Skip to main content

Keystone Catch

The Phillies made the first roster alteration at the winter meetings on Wednesday, by trading minor league catcher Jason Jaramillo to the Pirates for Ronny Paulino. This trade deepens the Phillies at the catching position and could have other effects on the 2009 team. The move could unofficially end Chris Coste's run as a Phillie. It could also make Carlos Ruiz or even Lou Marson trade bait.

Another move that happened on Wednesday that could effect the Phillies down the road is the Yankees signing CC Sabathia. $161 million?! Wow. Now let's look forward to the day when Cole Hamels wants that top free agent pitcher money. Enjoy young Colbert while you can, Phillies phans.

New reports about the Phillies' interest in Minnesota's Delmon Young and Chan Ho Park are the buzz today. Park, who was with the Dodgers in 2008, is not the LA pitcher most Phillies phans were hoping for (eh-hem, Derek Lowe!). Park, however, was fairly solid this year posting a 3.40 ERA in over 95 innings of work, mostly in relief. He faired much better in the 1st half than he did after the all star break (4-2, 2.63 ERA before...0-2, 5.04 ERA after). Young was the 1st overall draft pick in 2003 and had his best ML season in 2007 when he hit .288 with 13 homers, 93 RBI and 10 steals.

The Rule 5 draft happens today, on the last day of the winter meetings. I always forget the exact criteria for the draft, as there's a year in between that permits the memory to fade. But the basic outline is to prevent teams from hording too many young players in their minor league systems, if there are other teams willing to give the players a shot in the majors. Once selected, a team must add the player to their 40-man roster immediately and the player must stay on the team's 25-man major league roster for the entire follow season, or else be offered back to the original team. Shane Victorino is the Phillies' most notable rule 5 draft selection. Jeremy Slayden may be a Phillie that other teams will target this time around. Okay, maybe not...I just had a good picture of him messing with Greg Golson's mit that I wanted to post.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sunday School: Phillies History Lesson 73

Danny Ozark was the Phillies' manager from 1973-1979. During his tenure as the team's general, Ozark led Philadelphia to three straight division titles. In his playing days, Ozark was a first baseman, who was a career minor leaguer in the Dodgers system. When Ozark took over the team in 1973, the Phillies were fresh off 5 consecutive losing seasons and 3 straight last place finishes. During his first season in charge, the Phillies would again finish in last place, 20 games under .500, but as his core of young talent, like Mike Schmidt and Larry Bowa, developed, the Phillies' win totals rose. Within 2 years, the Phillies were above .500 and in the playoff hunt until late in the season and the most successful era of Phillies history was about to begin. By 1976, the Phillies were headed to the post-season for the first time since 1950. The Phils would enjoy a 10-game lead over their nearest division rival at the midway point of the season. Despite a lul, which saw their lead d...

PhoulBallz Interview: First round pick Bryson Stott

Bryson Stott, image- Jay Floyd Shortstop Bryson Stott , the Phillies' first round draft selection this year, has enjoyed a successful initial pro campaign.  En route to being recognized as an All-Star for the Class A short-season Williamsport Crosscutters the 21-year-old UNLV product has tallied a .295 average with six home runs and 25 RBI in 45 minor league contests. Last week I spoke with the lefty hitting Stott to discuss his transition to professional baseball, joining the Phillies organization and plenty more.  Read ahead for that interview.  -Obviously, your performance and the production on the field is going well, but how do you feel you have adapted to the pro life? It feels good.  You hear about the everyday grind, but you don't really believe it till you feel it. I would say that's the difference between college and the pros, is you're not practicing, you're playing games every day.  I would say that's the biggest difference.  But I...

Patreon Exclusive: Logan O'Hoppe answers Nine Silly-ass Questions

Logan O'Hoppe, image- Jay Floyd Phillies catching prospect Logan O'Hoppe was the subject of a recent player feature I posted here three days early.  When I talked with Logan, he was kind enough to not only chat about some serious baseball related topics, he also had some fun with me and answered Nine Silly-Ass Questions! In this interview, the 20-year-old, who was an All-Star with Class A short-season Williamsport last year, offered his thoughts on his experiences playing in Australia last off-season, super powers, some surprising movies he's never seen, teammate Albertus Barber and plenty more.  Read ahead for some excerpts from this Silly-ass interview... -You can 4-for-4 and your team loses, or you can get hit in the groin and your team wins...which do you choose? I mean, if we win, then the whole team has a good night, so I have to go with that one.  That really benefits everybody. -Tell me, if you can, four words to describe Albertus Barber . One,...