Offseason Phillies Transactions

Brandon Moss was once a top prospect in the Red Sox organization.  He was drafted out of high school and had some great years in the minors before being promoted to Boston.  I don't know if he wasn't ready or if there was another reason, but he never performed well with the Red Sox but was still thought of highly enough to be part of a 3 team deal between Boston, the Pirates and the Dodgers.  It was the deal that sent Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers and Jason Bay to Boston.  Again, he didn't play well with the Pirates and was sent to the Pirates AAA team, the Indianapolis Indians.  At the end of 2010 he became a free agent and that's when the Phillies signed him.  Some players develop sooner than others, and for Brandon Moss it seemed like 27-28 years of age was the right time.   Brandon Moss is still only the same age as John Mayberry Jr. so if he continues to perform he can still have a nice big league career. 

Brien Taylor was once a top prospect with the Yankees....when he gets out of prison, if someone throws him in AAA he isn't still a prospect

Brien Taylor was once a top prospect with the Yankees....when he gets out of prison, if someone throws him in AAA he isn't still a prospect

Of course not. It's silly to even make that analogy.  Brien Taylor is 40 years old and last played professionally in 2000, 12 years ago. He'll be 42 or 43 when he gets out of prison.  He's not Roy Hobbs.  The other examples I gave were for guys still in their mid 20's who were never out of professional baseball unless you count Jayson Werth missing a season due to injury.  

Phillies re-signed relief pitcher Juan Morillo and SS Andres Blanco to minor league contracts.  Morillo pitched at Reading and Lehigh Valley last year and Blanco was the shortstop at Lehigh Valley. 

the Phillies have agreed to a contract with Kevin Frandsen...terms of the agreement were not available...Estimates range somewhere between $1 and $2 million on a 1 year deal.

Details now saying the contract base salary is $850,000 with incentives that could bring it to $1.2 million. 

That makes more sense . . . A salary of 1m plus for someone who has NEVER produced at a high level and only doing it for half a season seemed crazy, esp with him not exactly being young.

Looks like the Phillies ARE in on Josh Hamilton with them being ok with a high annual salary but not the 7 years he wants.  Could a 4yr 90-100m deal with an option for a 5th work?  They are also in on Cody Ross . . . They have the money to get both AND THEN get a bullpen piece.  With Hamilton and Ross on board they wouldn't exactly have to address 3B . . they would make up the production lost as 3B with Hamilton/Ross.  Not many ppl see Ross as an everyday player however I don't think it's crazy to expect a .270/.340/.450-475 slash line outta him with 20plus HRs.  He can also be platooned if they felt that would be the best option.

Rollins
Utley
Hamilton
Howard
Ruiz

That would be the 1-5 (after that it could get complicated with platoons of Ruf/Brown, Ross/Brown, Galvis/Frandsen, etc.) 

Could also look like this....

Rollins
Utley
Ruiz
Hamilton
Howard 

or

Rollins
Utley
Ross
Hamilton
Howard
Ruiz

Only to break up the L-L-L that  Utley-Hamilton-Howard would cause.

Wow, if this one is real, the Marlins just traded Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes and others to the Toronto Blue Jays. 

Talk about a salary dump.  Buck is signed for I believe 3 more years so it looks like Travis D will be in the minors for another couple of years...maybe they'd trade him now?

Looks like Juan Pierre will be playing for the Miami Marlins in 2013.  One year $1.6 million pending a physical.  Reported on ESPN via the Sun Sentinel.

Jonathan Pettibone, Trevor May, Ethan Martin and Zach Collier added to the Phillies 40 man roster.  That brings the roster to 38

The Phillies signed third baseman Josh Fields to a minor league contract with (assuming) an invitation to spring training.  Josh was a 2004 1st round draft pick of the Chicago White Sox out of Oklahoma State, 18th overall and 3 picks before the Phillies selected Greg Golson.  Fields hit .244 with 23 HR for the White Sox in 2008 and in 2009 he hit a 2nd inning grand slam vs. Tampa Bay in Mark Buehrle's perfect game for the ChiSox.   Josh was also the starting quarterback on the Oklahoma State football team and was the first QB in school history to throw for over 3,000 yards in a single season.  He also set a Cotton Bowl record for most passing yards.  He played at Albuquerque (Dodgers) in the Pacif Coast League in 2012 and hit .322 with 13 HR and 71 RBI.  He also had a .392 OBP and .488 SLG. 

“We’ve had some good discussions, some fruitful discussions, with agents as well as other clubs. There are some situations where we’re waiting right now on someone to say ‘yes,’ and other situations where other teams are waiting for us to say ‘yes.’ It’s an interesting dynamic right now.”  Ruben Amaro Jr. to Jim Salisbury at CNSPhilly.com.

Read more at [http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/
11/amaro-on-phillies-upton-bourn-ma
rlins.html#Xo43IevKDS61dP5P.99]

33 year old veteran catcher Humberto Quintero was signed to a minor league contract.   Apparently this deal was done "before" the Chooch suspension.

Phillies are about to aquire Wilton Lopez, solid 8th inning guy.

Lopez, arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason, projects to earn $1.4MM in 2013. The 29-year-old posted a 2.17 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 1.1 BB/9 and a 55% ground ball rate in 66 1/3 innings with the Astros in 2012. In three-plus MLB seasons, he has a 3.14 ERA with 6.8 K/9, 1.6 BB/9 and a 55.9% ground ball rate. He's under team control through 2015.

It's hard to figure a reason the Astros would be willing to get rid of a quality reliever who is still earning a bargain salary.  I had a dream that Domonic Brown would be playing in the American League in 2013 but I don't think this is the deal that sends him packing.  However, it will take some good young talent out of the Phillies organization to get him. 

From Todd Zolecki on mlb.com:  "Minor League prospects from the Phils have been agreed upon, and Lopez is believed to be in Philadelphia taking his physical. Once the physical is passed, an announcement could come shortly."  

The Astros know that they aren't going to be a contender next year or in the near future.... they are on a mission to acquire as much young tlent as they can.

I'm curious who the prospects are. I'm not a fan of trading good prospects for relief pitchers. It does worry me that Lopez is not a strike out pitcher. He pitches to contact and that is a dangerous thing for a RP.

I'm happy they are addressing the bullpen, but I'm not sold on the player.

54 K's in in 66.1 innings is not bad. Plus he has a carrier 55.9% ground ball rate. He has had some issues in the 8th inning over the last year or two, but I'm excited to get him. He is one of the most underrated players in MLB. I do agree with you on who we gave up... I hope Ruf was not one of the players!!!