Skip to main content

Phillies Sign New Closer

By
Another week, another free agent Friday. The Phillies have signed former Boston hurler Jonathan Papelbon to a deal to become their new premiere relief pitcher. The deal is done, pending a physical examination and is reportedly worth $50 million over four years. The contract also has a vesting option to increase the length to five years and the value above $60 million. It would be the largest free-agent contract for a reliever in MLB history.

Papelbon, who will turn 31-years-old later this month, has had a more than a solid career to date with the Red Sox. The 4th round pick from the 2003 amateur draft has a career regular season record of 23-19 with a .233 ERA, 219 saves and a .204 batting average against in his 7 year career.

In 18 career postseason contests, Papelbon sports an exceptional 1.00 ERA with a 2-1 record and 7 saves. What's even more impressive is that the Mississippi State product has held the opposition scoreless in all but one of those outings.

Comparatively, exiting Phillies closer Ryan Madson, who was the target of a proposed contract with the Phillies for much of the previous week, has plenty more mileage on his lanky frame than Papelbon does on his more athletic appearing body. Madson, who turned 31 in August, has thrown 208 2/3 more innings in his big league career, including the postseason, than Papelbon has. So, the Philadelphia faithful that figure to miss the "home grown" Madson, who has pitched more games for the Phillies than anyone not named Steve Carlton or Robin Roberts, may find the new guy appealing sooner than later.

The focus for the Phillies now moves toward filling their vacant shortstop position. With another long-time Philadelphia mainstay, Jimmy Rollins, on the free agent market, it remains to be seen how the organization will fill that void. With 21-year-old prospect Freddy Galvis batting .240 through 16 Venezuelan Winter League games, using an in house option may not be the best bet for the five-time defending National League East division champions.

_________________________________________________

Photo- AP

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Interview: Reading second baseman Jesmuel Valentin

By
Jesmuel Valentin, image- Jay Floyd Switch-hitting infielder Jesmuel Valentin has been a bit of an underrated contributor with the Double-A Reading Fightins. Heading into action on Friday, Valentin was batting .339 over his last 14 games. Overall this season, the 22-year-old is batting .282 with four home runs and 35 RBI in 64 games. Valentin, who plays mostly second base, but dabbles at shortstop a bit also, is the son of former big leaguer Jose Valentin . The Puerto Rico native was a supplementary round pick (51st overall) of the Dodgers in 2012. He was acquired by the Phils as part of the Roberto Hernandez trade in 2014. Recently, I spoke with Jesmuel about his team's success, growing up around the game and more. Read ahead for that full interview. -The Reading team has been great and you've contributed very nicely to the club's success. What are your thoughts on competition in the Eastern League this year? I just came here with the mindset that...
Post a Comment
Read more

Q&A with Justin De Fratus

By
Justin De Fratus is a 21 year old right handed relief pitcher with the Lakewood BlueClaws. An 11th round draft choice in 2007, Justin had been a starter in his first two seasons in the Phillies organization. Informed this spring that he'd be switched from the rotation to the bullpen, Justin has excelled and become one of the most reliable pitchers on the Lakewood staff. In 19 games this season, Justin is 2-0, with a 1.83 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over 39 1/3 innings pitched. PhoulBallz.com spoke with Justin De Fratus just last night. Here's how that went down... Justin, South Atlantic League all star selections were announced this week, and you were named to the team. Can I get your reaction to that? How excited were you? Very excited about it. Well, especially this year because I just got moved to the bullpen, so this is a new role for me. So, if anything, it's reassuring that I'm doing my job. It's the first time in my pro career that I've been selected as an all star...
7 comments
Read more

Catching prospect O'Hoppe tabbed to join Phillies

By
Logan O'Hoppe, image- Jay Floyd Please consider supporting my work and via my Patreon page .  For a small monthly fee, your patronage will get you exclusive interviews and other prospect related material as well as early access to all of my other content such as this feature.  Thank you.   On Friday, the Phillies added a pair of catchers to their 2020 player pool.  Minor leaguers Logan O'Hoppe (pronounced Oh-HOP-ee) and Henri Lartigue arrived in Philadelphia to help catch bullpen sessions for the team's collection of approximately 30 pitchers. The call to O'Hoppe was extremely welcome as the 20-year-old had been staying as active as he possibly could, working out with other players that have been been waiting out quarantine due to the current pandemic at his home on Long Island.  However, he had been very eager to step back onto an actual baseball field. "I just hope I can play soon.  Where ever that is or whatever form that is, that'd be aw...
1 comment
Read more