2K24: Philadelphia Phillies

[Hammer]

WTF is going on with AJ Burnett??

he is pitching with a hernia.

[Don Quixote]

he is pitching with a hernia.

I admire his fortitude but not necessarily his intelligence. If it's effecting his performance, he should get it fixed. He's pitching more like the Yankees Burnett than the Pirates version.

[Erik]

Keep an eye on Ken Giles, who was called up a few days ago. He has the stuff to close in the future.

[scottw]

Keep an eye on Ken Giles, who was called up a few days ago. He has the stuff to close in the future.

Quite a memorable first appearance it was, too. Brought in to record the last out with a 5 run lead, he gave up a HR to his first batter, and "only" threw 98 and 99 MPH on every fastball. He did throw 2 nasty sliders [89MPH!], the last of which the batter corkscrewed himself into the ground striking out. If he can get that fastball down AND control that slider, he could make watching this team a lot more fun this summer.

[overkill94]

Does Giles have any chance of closing this year or next? How serious is the team about trading Papelbon?

Damn you all!

[Erik]

Damn you all!

17 K in 12 2/3 IP. 0.71 ERA, 0.71 WHIP.

[james33]

So what are the Phillies thinking, not making any deadline deals? I've read several speculations: (1) they're concerned about attendance dropping if they trade big names, (2) they simply don't care about short-run 2014 salary expense, (3) they asked for too much and nobody was wiling to pay what they were asking.

Thoughts, Erik/others?

[revo]

It's also likely that many of their players will clear waivers and so they didn't feel a need to rush to deal these guys away. Of course, with Lee's injury, they blew a major piece of that puzzle.

[Erik]

Revo's explanation is the biggest reason.

Also, their players are difficult to trade not only because of their salaries, but because Amaro gives out no-trade clauses, vesting options, etc. like candy.

There is probably some unrealistic valuation going on, but the main reason they finally hired analytical staff was to get a better sense of how more analytics-oriented teams - that is, almost everyone - value Phillies players.

I don't think the attendance theory counts for much. It's already way down because the team isn't good. And they are swimming in cash anyway after their new TV deal.

[cavebird]

I think it is a combination of three reasons:

1. Nobody trusted Cliff Lee because he hadn't shown he was back and pitching well after the injury. Apparently, for good reason.

2. Amaro has some overvaluing of players going on. He thinks he should get a major haul for Hamels, because Hamels is good. Hamels, however, is a full price, so there is little value there. Given the money he is owed, half the contenders are automatically out, because they cannot afford him.

3. The pieces they would have moved more cheaply (Howard, Papelbon) just didn't have enough value for anyone to give the Phillies anything that would make the Phillies bother to pull the trigger.

[heyelander]

RAJ circa 2008

[Bodhizefa]

The Phillies have a few pieces that could still net some interesting prospects on return -- Utley, Byrd, Ruiz, and Hamels. But the problem is that Amaro would have to take on at least half of any of those given salaries to net even a halfway decent prospect. And then Amaro expects to get a couple of stud prospects in return for his star player who is signed for an egregious amount (because Amaro always pays full price or higher for his free agents). So it's a recipe for an ugly exchange mostly because Amaro has consistently overvalued his guys as well as underestimated the value of a buck around the league vs. what his own budget. Basically, he's an asshat and doesn't understand much of shit. He was a fun GM for Philly to have during their heyday when he could just go out and pay market prices for free agents and be done with it -- his quick actions and swift trades were always fun and based in making his current team better at the time (with the Ryan Howard contract being his first huge megalomanical bungle, obviously). But now? He's a veritable nightmare. If ownership can't see it, the Phillies are in for a decade long rebuild.

[Erik]

We don't really know what ownership sees, because it's made up of many people and none of them speak publicly except for CEO David Montgomery, who only talks in marketing blather. Before the 2007-2011 run, they seemed content to be in the MLB ownership club and losing didn't seem to bother them that much.

Today Amaro said he made no deals because the players they wanted weren't available. There may be some truth to that -- none of the top 50 prospects were moved. But it's also probably a reflection of how differently he values players vs. the rest of the league.

[Judge Jude]

I agree that the Howard contract was the beginning of the end. Reminds me of the Yankees getting value out of A-Rod and Sabathia - then signing them to preposterous extensions because reasons, I guess. But the Yankees have a larger "get out of a jail free" card.

[Judge Jude]

From Elias: Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins all survived last week's trade deadline long enough to reach a significant milestone. Sunday's loss to the Nationals was the 886th regular-season game that they've started together in the field for the Phillies at first base, second base and shortstop, respectively. They've tied the Dodgers' trio of Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes and Bill Russell for the major-league record for most games started together in the field by three teammates at those positions.