Phillies Nation

The speedy

UPDATED WED. NOON:The Phillies continue to add minor-league depth as they have announced the signing of eight players who have signed minor league deals with invitations to Spring Training.

On Tuesday Ken Rosenthal announced the Phils re-signed Scott Podsednik, 35, to a minor-league deal for 2012. Podsednik missed most of 2011 battling Plantar Faciatis and other injuries. The former speedy outfield All-Star and stolen base champ hit .254 in Triple A last year for the Blue Jays and Phils.

Via Jayson Stark, the Phils also re-signed Kevin Frandsen who missed 50 games last year serving a violation of the Minor Leauge prohibited substance ban. Frandsen posted a very nice 309/.361/.430 line for the Pigs in 338 at-bats and provides infield depth across the diamond. Stark also reported the Phils signed 30 year-old Pat Misch today. Misch pitched to a 4.00 ERA in Triple-A for the Mets last season and has pitched with the Giants primarily as a left-handed long reliever.

On Wednesday, the Phillies brought back a few familiar faces announcing the signings of Tuffy Gosewich and Brian Sanches.

Gosewich, 28, was an 11th round pick for the Phils in 2005. He has spent the last three years mostly in Reading with a cup of coffee in Lehigh Valley in 2009. Gosewich hit .247/.295/.404 for Reading last year with 13 HRs and should see time with Reading and possibly Lehigh Valley in 2012.

Sanches, 33, originally reached the Majors in 2006 with the Phillies. After struggling in 2006 and 2007 with the Phils, Sanches had two good years in 2009 and 2010 with the Marlins. Sanches was outrighted from the Marlins in October after posting a 3.94 ERA and showed a significant increase in walks allowed in 2011.

The Phillies also announced they have signed Scott Elarton and Raul Valdes. Elarton, 35, last pitched in the Majors in 2008 with Cleveland. The former first round pick struggled in his last go-round in Triple-A in 2010 with Charlotte posting a 8.24. Valdes, 33, posted a solid 3.00 ERA in 13 games with the Cardinals and Yankees in 2011 with 11.3 K/9 IP. Pete Orr, announced last week, is the eighth player that has signed a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. Credit: Tim Dierkes

We continue on with our 2011 Player Reviews with Domonic Brown.

This is a story of unfulfilled promise. Going into the season as the No. 4 prospect in the game, according to Baseball America, and coming off a season where he posted a .980 OPS between AA and AAA, Domonic Brown seemed poised to slide seamlessly into the right field void left by Jayson Werth.  The Phillies’ best offensive prospect since Ryan Howard, Brown looked set to do in the majors what he’d done at every level of minor league baseball: take his trebuchet launch of a swing and his howitzer throwing arm and bring those weapons to bear for no purpose other than to blast the opposition into oblivion.

Then the Domonator broke the hamate bone in his right hand on March 5, and everything seemed to go downhill from there. Brown didn’t get into the major league lineup until May 21. What’s worse, the broken hamate bone saps strength in the hand, and it usually takes a hitter months to recover his full power stroke. Brown, for his part, wasn’t particularly good, dialing in at exactly replacement level according to both Baseball Reference and FanGraphs, combining a .322 wOBA (not awful, but not exactly stellar for a corner outfielder) with pretty dreadful outfield defense, which, after 12 seasons of Pat Burrell and Raul Ibanez in left field, has apparently started to bother Phillies fans all of a sudden.

Continue reading The Mulligan: Domonic Brown’s 2011 in Review

Travis D'Arnaud. (Photo: Jay Floyd)

Scott Mathieson has been released by the Phillies. Here is the statement made by the team:

The Phillies have released right-hander Scott Mathieson to allow him to pursue an opportunity with a professional team in Asia, the club announced today.

Mathieson, 27, posted a 1-4 record with a 6.75 ERA in 15 major league games (8 starts) over three seasons with the Phillies (2006, 2010-11).  A seventeenth round selection by the Phillies in the June 2002 draft, Mathieson went 32-37 with a 3.75 ERA and 34 saves in 200 games (96 starts) for his minor league career.

With the transaction, the Phillies now have 39 players on the 40-man roster.

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We’ve become so accustomed to the Phillies shipping off their young players to obtain high-priced stars that this is sort of eye-opening.

But, according to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, the Phillies made a call to the Blue Jays to discuss ways they could bring back catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud. As you recall, d’Arnuad was part of the package that made Roy Halladay a Phillie prior to the 2010 season. He’s highly rated, but he’s also blocked in Toronto by J.P. Arencibia.

The 22-year-old batted .311/.371/.542 with 21 homers and a .914 OPS over 466 plate appearances in Double-A this past year. There’s no doubt it would take a lot to get such a sound catching prospect, so it’s doubtful this happens. As Elliot says, “good luck.”

Continue reading Odds and Ends: Mathieson, d’Arnaud, Rollins

Martinez stuck with the Phillies all season. But did he deserve it?

We continue on with our player reviews. Today, we look at the bench parts of the Phillies roster from 2011.

Michael Martinez – Martinez came into the 2011 season as a 28 year-old who had yet to reach the majors and was one of the few players in minor league history to ever post a .000 ISO (SLG-AVG) when he did so in 2006. Despite the red flags, specifically positing a .223/.313/.298 triple-slash as a 27 year-old in Double A in 2009 or the aforementioned 2006 season where he hit a tremendous .172 in Single A, the Phillies took a chance on Martinez in the Rule 5 draft.

As part of the Rule 5 draft, the Phillies had to keep Martinez on their roster the entire season or offer him back to his original team, the Nationals. Martinez’s defensive reputation kept him on the Phils for the entire season;  according to UZR/150, Martinez excelled in limited playing time at 2B and SS but was horribly underwhelming in the outfield. Martinez didn’t walk a lot (7.7%) and put up a triple slash of .196/.258/.282. Why the Phils kept Martinez on the roster the entire season, I will never be sure, particularly considering they had Pete Orr, a stronger, faster, and comparable defender in the system.

Martinez did outfield Wilson Valdez position for position in 2011 but both Orr and Valdez are faster, stronger, and have better bats than Martinez. With the acquisition of Wigginton from Colorado, Martinez will likely start 2012 in Lehigh Valley.

Continue reading Phillies Bench Struggles in 2011

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What grade does Ruben get on the Oswalt trade? Check below. (PHOTO: AP)

After taking over for Pat Gillick following the 2008 World Championship season, Ruben Amaro Jr. hasn’t been lacking in the big-moves department. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Hunter Pence – all his doing. The Ryan Howard extension was his, as well. The Roy Oswalt trade had a big impact on the Phillies.

Overall, I think most believe Amaro has done a hell of a job bringing in top-notch talent and keeping the Phillies as a premier franchise.

Let’s take a look at how each move has turned out for the Phillies in this four-part series. We’ll begin with the starting pitchers.

Roy Halladay trade/extension/Cliff Lee trade:

-Phillies give up Michael Taylor, Travis D’Arnaud, Kyle Drabek to TOR
-Phillies trade Cliff Lee to Seattle for Tyson Gillies, Phillippe Aumont, J.C. Ramirez
-3 yr/$60 million contract with 4^th year option at $20 million

Continue reading Grading Ruben Amaro’s Moves; Part One

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The Phillies are still in search of an outfield bat, according to Jim Salisbury, and they’d probably prefer a lefthanded hitter.

One of the players on Salisbury’s list of names to watch would be a perfect fit for this team in terms of production, personality and finances.

That player? Johnny David Damon.

Continue reading Phils Would Be Thankful To Have Damon

Happy Turkey day from the entire Phillies Nation crew! Hope you enjoy spending time with loved ones while chatting about the Phillies offseason and beyond (plus watching some football, or course). And make sure you get in a little extra stuffing while you can, we’re just 81 days from Spring Training.

Hey Nation, what are you thankful for?

Ibanez was offereed arb. But why?

In a bit of a head scratching move, the Phillies have offered salary arbitration to Raul Ibanez, meaning if he accepts, he could actually make more than the $12 million he made in 2011.

It was a foregone conclusion the Phillies would offer it to Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Madson. With the Jonathan Papelbon signing, the Phillies lose a first-round draft pick, but when Madson signs elsewhere, they will recoup one. Same goes for Jimmy; if he moves on, the Phillies get a pick either in the first round, or a sandwich pick.

The Ibanez offering, however, comes out of left field. Perhaps they do look at him as a fallback option if they can’t come to terms with another outfielder they are squiring on the open market. And perhaps Ibanez has already told the Phillies he will decline the option anyway, even if they do offer it. In that case, he’s doing the Phils a solid, and they will receive a supplemental pick when he goes elsewhere.

Continue reading Phillies Offer Arbitration to Rollins, Madson, Ibanez