Phillies (yawn) land big-name pitcher before trade deadline

For the second consecutive year, the Phillies landed a big fish for their rotation. Of course, the celebration is muted for Roy Oswalt because only a few months ago the team had jettisoned a better, slightly younger ace who was very popular in the clubhouse and among fans.

That was my first thought, but then I considered this: What if, last year, the Phillies landed Roy Halladay midseason and Cliff Lee never came to town? Can you imagine the euphoria there would be today if the Phillies then acquired a matching Roy for the top of the rotation?

Under that scenario, Ruben Amaro Jr. would be viewed as a god in this town. But that's not the scenario we have, so he'll probably be remembered as the dolt who dumped Cliff Lee (even if the Phillies win more World Series).

We'll see what the new Roy has to offer when he debuts tomorrow.

The Phillies continued to roll tonight, beating the Diamondbacks 3-2 in 11 innings on 1980s night.

The Red Sox were off, but they were still rolling, too. It was Josh Beckett's charitable bowling event.

Pitching questions

So the Phillies suddenly sent Kyle Kendrick to the minors and recalled Andrew Carpenter. But Kendrick might not be down there for long because Jamie Moyer left today's game with an elbow sprain. Further complicating matters is that David Murphy suggests J.A. Happ is on his way back and Matt Gelb suggests that Ruben Amaro may have an ace, or some kind of pitcher, up his sleeve:

Ruben Amaro Jr. wore one of those patented smug looks on his face. The Phillies general manager had just demoted his fifth starter without listing a replacement in the rotation for him.

"I think we know exactly what we're going to do," Amaro said. "I just choose not to tell you."
[...]
That means a trade could be imminent. Amaro did nothing to dissuade that notion, saying Saturday's starter could come from outside the organization.

"We have other balls in the air," Amaro said.

{Happ was pulled early from tonight's minor league game. So, does that mean he's starting Saturday, or could he be part of an upcoming trade?}

They could have used the help tonight. In the 9th, Cardinals 7, Phillies 1. The Red Sox lead the A's 2-0 in the 2nd.

Fast forward to October

Yesterday, the focus was on the spring. Today, it's on the fall. Baseball Prospectus did its projections, and the regular season won't be needed. The SoxandPhils series is still alive, but the Yankees won't return to the postseason.

They predict the Red Sox will win 95 games this year - the second-highest total in baseball. Alas, just like 2008, that won't be enough to beat the Rays for the division title. They also have the Phillies winning the division yet again (yawn) but with a surprisingly low 88 wins.

No matter the position or the number of wins, all this says to me is that we will see the SoxandPhils World Series this year.

Ruban Amaro Jr. is ready for it. He was on the radio yesterday with Mike Missanelli, who was hammering him for not keeping Cliff Lee after acquiring Roy Halladay. The radio host said it was his fear that the Phillies were facing the Red Sox in the World Series: Halladay wins game one, Cole Hamels loses game two and then it's Joe Blanton against Josh Beckett in game three.

Amaro said he'd "be more than pleased" with that scenario and to play the Red Sox in the World Series.

So would we.

Bring it on.

{Greg, you can't say bring it on in January!}

Ruben beats Theo; Ellsbury bests J-Roll

MLB.com announced today the fan-selected winners of a bunch of cheesy awards.

The Phillies won four categories; the Red Sox won one.

Two of the categories won by a Sox or Phil featured a head-to-head matchup between our teams. Jacoby Ellsbury beat Jimmy Rollins for defensive player of the year, while Ruben Amaro Jr. beat Theo Epstein for executive of the year. And this was before this week's big-time pitching acquisition. Clearly, John Lackey would have pushed Theo over the top.

The other This Year in Baseball Award winners were Jayson Werth for unsung hero (Christine says they're a year late on this one), J.A. Happ for rookie of the year, and the little girl who threw the foul ball her father caught back on the field won for oddity of the year.

Christine was surprised that Eric Bruntlett didn't win anything for his unassisted triple play, but the former Phillie was beat out by potential Phil DeWayne Wise for his great catch that preserved Mark Buehrle's perfect game.

Oh, there's one more meaningless award, this one from the masters of the obvious at the Boston Chapter of the Baseball Writers of America. Jon Lester was the best pitcher on the Red Sox last year.

Cliff Lee speaks: He's not happy:

"Disbelief. Shock. Initially I was disappointed," Lee said when asked to expound on his emotions. "Obviously, it was great being part of a team that went to the World Series for the second year in a row and I was looking forward to trying for a third. That's a great group of guys. I enjoyed every second I was there. Now I'm in Seattle and I have to make the best of it."

Good luck, but just please don't make the best of it during the one or two starts you face the Red Sox.

Offseason blahs

With the GM meetings concluded and still more than a month to go before Christmas, this is the first weekend that the offseason really dragged for me.

There is nothing going on. I mean, sure, Andy Martino hasn't updated his blog in more than a week now, but there were no stories in either the Boston Globe or Philadelphia Inquirer today. Not even a lame feature on what the Phanatic is doing for the holidays.

Even Christmas shopping provided bitter reminders of how the season ended. While looking at some doggie clothes (just browsing, we would never buy clothes for a dog, even if we had one), among the Phillies and Red Sox shirts was one that said 2008 World Champions, almost jeering at us that there was no need for a 2009 version.

At another store, amid the piles of books, there were ones recapping the Yankees championship. Christine flipped them over and put a different book on top of them. Reason No. 1,503,303 why I love her.

I can't even get a respite in Sports Illustrated. Every other advertisement in the magazine is congratulating them. I don't remember another champion getting treated like this. Money talks, I guess.

One beat writer is still working: In Scott Lauber's Sunday column, he offers a little disconcerting insight into the Phillies third base situation. Basically, they want to wait out the market and pick up whoever is left - kind of like getting a Christmas tree from a picked-over lot on Christmas Eve:

When they analyzed the market for third basemen, the Phillies envisioned a game of musical chairs in which there seemingly aren't enough spots for each player, a conclusion that led them to decide not to buy out their $5.5 million option on Pedro Feliz's contract.

"We could've misread the market," Amaro said, "but we just feel like there are more third basemen available than there are positions to be filled."

Great, I can't wait to see what scrawny little tree is manning third base next year. I know, I should relax and give the Phillies front office the credit it has earned during the past few seasons.

[Photo credit: Wikipedia]

Buh-bye, Brett

On July 24, 2002, Christine and I were honeymooning in Niagara Falls. (We took a real honeymoon in Hawaii the next year.) Also on that date, young Brett Myers tossed eight innings of two-hit ball to earn a win in his first major league start for the Phillies.

It was the first of 240 appearances (183 starts) for Myers as a Phillies. In all likelihood, he won't be making any more for the team as the Phillies say they're not bringing him back. Here's the good cop quote from GM Ruben Amaro:

Brett is one of our own. He was here 11 years. It's difficult to let a guy go, just like it was difficult with Pat [Burrell] last year. At the same time, sometimes you have to think about change, so we made the decision. Brett will have opportunities on another club. He's very versatile. He can be a starter or a reliever.

It's not surprising that Brett won't be a Phillie in 2010, but it's kind of odd that the Phillies would publicly sever ties so quickly, even though Myers has caused his share of trouble: the domestic assault charges, using a slur against a reporter, injuring himself in the bizarre SUV incident this year and, most recently, the Cole Hamels "quit" incident.

As Jim Salisbury wrote:

Though no one in the organization would explicitly say it, there were indications that the team had just had its fill of Myers, the club's top draft pick in 1999. The Phils might have put up with Myers' dramatics had he maintained the effectiveness that helped him win 25 games and post a 3.82 ERA in 65 starts over the 2005 and 2006 seasons, but a number of factors hurt his performance, especially the last two seasons, and exhausted the team's patience.

I ran hot and cold with Brett. He was young and immature, but had one of the most beautiful curve balls, a nice little lollipop that literally took my breath away at times. He was on the mound for the final out of 2007 and mostly selfless on the field.

He was one of the longest-tenured Phillies - only Jimmy Rollins has been on the team longer - and his closing comment shows he at least understand the Philly fans:

Myers said he would miss his teammates and thanked the fans, many of whom supported him through his rough times. After eight seasons in Philadelphia, he said, he knows how tough the fans can be, and he expects to feel some of that old tough love when he returns with another team.

"Hopefully, I'll be playing against the Phillies, and when I do, I want the roughest treatment the fans can give me - when I'm pitching," he said, laughing. "I'm an opposing player. You have to give it to me."

I hope the fans remember this quote and give Brett a loving boo before a standing ovation the first time he wears gray in Philly. But after that, respect his wishes and remember he's the enemy.

Other news: Shocker! Brad Lidge was pitching was loose bodies in his elbow; he's headed for the operating room along with Raul Ibanez and Scott Eyre. And Pedro Feliz may join Brett Myers on the Phillies kicked-to-the-curb list this off season.

[Photo credit: Associated Press]

Divergent paths to SoxandPhils World Series

Every year, I am convinced that this will be the year that I've finally learned that baseball seasons are marathons and not to let myself get too excited during the highs or too bummed during the lows. I kept myself calm when the Red Sox beat the Yankees in their first eight head-to-head matchups and seemed primed for a third World Championship in my lifetime.

But it's hard not to get low after a night like last night that dropped them 3.5 behind the Yankees and just 2 up on the Rangers for the Wild Card. I can't believe I'm worried about the consolation prize in early August.

But last night, a washed-up John Smoltz got wiped away by the Yankees. The best first baseman in baseball, Kevin Youkilis, started in left field, and Jed Lowrie was injured again. The Globe's headlines included "Breaking point," "In reverse gear and skidding fast" and "Master plan shortsighted."

Everyone is convinced we're seeing a repeat of 2006 - the only time in the last six years the Red Sox missed the playoffs. It was capped by a five-game sweep by the Yankees in Fenway.

I'm not ready to give up. Sure, the glut of pitching has been reduced to Beckett, Lester and pray for nasty weather. But these guys are champions. Don't count 'em out.

While the Red Sox can't do anything right lately, their counterparts in our hoped SoxandPhils World Series can't do anything wrong. Ruben Amaro is walking on water right now: All his moves are working, the city loves him, and he's got the media wrapped around his finger. The biggest problem in Philadelphia is how beloved Jamie Moyer is going to handle the bullpen.

The other night I heard Amaro on the radio with Mike Missanelli, who tried to bait him into saying he celebrated closing the deal on the Cliff Lee trade. Nah, he said, the front office just shook hands and were pleased with their results.

Pressed again in a Sam Donnellon column today in which his players sang his praises, he still wouldn't bite:

Amaro was asked whether he'd received some congratulatory phone calls. He squirmed uneasily, then went on long and hard about all the help he received.

"We don't do this to receive congratulations," he said, finally. "We do this to win games, man."

Now, we just need the Phillies to keep winning games and the Red Sox to remember how to.

Today's news: We've been out of touch - we have had one of those home improvement days where we eat at 9 p.m. and are waiting for paint to dry at 10:30 so we can hang blinds and go to sleep. Needless to say, I had no idea John Smoltz was designated for assignment and Junichi Tazawa was called up until I logged on to post.

I found out for the first time the Red Sox and Yankees didn't score - they're in the 10th tied 0-0. I wish I saw this matchup between Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett. Phillies lost to the Marlins 3-2. Panic grips Philly.

Sitting pretty

Last week was agony at times, wondering whether Roy Halladay was worth giving up Kyle Drabek, or whether Victor Martinez was worth giving up Clay Buchholz. Or whether either of our teams would make a foolish decision about the future that wouldn't even pay off this year.

Ultimately, our teams got the two best players in Martinez and Cliff Lee who moved by July 31 (although Matt Holliday might disagree) without giving up their most coveted prospects and are in good positions to return to the playoffs this year while remaining perennial threats for the next several.

We are pleased.

This SoxandPhils headline on a Tom Verducci column summed up our trading deadline nicely:

Red Sox, Phillies put organizational depth on display

In an era when young players under control are valued more and more, Philadelphia and Boston won the week because of they could draw on fertile farm systems without running them dry. It's a lesson for the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets of the world: player development is a key currency in the baseball realm.

And, as we later learned, our teams were prepared to cash in that currency in other deals. Ruben Amaro said so, but there's only speculation as to whom the Phillies were pursuing. Theo Epstein said less, but there are reports he was pursuing a whopper. He offered the Mariners a king's ransom (their choice of five from RHP Clay Buchholz, RHP Daniel Bard, RHP Justin Masterson, LHP Nick Hagadone, RHP Michael Bowden, LHP Felix Doubront, OF Josh Reddick and SS Yamaico Navarro) for King Felix Hernandez.

I'm intrigued at the thought of Hernandez on the Red Sox, but I'd be scared to make that deal. Although, Theo had the guts to trade away Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez and wound up with a better team.

Hallelujah!

Neither the cold 18-degree air during my morning walk nor my nice hot cup of coffee jolted me awake today as much as the exaltation I felt when I read the stories about Ruben Amaro Jr.'s weekend press conference.

One of the few questions for the defending champions is who will fill the No. 5 slot in the rotation. There's been no movement toward a particular candidate, but the new GM made it clear who won't get the job. (Hint: His name rhymes with beaten).

"It's a four-man competition, and he's not involved in that," Ruben Amaro Jr. said a few minutes ago at Citizens Bank Park. "Is it possible that Eaton pitches well enough to put himself in the mix? You never know what's going to happen. Right now, we just think those other four guys [Chan Ho Park, J.A. Happ, Kyle Kendrick and Carlos Carrasco] give us a better opportunity to win."

Yes! Yes! Yes! It's nice to hear an honest negative assessment from a club about one of its biggest mistakes ever. Fortunately, like the Eric Gagne-Red Sox debacle, Adam Eaton didn't prevent the team from winning a championship.

More good news: Sports tell-alls are usually sugar-coated or slanted toward the writer's personal bias. I might give Joe Torre's the benefit of the doubt, if for nothing else than to see his account of why the Yankees underachieved during the later part of his tenure. A-Fraud, indeed.

Oops: Last week, I made a steroid reference to Julio Lugo gaining 20-pounds of muscle. This week, Nick Cafardo corrected himself:

I meant Julio Lugo had gained 10 pounds of muscle, not the 20 I incorrectly typed last week.

Roid rage

Usually when there's a story about steroids, I get mad at the player for doing drugs and at baseball for doing nothing about it. Last night, when the maddening story of J.C. Romero broke, I wasn't mad at the player, but at baseball for not doing nothing about it.

Sure it's possible that Romero, who got in front of the story and explained himself to Phil Sheridan, is sugarcoating his version. And now the players' association may be disputing part of his account. Romero's story: He took a supplement he was told was safe, but then failed a drug test after learning the supplement contained a banned substance. Great, there's a 50-game lesson learned for J.C. and the Phillies.

Give him credit for sticking to his guns and not accepting a halved penalty for playing along with Major League Baseball:

"If people are intimidated because Major League [Baseball] is a big organization, so be it," Romero said. "But they are not going to make an example of me thinking that I'm just a [dumb] Puerto Rican. It's not going to happen. It's not the way I'm built.

"For me to keep my mouth shut? That's not the right thing to do. If they want to bump me out of the game, so be it. What am I going to do, just sit back and take it? When I know in my heart I'm innocent? That doesn't fly well with me and it doesn't fly well in my house, either."

Since he brought up ethnicity, there's another point to this story. Early on in baseball's steroid testing, there was a complaint that a predominant number of Latin players were caught because they couldn't understand the policy. Well, here's a Latin player who has no language issue and did everything you would want a player to do, but he still winds up penalized.

This is a bad day for baseball.

Yankees farmhand Sergio Mitre was snared in similar circumstance. Normally I'd say he probably deserved it, but these facts are too disturbing even for Yankee jokes.

Also disturbing were comments by Ruben Amaro - he stood by the team's trainer and baseball, but not Romero - and the players' union, which said baseball should address these problems in the future. Yup, somehow this is the one case in which the union isn't going to try to run baseball.

Notes: Marcus Giles, who has also faced whispers of steroid use, just joined the Phillies as infield insurance. ... Comcast SportsNet reported last night that the Phillies did offer Pat Burrell a two-year contract during the season for more money than he got from Tampa Bay. So I take back a little of my organization-bashing: Pat, we're in bad economic times. You should have taken the money and run. There's not that big of a market for a slow-footed, .250-hitting left fielder, regardless of his bulldog.

Blowhard, fall hard

As Yankees owner Hank Steinbrenner continues to tell the world he's going to buy CC Sabathia and any other pitcher with a pulse, and invest in research aimed at bringing Babe Ruth back from the dead for the stretch run, the Phillies, Red Sox and pretty much every other team that's been more successful than the fallen empire quietly goes about their business.

The Inquirer has a story and column package today reminding us that mega-deals like the one CC will get rarely guarantee parades. To quote Bob Ford:

In the end, Eric Bruntlett and Joe Blanton can trump CC Sabathia sometimes, and Matt Stairs and Scott Eyre can mean more than Manny Ramirez. Not always, but occasionally. If you are lucky enough, and patient enough.

In past years, a headline like "Phillies' Amaro in no hurry to spend money" would be the kiss of death for a rookie general manager in Philadelphia. But it's the same approach, which had been questioned if not criticized until last month, of Pat Gillick.

Hank's winter bluster has been greeted by ... by ... by... crickets? Theo Epstein and the crew do their best to keep things quiet when retooling the roster. They have a track record, so let Hank crow, knowing he'll have to eat it again next September.

All right, things aren't so quiet out of Boston this morning. I assume management is responsible for this Manny Ramirez leak during the first weekend of unfettered free agency. Cue damage control from Scott Boras:

The bottom line is he was never suspended and there was never cause for suspension. The fact is the intent to suspend is not a suspension.

That settles that. Lavish money on him and don't worry about his antics. Manny, meet Hank; Hank, meet Manny.

A new administration

We'll find out tomorrow night or early Wednesday whether Barack Obama or John McCain will head the country on Jan. 20. The Phillies didn't wait so long, installing Ruben Amaro Jr. as general manager to replace Pat Gillick. Now we know why Gillick said "Let's do it again" on the World Series podium. He's staying on as an adviser.

Red Sox: Theo Epstein may have to pony up the team's resources, as Kevin Youkilis and Jonathaon Papelbon could demand huge raises. Papelbon, like Cole Hamels, whined about his contract offer last off-season, so things could get ugly again. Youk seems to be a solid citizen who won't complain like the younger superstars.

The Globe's Nick Cafardo suggests that situation, along with the economic downturn, could make this off-season's arbitration process very interesting.

Meanwhile, while explaining for the 10 millionth time that he's voting for McCain, Curt Schilling once again referred to himself as retired, or a likely retired baseball player who owns a small start-up. It's unlikely that Jake Peavy will replace Curt on the roster. That's good - I worried enough about overpaying in prospects for an ace last off-season. Jon Lester started but lost Game 7 of the ALCS. I forget what Johan Santana did this postseason.

Getting back to presidential politics, and giving each candidate equal SoxandPhils time, Jimmy Rollins did a robo call for Obama. We had four calls on the machine today, but none from J-Roll.

Off day

Although the playoffs ended with joy in our house for the second straight year, they make for a pretty tiring month if you closely follow five of the seven playoff rounds, as we did this year.

So today was largely a baseball-free day - except for when I played a few minutes of a game I recorded on the DVR and bought the special Phillies championship edition of Sports Illustrated.

Things haven't been so quiet for the squads. The Red Sox brought back one of their legends for 2009, while the Phillies said goodbye to four of theirs.

The Red Sox picked up Tim Wakefield's 2009 option, bringing him back for a 15th season. Although he was shelled in the playoffs, he remains one of the better pitchers in the league, and if age suddenly catches up with him, he only cost $4 million.

The Phillies, meanwhile, sadly dumped two of their all-time greats. They declined options on Tom Gordon and So Taguchi. We didn't mention it, but did anyone find it odd how Flash was in the middle of the screen every time the cameras showed the clubhouse celebration on Wednesday? And where was Adam Eaton?

Two other guys who actually played major roles in making the Phillies World Champions are leaving. Pat Gillick, who seemed to hint at a return on the podium Friday, will be replaced by Ruben Amaro Jr. Mike Arbuckle, apparently tired of getting passed over, will leave the organization.

Don't forget to set your clocks back.