Ok, so it looks as if the Phillies entire pitching staff is a mess. First of all, you have a pool of mediocrity to choose from. On top of that, it is disorganized to the point where we can’t even tell starters and relievers apart. Our friends over at Beerleaguer.com have tried to sort out the current staff. Here, in the wake of losing out on Looper, we’ll look at the free agent relievers available to add to the mix. MLB’s Free Agent Tracker lists 62 bullpen arms available, below are a select few, including some former Phils:
| Antonio Alfonseca | Matt Mantei |
| Ricky Bottalico | Ramiro Mendoza |
| Jason Christiansen | Terry Mulholland |
| Octavio Dotel | Mike Remlinger |
| Cal Eldred | Ricardo Rincon |
| Joey Eischen | Felix Rodreiguez |
| Buddy Groom | Rudy Seanez |
| Shigetoshi Hasegawa | Mike Stanton |
| John Halama | Julian Tavarez |
Adding Alfonseca could be a possibility, but his extra digits and elbow injury last year are big detractors. I used to be a big fan of Shigetoshi Hasegawa but his last two seasons took a real downturn. I wouldn’t mind seeing the Phils pick up Julian Tavarez, not the least of which because he’s owned the Fightins throughout his career. Dotel wouldn’t be a bad choice either – though the Yankees among others are already in hot pursuit.
Truth be told, the Phillies currently have a full pitching staff on the books. So the point is not to fill a hole, but to upgrade. Hopefully this will not reduce the urgency of Pat Gillick. The current lot, while adequate, does not strike fear in the bats of opponents. Unless a serious addition is made, and it does not seem to be available through free agency, we can only hope for a season no worse than last. We just have to hope Pat Gillick can cross off everything on his shopping list through trades and Charlie Manuel will whip up some respectable pitching.
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