Thursday, April 5, 2007

Philadelphia Season 4 Preview

AP (Philadelphia) -- In a press conference held today, Phillies ownership stated they need to rebuild. Big shocker. The owners went on to say that the first three seasons in the GAP have been a disappointment and pledge to tighten the reins and make better decisions with personnel. A person close to the situation who talked based on anonymity stated that no job was safe and all areas of the team from the coaches to the “jock strap” holders (as he put it) would be reviewed and improved.

The ML team has 4 players; yes 4 players under contract for the upcoming season with only 18.025 million allocated in salary next year. Here is a breakdown of what players they have. (If you can call them that.)

Mario Smith 28 SP 7.0 Million

This overpaid player was brought over from the A’s in a season one deal. This has to be a top 10 worst trades in the history of the franchise. A combined 18-44 in 95 career starts with a 5.37 ERA.

Dion Perez 33 3B/1B 6.25 Million

A veteran, who has been with the team since day 1, Dion signed a two-year extension last off-season. He’s a .290 hitter that looks to be moved from 3B to 1B next season.

Giomar Colon 32 OF/IF 3.8 Million

A FA pick up. He is a slick fielding player who played at 6 different positions last year. With the roster up in the air he may look to crack the starting lineup (god help us)

Wilfredo Tavarez 30 IF/OF 1.2 Million

A FA pick up, Willie is another player with great defense skills. He will be used as a back-up/spot start player. His lack of hitting is keeping him from playing more. A career .151 hitter in 98 ML games.

The Phillies have a bunch of young guys who are arbitration eligible or have less then 3 years of service. The club has not stated whom they plan to bring back. Here is a look at the list.

Arbitration Eligibility

Artie Webster 24 CF .266 last year with 53 SB in 55 attempts
Cecil McGowan 28 C .252 last year
Sean Darwin 28 SP 12-11 3.65 ERA
Jimmie Cruz 28 RP 1-5 6.70 ERA
Billy Forrest 28 SP 7-17 6.23 ERA
Vic Alcantara 27 RP 2-5 5.16 ERA
Chili Carver 27 RP 0-0 9.19 ERA
Zephyr Starr 26 RP 1-2 4.64 ERA
Earl Rhodes 25 SP 9-10 4.34 ERA

Less then 3 Yrs ML

Andre Black 26 CF .275 last yr
Benny Bennett 25 C 22 games
Ryan Slocumb 26 SP/RP 6-4 4.40 ERA
Bartolo Vega 23 Closer 15 of 16 Saves 3.66 ERA
Greg Waters 23 RP 46 Games 6-4 4.57 ERA
Ernest Mattingly 22 RP 51 Games 1-5 5.81
Dustin Hill 24 SP 17 Starts 6-9 3.80 ERA

3 comments:

Chad said...

Damn hineiii that team is a mess. Does this mean you aren't bringing back any of your FAs?

HineIII said...

I am undecided. I may go a season or two with really low payroll and hope to get some good int and draft. We will see.

hatt said...

time to break outta mediocrity!! (in season 5 or 6...)