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Sure, free agency and the Hot Stove can provide plenty of news at this time of the year, but there are actual games being played...somewhere. Let's take a look around the varying "Winter" leagues that are going on all over the world, to review how players with current Phillies ties are performing. In the Dominican Winter Baseball League... Domonic Brown was a member of the Escogido Leones, but left the team last week. After struggling in 9 games for the Leones, Brown's Winter league stint was cut short. He went 2-for-29 (.069 avg) with 1 double and 8 strike outs. 2010 Phillies rookie hurler David Herndon has looked sharp thus far out of the bullpen for the Cibao Gigantes. In 6 games, Herndon has thrown 6 2/3 innings and held opponents to a .167 average without allowing a run. Phillies lefty reliever Antonio Bastardo is also a member of the Gigantes relief corp. In 7 games, Bastardo, a native of the DR, has a 0-1 record with 7 strike outs and 1 walk in 9 innings. He...

While several free agent and potential trade names have been floated around at this week's Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida, with the Phillies organization attached to them, the moves that the Phils have actually made were of minimal impact at the minor league level. In an effort to clear space on their 40-man roster, the Phillies released pitchers Yohan Flande (pictured) and Jesus Sanchez. Flande, a Dominican lefty hurler that will turn 25 years old prior to spring training, is currently pitching for the Toros in the Dominican Winter Baseball League. In 6 games (4 starts), Flande has posted a 1-1 record with a 4.91 ERA and a .303 batting average against for the Toros. In 27 starts for the Double A Reading Phillies this year, Flande went 10-8 with a 4.38 ERA. The right-handed Sanchez performed well this season with the High A level Clearwater Threshers as a starting pitcher. In 23 games (22 starts), Sanchez, who turned 23 years old after the season, posted a 9-7 record with a 2....

While pitching in the Dominican Winter League for the Escogido Leones on Saturday, Jamie Moyer was removed from the game after 2 1/3 innings with an elbow injury. Moyer, whose contract with the Phillies expired at the end of the 2010 season, had been sidelined with an elbow injury since mid-season. Moyer was hoping to use his time in the Winter League to get in shape and showcase himself, in order to draw offers from clubs for another year in the Majors in 2011. Moyer, who will turn 48 years old in less than two weeks, has already pitched 24 years in the Major Leagues. With the Phillies in 2010, Moyer posted a 9-9 record with a 4.84 ERA in 19 starts. In 3 Dominican Winter League games, Moyer held opponents to a .190 batting average and posted a 1.69 ERA. Moises Alou, who is the general manager for the Leones team, told reporters that he felt Moyer's pitching days were likely over, due to the severity of the injury. Such a diagnosis is obviously premature and not fully reliable comi...

As a player, Steve Roadcap was a career minor leaguer. He played from 1982-1986 in the Cubs' system. As a manager, Roadcap has also stuck firmly at the minor league level. He began managing for the Cubs' rookie league team in Wytheville, VA in 1988. Roadcap moved up in the Chicago system managing at various levels until 1998. After spending time coaching and managing in the Seattle Mariners system, Roadcap has now managed at three levels in the Philadelphia Phillies' organization, since 2006. I had the opportunity to speak with Steve this week about his pitching staff with the Phillies' Double A affiliate in Reading, PA. Check out the media player below to listen to that interview. _________________________________________________ Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE . Share on Facebook

Steve Schrenk is currently the pitching coach for the Phillies' A-Level affiliate, the Lakewood BlueClaws. In his playing days, Schrenk was drafted by the White Sox in 1987. He pitched two seasons with the Phillies in 1999 and 2000. After retiring as a player in 2002, Schrenk coached a summer college team in 2003. He joined the Phillies organization as a coach in 2004 and has been with the Phillies, coaching at different levels, since then. Last week, PhoulBallz.com had a chance to speak with Steve Schrenk and that interview lies ahead. What are your thoughts on the solid efforts from the Lakewood pitching staff and some of the injuries the staff has had to deal with so far this season? Everybody's been doing a pretty good job. We've had our ups and downs, a little bit here and there. They're young and we're still learning how to pitch and do some different things. We've had the injuries that have hurt us a little bit here and there, but the guys who are here- (...

For those of you out there who are still somewhat displeased about the Phillies giving up Kyle Drabek in the Roy Halladay deal and who are concerned about the depth of starting pitching prospects in the Phillies' organization, I am here to reassure you that there is still a solid collection of pitching prospects on the way up for the defending National League Champions. Here's a rundown of guys who I feel make the system fairly deep with quality arms. Former 1st round draft pick (19th overall, 2007) Joe Savery has progressed nicely. Savery started his 2009 Double A campaign with a 9-1 record. He was 12-4 with a 4.41 ERA in 21 games at Reading, before being promoted to triple A Lehigh Valley. With the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Savery posted a 4-2 record with a 4.38 ERA in 7 starts. While his ERA's at both levels could use improving, a plus with Savery is that he allowed no homeruns after his promotion. The lefty should start the 2010 season at triple A and could be an opt...

Outfielder Quintin Berry If you missed the news yesterday, the Phillies added three minor league players to their 40-man roster, increasing the total on the current 40-man roster to 30. 2009 Reading Phillies Quintin Berry and Yohan Flande along with 2009 Lakewood BlueClaw Jesus Sanchez were the players added. Berry was an Eastern League all star in 2009, batting .266 with 48 steals for Reading. Flande was a star in the MLB All Star weekend Futures Game and won 11 games at two levels in the minor leagues this year. Sanchez, a right handed pitcher acquired in the 2006 Bobby Abreu trade, went 9-2 with a 2.57 ERA after May, helping Lakewood win the SAL title. 2009 was Sanchez's first full season as a pitcher, after converting from catching. Sanchez warming up before a September start With the Rule 5 draft coming up at next month's winter meetings, the Phillies saw fit to protect players who might be subjected to picks by other ML organizations. Players are eligible for selecti...

Charlie Manuel announced his starting lineup for the National League all star team this morning. Here's a glance at the lineup... Hanley Ramirez SS Chase Utley 2B Albert Pujols 1B Ryan Braun RF Raul Ibanez LF David Wright 3B Shane Victorino CF Yadier Molina C Tim Lincecum P Don't be surprised to see Manuel remove Ryan Braun from the game around the 3rd of 4th inning, to substitute Jayson Werth into the game in order to play the three starting Phillies outfielders in the game, at once, for an inning or two. ---------------- In the MLB Futures Game on Sunday in St. Louis, Reading Phillies pitchers Yohan Flande and Kyle Drabek each threw a scoreless inning...Flande for the World Team, Drabek for the USA Team. Click here for some video highlights of both pitchers in the All Star Futures Game. Click here for PhoulBallz.com's exclusive interview with Kyle Drabek. --------------- The Phillies completed a 9-1 homestand on Sunday with a sweep of the Pirates. Over the 10 games str...

Could future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez be on his way to the Phillies' pitching rotation? Yes, he could be. He could be the annual mid-level addition to the pitching staff that the team, and its phans, have grown accustomed to. Cory Lidle, Kyle Lohse, Jamie Moyer, Joe Blanton...those are the sorts of acquisitions the Phillies make each year, in July, to make a run at the playoffs. Pedro Martinez is no longer an all star...no longer a Cy Young Award contender...and no longer a staff ace. Toronto's Roy Halladay, who the Phillies were tied to with trade rumors this week, is that #1 pitcher the Phillies always miss out on. The Phillies don't do what it takes to add a top level, front of the rotation, all star, Cy Young Award winning sort of hurler. The team lets money and the risk of trading away prospects get in the way. John Kruk tells a story about how the 1993 Phillies could have added Randy Johnson in a mid-season trade, but the front office was held up on pitching prosp...