years to complete schooling once he begins, which was also a weighing factor for Mattair. Once the clock started on the college tuition payments, it would be more difficult to change gears and head back to baseball, so Mattair made the move back to the diamond before the time table was active on higher learning.

“I didn’t want to actually start a semester when I was leaning toward going back to baseball,” Mattair said.

After taking years off from competitive basketball, Mattair felt a bit rusty on the court and described his Broncos teammates as “more crisp” than he was. But, Mattair remains grateful to head coach Leon Rice and the team for giving him the opportunity to try his hand at something he often wondered about.

“It was a tremendous experience to play with a program like Boise State. Coach Rice gave me a fair shot and I can’t thank them enough.”

As expected, the Phillies have declined the $4.5 million team option on left-handed reliever J.C. Romero for 2011.

“Romeo” was signed to a three year, $12 million contract just before the 2008 season to be the situational lefty out of the pen. He did well in his role after signing as a free agent midway through the ’07 season, but was a shell of his former self this year.

In 2008, he was a key contributer for the World Series winning club. However, in 2009, he was nailed for performance-enhancing drug use and battled injuries the past two seasons. Romero will be given a $250,000 buyout.

Mark this one under obvious. Romero was not coming back at that price, both he and the Phillies were well aware of it well in advance. He’ll find work however, and if the Phillies do attempt to bring him back, a minor league deal would be proper.

Walking through the empty concourse, hearing the sounds of the machines working and the tractors tilling the field was a somber reminder that baseball in Philadelphia has ended prematurely. Gone were the workers setting up shop; rather, they were taking down signs from the NLCS and tearing down the memories of a season filled with unfulfilled promise.

It began in December 2009, actually. Roy Halladay was acquired, Cliff Lee was dealt to the northwest, and so began a new year with hopes, dreams, and aspirations as high as the sky would allow. Questions would linger well into the new year as to why Lee was traded – no one had an answer and on went life.  Spring training came and passed – but not before heards of Phillies faithful made their annual pilgrimage to the Gulf Coast for sun, sand, and baseball – and the hype surrounding this team was palpable.

Two weeks into the season the hype was warranted. A 7-1 start, including 64 runs scored in those eight games to open up 2010. Little could go wrong…until it did.

The Phillies misplaced their hitting shoes and slumped into a near-death state. Their low point was 48-46, seven games behind the Atlanta Braves for the NL East lead. It was a depth previously witnessed during the days of Marlon Anderson and Travis Lee; how could seven all-stars, a former Cy Young winner, an NLCS and World Series MVP, and more, take such a plunge? Questions were followed without answers; it simply made no sense.

The tides turned just as they hit the lowest of lows and by the time you were done refreshing MLBTradeRumors.com constantly, Roy Oswalt was settling in, and this team was grabbing hold of the NL East before a stunned Braves club knew what hit them. A seven-game deficit became a seven-game advantage in under two months. Still, questions remained but times were good again. The playoffs were a lock and all were smitten with the notion that October baseball was just a formality.

They finished the season with the best record in baseball, winning the National League by a wide margin. A 49-19 run to the finish line had the prognosticators and pundits in awe. This was the Phillies team of old – one that could not be stopped. A force to be reckoned with boasting two Roy’s and a Cole, many were sure the best of the rest would be unable to handle the myriad of weapons this team threw at you. All the while, there was still a slight funk in the air.

You could tell this club was different from 2008 and 2009, but we brushed it aside. A playoff no-hitter from Roy Halladay makes that easier to do. A 2-0 complete-game shutout from Cole Hamels overshadowed the offensive struggles. Still, no one cared – this train would not be stopped until it had run over everything in its path; Braves, Giants, Reds, Yankees, it didn’t matter. Until it didn’t happen.

San Francisco came to town showing the Phillies an old fashioned way of thinking. Contact hitting and stellar pitching ruled the series, ending the year prematurely. Giants fans rejoiced, something the Phillies faithful had become accustomed to, taking the NL Pennant in six games.

Yesterday, in his State of the Phillies address (or so it seemed), Ruben Amaro Jr. was grilled about the age concerns of his team moving forward, his payroll flexibility moving into free agency, and of course, whether or not Jayson Werth was moving.

Roy Halladay was asked about the devastation of packing up to early, but he sounded like a man who understands that nothing is just given to you in this game. “To be playing your best baseball in a two, three week period at the end of the season, you know, it’s definitely hard to do,” said the Phillies ace. “I dont think any of us had any allusions about that.” Needless to say, the team played some of its most uninspired baseball when it counted most.

Jayson Werth was the last to speak. He was his normal monotone, dry self, tossing out decent one-liners while also ripping a fellow media member who talked too much. But overall, it felt like a eulogy was being given, not a presser for one of Philly’s most beloved athletes. Werth closed up shop by saying “I definitely had a good time playing here in Philadelphia.” Sounds like a man who understands what the offseason is about to bring.

In closing, everyone from the fans to the front office realizes this was an opportunity missed. A year that began with such promise ended far too soon with one of their most prized players telling the world in a press conference that his time here might be finished. The situation in Philadelphia is far more enviable than in many other baseball towns, but that doesn’t make this season sting any less. Anything less than a World Series was a bust – everyone understood that. Now that the season has come and gone in the blink of an eye, can we think anything differently?

On a personal level, it was the end of my first season covering the team as part of the mainstream media, something many are unable to accomplish. I’m lucky in that I get to do what so many others want to do on a daily basis; I get to cover the team I grew up admiring. I’ll continue to do so, even in the offseason, so thanks for the support and helping make this site great.

Here are some interesting excerpts from Ruben Amaro’s press conference, which took place this morning at 11 a.m. He addresses such things as the Jayson Werth negotiations, the way the Phillies performed in the postseason, and how they’ll go about getting better.

Amaro on the cost of Werth: “I havent had any discussions with Scott yet…I guess the following question is, ‘do we have enough money to do it and would we like to bring him back?’ I think the the answer to both questions is, yes. However, that’ll kind of depend on what the ask is and ultimately how that’ll affect us on other possible moves we’d have to make to do that.”

Amaro on the length of a possible Werth deal: “I think length is always an issue, it’s probably the most poignant issue, always.”

Amaro on the season the Phillies had: “I think it was a successful year. It was a disappointing finish to the year because our expectations were that we were going to be the World Series champions. That’ll be our expectation next year as well. We did not perform as well as we would have liked when it was time to perform in the playoffs. I think pitching-wise we performed very well, offensively we did not. Defensively we did not, which is not characteristic of us.”

Amaro on the age issues with this team: “I think there’s three elements we have to be ready to handle this offseason. One is our six free agents, we have to deal with those. I think we have to deal with our age because we’re starting to move into and past the, you know, prime ages of production. And I think we have to address the bullpen, because it’s something that could be, or could have been, an Achillies heel.”

Yeah, do I think about the age – I do. Do we have to start filtering some youth into our club? Yes, I believe that too. At the same time, we want to be a contender again, so we have to balance those two things.”

Amaro on changing up the offense a bit: “I don’t know if we have to reconfigure…but I think what we have to do is…frankly, I didn’t like the way we approached our at-bats during the course of these last (few games). We had a two month period where we didn’t swing the bats well at all. Part of that is because we didn’t have our guys playing everyday and we didn’t have, necessarily, our health. And I think that probably contributed to it. But I think overall, our offensive approach – we kind of have to take a look at that and make sure we improve in that area.”

After a full day to digest the Phillies season-ending loss to the Giants in the National League Championship Series, it’s time to thoroughly assess the past, present, and future of this franchise. In the coming days we’ll look back on the season that was, all while preparing you for what should be an interesting offseason.

Preliminarily, there are several questions heading into the winter. Here are a few of them:

-Will Jayson Werth return?:

It’s unlikely in my opinion, but not out of the question. With Scott Boras now representing him, the picture got cloudier recently as we know Boras’s mantra: take as much as you can get for as long as you can get and don’t look back.

The numbers he has put up over the last three years along with the numbers Jason Bay and Matt Holliday received in free agency are the ones to look at. During Werth’s career, his 162-game average comes out to .272/25/85 with a .848 OPS. It’s the damage he’s done recently, both in the regular season and playoffs, that makes him a hot commodity. He’s now the Phillies all-time leader in home runs n the postseason, and is a very good patroller of right field. Someone will pay top dollar for him.

What exactly is top dollar? Everyone believed Matt Holliday’s seven year, $120 million contract from last offseason was a bit much. However, it was Boras that executed it with the Cardinals. Bay netted $66 million from the Mets, with a vesting fifth year option that could raise it to about $80 million. I think you’ll see Werth get something closer to Bay’s deal than Holliday’s. Four or five years at roughly $15-16 million per season is about right. Boras, however, will see to it he gets every last penny.

The Phillies have negotiating rights for the five days following the World Series, but it’s highly unlikely anything will be done in that time. Werth’s impending free agency will resemble opening a fine bottle of wine; let it breathe for a while before you jump in. Unless the Phillies max their payroll out at $170 million – and there has been no discussion of this that I’ve read, seen, or heard – then Werth is most likely on his way out.

-The Bullpen:

Three relief pitchers are headed for free agency from the Phillies bullpen. J.C. Romero has a $4.5 million team option on his contract that will not be picked up, meaning he’ll be bought out for $250,000. He likely won’t return unless it’s a minor league deal with Antonio Bastardo now the lefty out of the pen.

Chad Durbin made over $2 million a year ago and will ask for a multi-year deal this winter, but with the Phillies salary rising into uncharted territory, it’s unlikely they can provide him with such a contract. Right now, I’d say Durbin is out, too.

Perhaps the most important of the three is Jose Contreras. He really blossomed as a relief pitcher, his first attempt at it after being a starter for the first seven seasons in the majors. Big Truck made only $1 million and is sure to get a raise of about double that. I think the Phillies do their best to keep Contreras, perhaps on a one year deal similar to what Durbin made in 2010.

I think you’ll see a lot of David Herndon, Scott Matheison, and Mike Zagurski next season. They are cheap and under team control. Besides, you can’t have a team filled with multi-million dollar talent. The bullpen is the place where you might see them try to go cheap.

-Can they unload some weight?

Obviously, the regressions of Raul Ibanez and Joe Blanton (and in some cases, Shane Victorino) were detrimental to the outcome this season. Ibanez struggled mightily in the postseason – his swing was so slow you could time it with a sun dial. He still has a year left on his contract with the Phillies at $12.16 million. Unloading that sort of deal will take a Copperfield-like magic trick from Ruben Amaro. If he can get some of that money off the books – it might take something like eating 70% of the remaining money – then he’ll look into it. It’s just not all that likely, so a Raul platoon could be in order for 2011.

Another deal that might hamstring the Phillies is Joe Blanton, who is owed somewhere in the $17 to 21 million range (haven’t been able to find the correct number, I see many others using different numbers. Dave Murphy of High Cheese says $8.5 million next season while Cot’s Contracts says $10.5 million). If they can find a taker for Blanton, while paying about 20 percent of the remainder, they might be able to open their wallets up in free agency a bit to someone like Werth or even Cliff Lee. Again, it’s not likely, but it’s something this team will surely look into.

-Crazy Moves:

After last offseason, the realm of possibilities is quite large with Ruben Amaro and his team. He unloaded Cliff Lee to get Roy Halladay, which many saw as a ridiculous move. That mistake was admitted when the team acquired Roy Oswalt at the deadline.  Could another such move be on the way? And where do you think it comes from if it does occur?

Here are a few videos for your enjoyment, or not, in the day after hangover left by the Phillies. Continue to leave your comments here throughout the day. We’ll have plenty of Phillies coverage coming this week to recap the season that was.

April-thru-September are about talent. We were direct witnesses of that in 2010, when the Phillies used a 25-man roster of superstars, revelations, and underachievers to overcome a mid-season swoon. As the injuries mounted, we took solace in the fact that this team was too talented not to regress to its true ability, its true record, its true destiny.

But October is not about talent. Talent helps. But October is about timing. It’s about blown calls and bloop hits and pressure-caused errors. Its about timely hitting and the ability to catch unluckily-placed line drives.

The 2010 Phillies were more talented than the 2010 Giants, but you already knew that. The Phillies had H2O, after all.

When this series started, the adoration of H2O was neglected by the simple fact that the Giants were the one team that was capable of taming the massive beast that was the Phillies three-man rotation.

The Giants don’t hit anyway. It didn’t matter if they were facing Roy Halladay or Roy Oswalt or Joe Blanton, San Francisco was a team built on pitching and singles-hitting. They needed a certain sequence of events to take place in order to win this series, and that sequence began immediately. Once it picked up steam, that was it.

I kid you not, before the NLCS, I said to my director at Comcast SportsNet – who happens to be an absolute die-hard, lifelong Giants fan – that all it would take was a random two-run homer from Cody Ross to change the complexion of this series.

I didn’t foresee Ross turning into a six-game superstar, but I did foresee a player of his caliber running into a homer and staking the Giants to a 2-0 lead that would not be relinquished. The Giants could not have beaten a Phillies team receiving production from Chase Utley and Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino. But they could beat a struggling offense that they led from start-to-finish.

This is an empty feeling. It is empty because the better team did not win, as it did last October when the Phillies fell short to Damaso Marte and the Yankees.

The Giants were The Perfect Underdog – a team that faced less pressure despite having equal rotational talent. They benefited from strong performances from their studs and a bevy of couldn’t-be-placed-better-if-they-tried singles. The hitting was timely and the bullpen was strong. Javier Lopez was the MVP of the NLCS in my book, as he shut down the Phillies in six consecutive games – all in crucial situations. Utley and Howard faced Lopez twelve times and went 1-for-12.

This empty feeling is reminiscent of the way things used to feel in the early 2000s when the Phillies were good but not good enough. Specifically, this feels to me like the infamous Billy Wagner game of 2005 or the blown 8-2 eighth inning Braves game of 2007. You remember feelings like these because you know that you never want to feel them again.

It’s gonna suck waking up tomorrow and thinking about this immediately. But take solace in the fact that the Phillies will remain an elite team for several more years. Which brings us to the other pressing issue – the slow realization that Jayson Werth is gone.

Werth had a strong second half and an awesome postseason. Despite his RISP woes, his 2010 season was extremely impressive from an analytical standpoint, as he hit well home and away, vs. righties and lefties, vs. good pitching and bad pitching. As the weeks wore on, he only made himself more open-market money.

Werth will get a deal in the neighborhood of six years, $110MM. He was a tremendous threat in this lineup – a patient, calm, powerful righthanded bat that balanced the lineup and seemed to play his best baseball when Howard and Utley were NOT playing their best baseball.

I won’t expand any further on Werth right now because the issue at-hand is not his impending departure, but the Phillies disappointing end to the 2010 season. I wasn’t ready for this to end, and I know you weren’t either.

But that’s baseball. There is a reason no National League team has won three consecutive pennants in 66 years. You need the right factors to be on your side. Factors like timing and umpiring and batting average on balls in play luck. This year, the Giants had all three.

And that’s why The Perfect Underdog faces Cliff Lee in Game One of the World Series while we are left to wonder why Ryan Howard didn’t swing.

To say Chase Utley is having a rough go of it this postseason would be, well, an understatement. After Thursday’s 1-for-4 in the Phillies’ pivotal Game 5 victory, Utley is hitting just .200/.286/.300 in the 2010 playoffs. His lone extra-base hit was a solo home run in Game 2 of the NLDS against Cincinnati, and all of this goes without mentioning Chase’s normally stellar defense has now taken a turn for the quaky. Suffice to say, Chase’s lack of production is concerning.

We’ll leave speculation as to any potential lingering health issues for those more expert in diagnosing such things, and instead look at what makes this 2010 postseason so different for Chase.

Continue reading Chase of Postseasons Past

Twitter and facebook were abuzz after last night’s win due to the fact that Roy Halladay removed his right groin after the second inning, inserted the sutures himself, wrapped the gauze, then fired off four more innings en route to a Phillies victory.

Maybe he didn’t do all that, but it felt like it. Lost in the aftermath of GroinGate, or whatever you want to call it, was Ryan Howard’s putrid performance. Not only was he 0-for-4 at the plate with three strikeouts, his glove failed him again, too.

In the fifth inning, Howard tried to “ole!” a ball hit to his left, in between he and the first base bag. The ball popped loose from his mitt and ricocheted away, allowing Andres Torres to reach base. Luckily, the inning ended two batters later with runners at first and third as Aubrey Huff weakly grounded out in front of catcher Carlos Ruiz. A possible situation was averted.

With his bat, Howard has been downright frightful. Zero. That’s the total number of RBI for Howard this postseason. Let that sink in. Zero. For a guy that has averaged 138 RBI per 162 games during the regular season over the past five seasons, it’s incomprehensible that his RBI count hasn’t gotten off the ground. Not even once, by accident. It’s startling, to be honest.

It’s also part of the reason why the Phillies are in a 3-games-to-2 hole with the Giants. Their big bats have not responded to the Giants pitching, however potent their staff may be. It all starts with their $125 million man.

Howard will have to pull his weight starting tonight. He’s been given a healthy dose of off-speed pitches, sure, but he should be somewhat used to that by now.

Here’s how his at-bats went down last night:

1st AB, 2nd inning: curveball, changeup, changeup, changeup, changeup, changeup. = Strikeout

2nd AB, 3rd inning: changeup, changeup, fastball (fouled), changeup. = Strikeout

3rd AB, 6th inning: slider, slider, changeup, fastball (ball), slider. = Strikeout

4th AB, 8th inning (against left Lopez): fastball, fastball, fastball, fastball. = Flyout to LF

Howard was given just two fastballs before the eighth inning. During his first two at-bats which ended in strikeouts, Howard swung and missed at breaking balls down and out of the zone. In his third at-bat, he was given a borderline slider that he foul tipped into the mitt of Buster Posey. In two strike counts, he isn’t getting much to work with.

Patience has been the key to this series, but Howard hasn’t shown much of it. “No Panic” has been Howard’s mantra, but try telling that to the masses. He’ll need to lead the way in the patience category tomorrow night against tough lefty Jonathan Sanchez, whom the Phillies have hit recently. To be frank, The Big Piece needs to show up in a big way.

They’re bringin’ it back…back. To Philly…Philly. The Phillies staved off elimination behind a gritty performance from Roy Halladay, beating the Giants, 4-2. If you noticed Halladay laboring throughout, there was good reason; he suffered a minor groin pull in the second inning.

The details are obviously sketchy, as Manuel said he hurt the groin in an at-bat against Buster Posey. However, the Giants catcher batted in the first inning. Halladay reiterated postgame that he indeed injured it in the second. In any case, on the bad-ass meter, thats about an 11. To go out there and beat the Giants who have been red hot with one healthy leg is quite impressive. It was quite noticeable, however, that something was amiss.

Halladay threw (by my unofficial count) just 12 fastballs on the night (excluding cutters). The Doc relied heavily on his offspeed stuff and somehow, someway, it worked. He pushed his way through six innings – throwing 108 pitches, 74 for strikes – allowing two runs on six hits and two walks.

Run support was still lacking for Halladay as the Phillies crossed home four times, three in a huge third inning. In the big third frame, Raul Ibanez got the ball rolling with a single to right field, followed by Carlos Ruiz being pegged on the right arm. With two on and nobody out, things got a little crazy around home plate.

Halladay bunted the ball off home plate, and it was hard to tell if the ball was fair or foul. Buster Posey quickly jumped on it and threw to third, but Pablo Sandoval missed the base and Ibanez was called safe. Halladay, however, did not run after thinking the ball was foul. Sandoval rolled around on the ground for a few seconds but still had plenty of time to throw out Halladay.

Aubrey Huff then allowed the Phils to grab the lead as Shane Victorino ripped one that caromed off the first baseman and into shallow right field, allowing Ibanez and Ruiz to score. Victorino was able to move to second on the error – he then scored on a Placido Polanco single to left field to push the Phils advantage to two.

San Francisco, as pesky as ever, grabbed a run in the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Pat Burrell and Cody Ross.

Backtracking to the first inning, an interesting situation occurred with Burrell and Halladay. Doc appeared to stare in at home plate umpire Jeff Nelson after a few questionable calls. Burrell took exception to it and yelled a few obscenities back at Roy, and the stares continued.

Back to Ross; he continues to pillage in the playoffs, knocking in his fifth run of the series. Luckily, those were the only two extra-base for the Giants on the night.

After Halladay came impressive performances from Jose Contreras, J.C. Romero, Ryan Madson, and Brad Lidge. Andres Torres singled off Contreras in the seventh and was the only Giants runner to reach base over the final three innings. Madson was torture on  meat of the order, striking out Posey, Burrell, and Ross in succession.

Before Brad Lidge could come on to close it out, Jayson Werth gave him a bit of breathing room with an incredible opposite field home run. That made it 4-2, which was plenty for Lidge, who put the Giants down in order to send the series back home.

We’ll keep you abreast of the Halladay situation, which is not a hindrance at this point with Roy Oswalt going Saturday and Cole Hamels on Sunday, if necessary.

But I know what you’re thinking; Sunday will be necessary.