Late night moving and shaking
It has been reported and confirmed that around 10:30 pm last night the Phillies made a deal with the Chicago White Sox sending Gavin Floyd and a player to be named later (the player is Gio Gonzalez as leaked by White Sox GM Kenny Williams) for Freddy Garcia. This of course gives the Philles 6 staring pitchers, so expect more moves to follow. The pitcher that seems to be on his way out is a man who never saw a buffet he did not like: Jon Lieber. Reports have the Brewers, Pirates and Rangers interested in him, with the Rangers especially interested if they fail to land Barry Zito. Thae Rangers do have great depth in the bullpen, which is exactly what the Phils are looking for.
The fact that this trade did not included Rowand means that the Phils most likely no longer have interest in Kevin Mench b/c both Burrell and Rowand are right handed hitters as well. It is my humble opinion that Mench is a much worse offensive AND defensive player than Burrell. Yes, I know that Mench is from Delaware, is a Blue Hen and has season tickets to the Eagles, but his best offensive year was in 2004 for the Rangers when he batted .279 with 26 HRs and 79 RBI’s. Hell Burrell has better numbers than that, is more agile (how slow must Mench be?) and has a much better arm in the outfield.
The rotation is looking like it will consist of Myers, Garcia, Hamels (one hell of a #3), Eaton and Moyer. The opening day OF is more and more looking like Burrell in LF, Rowand in CF, and Victorino in RF. What the Phillies need now is Bullpen help, specifically a set up man who can step into the closer role when Gordon goes down for the month or so that he most certainly will go down for, and a lefthanded bat off the bench. Rumor has it that the Phillies have contacted representatives for Aubrey Huff who would fill the need of a left handed bat off the bench adequtely. Last year Huff batted .267 with 21 HRs and 66 RBIs while splitting time between Tampa Bay and Houston.
This is a step, and only the first step, but seems that when the window closed on a right handed bat to protect Howard Gillick switched his focus to pitching. With one or two more key additions we could have something to look forward to next season.
