Phillies Nation

Domonic Brown Sits Atop BaseballAmerica’s Top Phillies Prospects

Posted by Paul Boye, Mon, December 13, 2010 02:32 PM

Surprising no one, Phillies right field super prospect Domonic Brown topped BaseballAmerica’s list of the best players the Philly farm has to offer.

For the second straight year, Brown was named the organization’s best, topping a list of prospects that has seen its share of turnover in recent years. Brown, who hit .327/.391/.589 in the minor leagues in 2010, is the favorite to inherit the starting right fielder’s spot for the big league club out of spring training.

Second on the list was teenaged rising star Jonathan Singleton, who turned heads with a white-hot start to his 2010 season. In fact, spots two through seven on the list are all guys who played on the Lakewood BlueClaws in 2010, further cementing that team’s stacked legacy.

Jesse Biddle, the team’s first-round draft pick this past June, debuted at number eight. None of the prospects from the Cliff Lee trade made the list.

The entire list can be found after the jump, as well as BA’s “Best Tools” picks and 2014 projected lineup.

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Keith Law on the Phillies’ Future

Posted by Paul Boye, Fri, December 10, 2010 05:00 PM

Earlier this week in Florida, I had the opportunity to speak with ESPN’s Scouts Inc.’s senior baseball analyst Keith Law on a few odds and ends about the Phillies.

While it may still be safe to say the Phillies are in their “golden age,” it’s always prudent to keep a diligent watch on the team’s future. How will the aging core of veterans hold up? Is there really anything wrong with Domonic Brown? Are Jarred Cosart and Jon Singleton for real? We can speculate all we like, but to get a professional opinion, I asked Mr. Law for his take on a few things.

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Notes From the Winter Meetings: Monday

Posted by Paul Boye, Mon, December 06, 2010 09:15 PM

A good Monday evening from central Florida, where baseball’s Winter Meetings have kicked into high gear. The Swan and Dolphin resort in Lake Buena Vista, not far from Disney World, is the center of the baseball universe through Wednesday. I’m here to look for a job, but that won’t stop me from moseying around the resort, trying to take in all that I can in this short time.

The Winter Meetings double as a job fair. We all know that players, agents and club executives are all present for negotiations, but the jobs available aren’t restricted to the ones on the field. I spent this past season working for Baseball Info Solutions, a company that converts every single pitch from every single game of a full season into data and numbers that can be used to evaluate pitchers in new ways. Now, as I look to move forward in my career, I’m talking with clubs and teams and their representation at the Major/Minor League job fair. It isn’t glorious, and few posted jobs are for immediate work at the Major League level, but it’s already a rewarding experience.

Across the way, in the second half of the two-hotel resort, there’s even more activity. The MLB Network, MLB.com and ESPN have all set up shop for live, on-site broadcasting, delivering news when it happens from where it happens. Not only that, the sight of reporters, players, agents, managers and broadcasters is constant. Charlie Manuel made an appearance, as did White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, superagent Scott Boras, national and Phillies reporters like Ken Rosenthal and Todd Zolecki.

I’ve yet to see Cliff Lee, sadly.

There is a palpable sense of excitement all throughout the resort area. Maybe it was just me soaking in every aspect of the scene that I could, but there’s a feeling in the air not unlike the one you get when you go to your seat at an actual ballgame. The pace is frenetic, and the news is constant. Even better, nearly everyone is accessible. In the course of one day, I managed to shake hands with everyone from Giants manager Bruce Bochy to former Philly and current broadcaster Mitch Williams to ESPN columnist Keith Law (who, by the way, I should be having a conversation with for PN this week. More on that another time). The entire baseball world is here, and it’s awesome.

The coming days should, hopefully, yield even better things. I’ll be tweeting as I go, but I won’t be there to break news; I’ll leave that to the professionals. There may not be much Phillies news to break this year, at least in relation to recent offseasons (unless, of course, you consider Jeff Francoeur newsworthy), but there will still be plenty of exciting things to come, and I hope to share them with you all.

UPDATE, 8:48 pm (Pat Gallen): Mike DiGiovana of the LA Times is reporting the Phillies have interest in trading for Juan Rivera of the Angels. With LAA serious about Carl Crawford joining an already deep outfield, the 32-year old could be on his way out, and at a friendly price to the Phillies.

Rivera hit 15 home runs and knocked in 55 runs a year ago in only 124 games (455 plate appearances).  Two seasons ago he was a major power source for the Angels, hitting 25 home runs. He’s in the final year of a three year deal which will pay the outfielder $5.5 million. It’s expected the Angels would pick up some of that salary making him another decent platoon option.

They’ve already shown plenty of interest in Jeff Francouer (perhaps too much) and have been linked to Matt Diaz.

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The Best Phillies Pitches in 2010

Posted by Paul Boye, Fri, December 03, 2010 05:20 PM

At Baseball Analytics on Thursday, I took a look at the four best cut fastballs among relievers last season. Using their research tool and Fangraphs’ pitch run values, I assembled some heat maps that took a graphical look at what made each pitch different, yet similarly effective. I figured I could apply that same concept over here, where we all could take a look at the pitches Fangraphs ranked the best among the Philly staff. Why not?

The requirement is at least 40 innings pitched, and we’ll be using run value per 100 pitches to level the playing field among starters and relievers while ranking the three best pitchers per pitch.

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Year In Review: David Herndon

Posted by Paul Boye, Mon, November 29, 2010 03:30 PM

With the 17th pick in the 2009 Rule 5 Draft, the Phillies plucked Kenneth David Herndon from the Angels’ farm system. As the Rule 5 Draft rarely yields significant Major League talent, nothing much was expected of Herndon and, well, nothing much was delivered. Herndon was adequate, falling victim at times to equal parts bad luck and a shaky arsenal of stuff and settling for an ERA of 4.30 when all was said and done.

Having finished the year with the Phillies, Herndon is now a full-fledged member of the organization, no longer required to be on the active 25-man roster in order to be kept. For that, he deserves some recognition. Sometimes, Rule 5 picks don’t last the year, and are offered back to their original franchise, exposed to waivers, and subsequently lost. Herndon may not have had the most impressive rookie year, but doing well enough to stay up at the Show for an entire year shouldn’t be discarded entirely.

On the whole, Herndon pitched 52.1 innings with 29 strikeouts and 17 walks, inducing a big 56.9 percent groundball rate, a figure that came in 16th in all of baseball among pitchers with 50-plus IP. That’s what Herndon is: a sinkerballer who will only strike out a few more people than Kyle Kendrick, but get plenty of groundballs in the meantime. Of course, that philosophy can backfire quickly, and Herndon’s .354 BABIP against was the 12th-highest mark in baseball. Part of that was bad luck, part of it subpar stuff in some outings, but it’s clearly not all Herndon’s fault.

Herndon seems likely to start the season in Triple-A, where some talk suggests he may be stretched out to become a starter, a position he frequented in the minors before the 2009 season. Failing that, the organization may instead opt to refine his secondary stuff in the hopes of keeping him in full-time relief.

In any case, there seems to be some latent potential within Herndon. Being able to induce as many groundballs as he does is a valuable skill, and if he can somehow refine his stuff enough to increase his strikeouts even a little bit, Herndon could be quite useful. He won’t be a Madson; that just won’t ever happen, but a career of ineffectiveness is far from a foregone conclusion.

So, all that said, 2010 was far from a world-beating year for Mr. Herndon. He took his lumps, made a jump from Double-A to the Bigs and survived. I find that admirable, but that admiration can only obscure the end results so much. The numbers are simultaneously better than and worse than they appear on the surface, so it’s difficult to label just what Herndon was or forecast what he will be. Here’s to an improved 2011, David.

PAUL’S GRADE: 5.5/10

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Trade Option: Matt Thornton

Posted by Paul Boye, Wed, November 24, 2010 10:00 AM

After taking a look at some free agent relievers, we present another reliever who may be a viable option, this time via trade. Matt Thornton, a late-blooming, flamethrowing lefty from the White Sox, would be a solid addition to the relief corps, especially if they deem the price on the better free agents to be too high.

Thornton, who debuted with the Mariners in 2004 at age 27, was a nearly anonymous figure for the first four years of his career. Spending two years in Seattle before being traded to the White Sox for super-bust Joe Borchard, Thornton pitched 200 innings on the nose through 2007. He racked up 191 strikeouts in those 200 innings, but also walked 114, limiting his effectiveness.

In the last three seasons, though, something seems to have clicked with Thornton. Pitching 200.1 innings since the start of ‘08, Thornton has elevated his impressive strikeout numbers – 245 of them, in fact – while drastically improving his control and walking just 59 batters. Let’s reiterate that in a cleaner fashion:

2004-07: 200 IP, 191 K, 114 BB, 1.515 WHIP
2008-10: 200.1 IP, 245 K, 59 BB, 1.028 WHIP

That’s a tremendous difference, and it makes Thornton a valuable commodity under contract for just $3M in 2011. Among pitchers who made at least 80 percent of their appearances in relief and logged 150-plus innings since 2008, Thornton ranks highly among some impressive company.

• 4th in K/9 (11.01)
• 18th in BB/9 (2.65)
• 4th in K/BB (4.15)
• 14th in HR/9 (0.58)
• 3rd in WAR (7.2)

The long and short of it is this: sometime around the 2008 season, Thornton flipped the switch and turned into an elite reliever. He’s affordable, potentially a Type B (or better) free agent after the season, and left-handed. It’s worth noting that Thornton not only held lefty batters to a measly .175/.221/.278 line in 2010, he also stifled righties to the tune of .203/.296/.288, so Thornton’s clearly no situational lefty reliever.

As for the likelihood of a deal, well, that’s another thing. There were whispers in July about the Phillies being linked to Thornton, but no real movement on that front thus far this winter. It’s entirely possible that the White Sox will hold on to Thornton as they look to contend in the perennially up-for-grabs A.L. Central, only listening to him if they fall out of contention this summer.

Whatever the case, Thornton is unlikely to cost premium talent (like Dom Brown, in spite of Thornton’s impressive numbers), and his presence would be a major boost to the Philly ‘pen; that much doesn’t seem to be in contention. The possibility of Thornton’s availability and Amaro’s interest in acquiring him, on the other hand, definitely appear to be in doubt. The fit is there, and the Phillies have what it would take to acquire Thornton, but this is a match that appears far, far away. Let’s give this a 3/10 on the Amaro Head Scale.

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The Candidates for Righty Relief

Posted by Paul Boye, Tue, November 23, 2010 10:00 AM

On Sunday, we took a look at four southpaws who represent the cream of the free agent lefty relief club, so it’s only fair that we pay some attention to their counterparts.

Right-handed relief appears to be a less pressing than lefty relief – or, depending on your faith in Antonio Bastardo, perhaps more pressing – with Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson topping the current roster, and recently re-signed Jose Contreras providing support. Bullpen depth is never a bad thing, though, and filling out the roster with effective pitchers could go a long way toward eating innings and providing solid injury replacements.

The Phils could be looking for up to three right-handed replacements for 2011. Chad Durbin is a free agent and rumored to be getting interest as a starter; David Herndon, whose Rule 5 status has expired, will likely start the year in Triple-A, possibly to be stretched out for starting; Danys Baez is Danys Baez.

Who’s out there on the free agent market that could be a fit? Let’s take a look at some players who, while not all elite or big names, could provide stability to the Philly ‘pen. Again, these are four free agents. For trade possibilities, stay tuned to our Trade Option series.

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The Candidates for Lefty Relief

Posted by Paul Boye, Sun, November 21, 2010 10:00 AM

Much is being and will be made of Ruben Amaro’s need to organize his team’s outfield – and, subsequently, his team’s lineup – this winter. The departure of a high-profile player like Jayson Werth (imagine saying that in 2007) only makes this issue even more prevalent.

What’s being pushed to the back burner as a consequence, however, is perhaps an even greater hole left to be filled: left-handed relief. J.C. Romero, whose $4.5M club option for 2011 was bought out for $250k, is unlikely to return. Cole Hamels doesn’t pitch in relief, Jamie Moyer’s long career may finally be coming to an end, and J.A. Happ was traded to Houston in the Roy Oswalt deal. Antonio Bastardo, then, is the only lefty in the organization returning to the Major League club. While Bastardo is still young (he turned 25 in September), he’s yet to see enough time in the Bigs to really be considered “proven,” and the Phillies will certainly need a fellow southpaw for backup.

So, who’s the best left-handed relief option out there? The list of lefties available in free agency is far from impressive, but there are a few pitchers would still be fine additions to the Philly relief corps. The best/most-bandied among them – Scott Downs, Pedro Feliciano, Brian Fuentes and Hisanori Takahashi – all represent varying degrees of upgrade, and each carries different baggage.

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Is Chase Utley Really Declining?

Posted by Paul Boye, Thu, November 11, 2010 05:05 PM

Spurred by Bill Baer’s Wednesday post on Baseball Analytics discussing Ryan Howard’s apparent decline, I started thinking about whether Chase Utley may be facing the same fate already.

The harsh reality of an aging core is one no front office or fanbase ever really wants to deal with, but that time has arrived for the Phillies. Assuming Domonic Brown starts the year in right field as Jayson Werth’s replacement, and no other changes are made to the starting eight position players, Brown will be the only starter under 30 on Opening Day 2011. Raul Ibanez will turn 39 in June. Placido Polanco is 35. Jimmy Rollins and Carlos Ruiz will be 32, and joining them will be Utley, following a season in which Chase added “surgically-repaired thumb” to his list of ailments.

Is age necessarily a forebear for poor performance? Not really. One hundred thirty-six players have hit at least 100 homers after turning 32, and a guy with a skill set like Utley’s – compact swing, good discipline – is likely to age pretty well, assuming good health.

What’s got me curious, however, is the notion that Utley is on the decline. Did he have a good postseason? No, I’m not sure anyone will argue that for very long. His defense was a little shaky and he hit just .212/.325/.333 in his 40 playoff plate appearances, but people seem to forget that Utley’s September/early October was much better over a bigger stretch of PAs. Chase hit .306/.420/.491 with five homers and 10 extra-base hits in 131 PAs in the season’s final month-plus.

Let’s take a look at Utley the same way Mr. Baer did in his article, by utilizing the ever-wonderful tools provided by the folks at Baseball Analytics. Hopefully, we’ll be able to see some data that supports either side of the decline argument. To start, the following three graphics are maps of Utley’s SLG against “hard” pitches – basically any pitch around 85 MPH or faster – from 2008, 2009 and 2010.

On the top row, we see 2008 and 2009’s slugging heat maps, with 2010 nestled below. It seems that, while Chase still handles hard pitches down and in, his overall plate coverage seems to have diminished. Pitches on the outer half weren’t driven for nearly as many extra-base hits in 2010.

Let’s put this concretely: in 2008, Utley slugged .768 with a 24.2 percent line drive rate on those hard pitches on the outer half. In 2009, he slugged .855, but with a greatly decreased 16.5 percent line drive rate. What really gets interesting is that, in 2010, Utley’s slugging dropped to “just” .554, but his line drive rate soared to 23.3 percent despite that.

We could simply be dealing with a sample disparity. Through all three seasons, there were no great fluctuations between Utley’s swing rate and contact rate for those hard, outer-half pitches. He did put more of those pitches in play in 2010, but the increase in line drive rate dilutes the argument for weaker contact made, somewhat.

It appears the answer isn’t in Utley’s success against hard pitches, but soft pitches, especially changeups and sliders. In 2008, Utley slugged .511 against the change. In 2009, he had a .404 SLG, and in 2010, that number dropped to .344, far below what’s expected of Chase. A large part of that could be due to a decrease in BABIP with those pitches (.364 to .358 to .250), especially since Utley is, again, still hitting line drives.

As for sliders, it seems Utley’s kryptonite is a slider from…a righty? Chase hit just .188/.325/.406, with a .316 BABIP, against sliders from righties. Compare that to 2009 (.298/.377/.511, .467 BABIP) and we have our biggest drop-off of any pitch’s stats from 2009 to 2010. Again, part of that could be BABIP fueled and could reverse in 2011 with no extra adjustment from Utley, though he did strike out more than 30 percent of the time against sliders in both years. This is the closest I’ve come to evidence supporting some sort of dramatic decline.

Graphically, though, Utley seems to be handling RHP sliders where they’re pitched the most.

The sliders that catch the plate are handled rather easily, and those that miss outside the zone aren’t often put in play (as expected). The sliders that do dive down and in on the black, however, do seem to pose a bit of an issue. The lack of color on the in play map tells us that Utley either takes those pitches or doesn’t make good contact, but only 25 pitches found that red/yellow spot on the inside black, not nearly enough to be truly problematic (Utley saw 154 total sliders from righties in 2010, so only 16 percent of the sliders Utley saw hit that spot).

The conclusion here is unclear. The numbers clash and conflict across the board, and there’s no clear pattern like the one Mr. Baer found with Howard. Hard stuff doesn’t really do the trick, changeup struggles seem BABIP fueled and without any particular major flaw on Utley’s part, and the closest thing we have to a definitive answer (the slider) doesn’t really feel definitive enough to shoulder the full weight of this argument.

I’m wondering if I’m dealing with a red herring. For all we know, these numbers could simply be year-to-year fluctuation based on luck. Unfortunately, the data runs out in 2008, so expanded samples aren’t possible. What are we left with, then? It’s tough to say. Every point of data seems counterbalanced, and there’s no true lean in any direction.

All this really tells me is that Utley may simply be susceptible to the effect of aging, with hip and thumb surgeries certainly not helping the cause. So, perhaps he is declining, but that decline certainly isn’t dramatic or alarming. Every player with decline at some point in their careers, and Chase Utley is no exception, but there doesn’t seem to be any imminent collapse around the corner for Utley, at least as far as these numbers go, and I would expect him to have another Chase-esque year in 2011.

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Year in Review: Domonic Brown

Posted by Paul Boye, Fri, November 05, 2010 10:30 AM

On a team composed of veterans quickly approaching or comfortably nestled into their 30s, Domonic Brown provided a jolt of youth after his call-up in late July. Unfortunately, due to inconsistent playing time and sparse use off the bench, Dom didn’t contribute much at the Major League level.

But, seeing as this is a Year in Review for a player who will still be considered a rookie in 2011, it’s only fair that we take his whole season into account, and boy, what a season it was!

Entering spring training as one of the best prospects in baseball – in a field that still included the likes of Jason Heyward, Buster Posey, Mike Stanton, Logan Morrison and Stephen Strasburg, among others – was an excellent start. Buoyed by a strong .318/.391/.602 line at Double-A Reading and the promotions of those ranked above him, Brown quickly found his way to the peak of some midseason prospect lists. All he did for an encore, then, was hit .346/.390/.561 in 28 games for the IronPigs in Triple-A, making him an easy choice for promotion when Shane Victorino hit the DL back on July 28.

Dom’s .210/.257/.355 line in his 70 Major League PAs seems out character, considering his minor league success. He struck out frequently – 24 times in those 70 PA – and is still considered a “work in progress” for 2011. Hey, that’s fine. He’s just 22, has tools and talent that are lauded across the scouting spectrum and, in all likelihood, a seat in right field and the starting lineup that’s being kept warm for him. Those 70 PA aren’t nearly enough to be discouraging, as Brown still has loads of potential. Oh, and did I mention that he’s got a hose? Or, that while his defense is still a bit rough overall, he’s got some legitimate athleticism? I have now, anyway.

Someday, Domonic Brown will be a star for the Phillies. It could be as soon as 2011 or 2012, but there’s little denying the man’s future is bright enough to require Ray-Bans (waiting on the check). So what if 2010 wasn’t a rousing success in very limited time at the Major League level? Dom’s destruction of the Eastern and International Leagues, vaulting to the top tier of prospects and softening the blow of Jayson Werth’s potential (and likely) departure are plenty enough to merit high marks.

PAUL’S GRADE: 8.9/10

PAT’S GRADE: 7.6/10 – It’s hard to say what his true grade should be. On one hand, he vaulted from Double-A to the majors quickly after tearing up minor league pitching. On the other hand, he didn’t do much once he got here, although he wasn’t given much of a chance because of the outfield logjam. The future is still bright.

NICK’S GRADE: 8/10 This is a year in review piece, and Brown destroyed minor league baseball. While his time with the Phillies was more or less a learning experience, you can’t not grade his season without including his time in the minors this year.

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2010 Year in Review: Chase Utley

Posted by Paul Boye, Thu, October 28, 2010 01:33 PM

Getting eliminated from the playoffs sucks.

In the moments immediately following elimination, it’s hard to stave off feelings of bitterness, anger and disappointment. It’s hard not to run with the overwhelmingly negative emotion and rail against the closest thing. For some, that opportunity arose when Ryan Howard stared at strike three. For others, their ire was directed toward Chase Utley and his disappointing postseason. Hey, everyone copes in his or her own way, but it’s important to maintain some perspective (especially when it comes to a franchise cornerstone).

Chase Utley played in 115 games, in large part because of a thumb injury that required surgery, and, as a result, recorded some stats that were not what we’ve become accustomed to seeing. All of these stats were Chase’s fewest since 2004, when he played in just 94 games:

• 117 hits
• 20 doubles
• 2 triples
• 16 home runs
• .275 batting average
• .445 slugging percentage
• 124 OPS+
• 3.5 oWAR

So the guy is human after all, huh? No one will argue that Chase had one of his typical years, just as I’m sure few will argue that injuries and fatigue probably had their fair share of effect.

What is most certainly arguable is the notion of trading Utley. One “subpar” season – or, microscopically, one bad postseason in which Chase hit just .182/.333/.227 in 27 PA – after a run of historically good ones is no cause to call for Utley’s head.

I won’t derail this post into a defense of Utley against the trading hordes, so instead I’ll just say this: in the land of arbitrary stat endpoints, Chase Utley has had six seasons with .275/.375/.445 or better, with a 120 OPS+ or higher to boot. Only Charlie Gehringer (11), Rogers Hornsby (10) and Eddie Collins (8) have ever had more seasons meeting those criteria as a second baseman than Utley (Utley registered his sixth such season of those numbers in 2010, too, for what it’s worth), and all three of those gentlemen are Hall of Famers.

Utley didn’t have a great season, be that because of injury, fatigue, aging, slight skill decline or demonic possession, but he’s signed to an affordable deal for a player of his caliber, and he’s a face of the franchise. We can be disappointed in 2010, but we can be assured of Utley’s dedication to returning to top form in 2011.

PAUL’S GRADE: 7.3/10

PAT GALLEN: 7.2/10 – Yes, the injury injured his chance at a productive season, however the writing was already on the wall for a down year before his thumb gave out. His not-so-good playoffs didn’t help, either.

NICK STASKIN: 7.1/10 – A down year for Utley, is almost an up year for any other second baseman in baseball. If you compare this season to almost any other second baseman in MLB, it still measures up…just not to the production we are used to.

Tomorrow: Placido Polanco

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Chase of Postseasons Past

Posted by Paul Boye, Fri, October 22, 2010 04:00 PM

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.

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Keys for the Phillies in Game 3

Posted by Paul Boye, Tue, October 19, 2010 10:30 AM

As a second encore to the efforts of Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt in Philadelphia, Cole Hamels will take the ball Tuesday in San Francisco to kick off a pivotal NLCS Game 3. Having salvaged a home split, The Phils will now try to take two of three – or better – in San Francisco to regain control of the Championship Series.

Let’s take a closer look at some minutiae that could help the Phillies grab their first lead of the series. Pretty graphs! Cool analysis! Candy! I promise at least two of these things after the jump.

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Werth Hires Boras

Posted by Paul Boye, Sun, September 19, 2010 08:30 PM

UPDATE (9/19, 8:30 P.M.): CSN’s Jim Salibury confirms via Twitter that Werth has hired Boras to be his new representation.

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9/6: Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports reports that soon-to-be free agent right fielder Jayson Werth is “way down the road” in talks to bring mega-agent Scott Boras on board to be his representation.

It shouldn’t really come as a shock; after all, this is probably Werth’s one and only shot to get a big payday. It does, however, come as a blow to the hopes of fans who had hoped the Phils would be able to retain Werth past this season.

Boras, known for pushing to get every last dollar the market will bear for his clients, figures to shop Werth at an initial price tag not unlike the multi-year extension Matt Holliday signed with the Cardinals last offseason. That deal netted Holliday seven years and $120 million, a figure the Phillies almost certainly would be unable to match. Whether he gets that money is an altogether separate issue, but the price tag is certain to be high, regardless of specifics.

Werth, 31, is hitting .296/.390/.524 with 20 home runs and 44 doubles at the start of Monday’s doubleheader against the Marlins.

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PN Podcast, Rebooted: Episode 2

Posted by Paul Boye, Sat, September 18, 2010 01:11 AM

Aw, man.

You mean this doofus recorded ANOTHER one of these things? And he brought his Phrontier-cha-ma-callit buddy on to do it with him? Oh, well this should be superb.

What? It’s an HOUR of baseball talk? Man, I bet that guy won’t even include a handy timeline for us to navigate in case we don’t want to listen to these two nincompoops while we’re working/reading/being awesome. He’s probably above it all. Jerk. No WAY am I listening to this podcast, despite its potential to be somewhat relevant to me as a Phillies fan. No sirree. I’m totally ignoring the link to listen at the bottom, and in no way will I send feedback on Twitter to Phrontiersman or atomicruckus, and I’m definitely not calling the Trade Me Line at (801)-TRADE-ME to give feedback or leave a rant/rave. Pshaw.

What’s that? A timeline for easy navigation and a download/listen link can be found after the jump? Well, you won’t find me checking it out!

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