Phillies Lose Two Starters
The Phils traded Vicente Padilla to the Rangers today for a player to be named later. It seems even new jack, Pat Gillick, realized that Padilla was too much effort and not enough return. He had great stuff but, Padilla could never keep his head in the game long enough to be a serious starter. Maybe he’ll do well as a closer someday. We’ll find out who the Phils got in return, though it seems the point was to just get rid of Padilla. The Phils saved about $4 million in salary on the trade. I’m not too sad to see Padilla go, I’m more concerned by who will fill his spot in the rotation.
Not Matt Morris – today he signed with San Francisco. He was one of the few decent free agent starters left on the market, and no doubt considered by Pat Gillick for the Phils rotation. Despite recognizing this position as the biggest need this off season, there have been no new additions to the rotation, only subtractions. Is this the Standing Pat people talk about or is he right to let these chances at starting pitching pass by?
