And the Offseason Begins

Written by: Josh Landsburg on 7th November 2009

And the Offseason Begins | read this item

Only a few short days after the Phillies lost game six of the World Series to the Yankees, offseason moves are already taking place. Not only that, but sports talk radio is rampant with people calling in saying, “trade this guy, release that guy, and let’s go out and sign the other guy.” This is why baseball is truly a year round sport that does not stop with the end of games being played. The winter meetings are only a month away, which is when a lot of free agent signings take place, and a good majority of the trades take place too. Although, some trades have already occurred, as you can check out in some of the other stories on the site. According to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, the Phillies have picked up the club option of $9 million on Cliff Lee for next year, and they have also decided not to re-sign free agent pitcher Brett Myers.

The Cliff Lee move was expected, and I somewhat expected the Myers move too, but not quite as much as the Lee move. The Phillies will probably work on a long term contract with Cliff Lee before the season begins. As for my thoughts on Myers, I hope this one does not come back to bite the Phillies in the “you know what.” Although Myers has had his on-field and off-field issues in his Phillies career, I still think he has a lot of talent, and he could have been utilized in some way. However, it is true that Myers never fully lived up to his potential, and I guess the Phillies thinking was that because of that, and his off-field issues, he was not worth the high price he might have cost. Although, it was reported that Myers may have signed a one year deal with the Phils with some incentives, but they were not interested.

The reason why Myers is valuable though is because the Phillies could have used him in the starting rotation in 2010 or in the bullpen. The rotation is already crowded right now with Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ, and Joe Blanton pretty much guaranteed the 1-4 spots, barring any injuries or trades, and then there is the fifth spot. Pedro Martinez could retire, or the Phillies could potentially re-sign him, but most likely that fifth spot would belong to Jamie Moyer. In my mind, at this stage in Moyer’s career, Brett Myers would be a much better option. However, this move is based solely on money. Moyer is due somewhere in the vicinity of $8.5 million next year, and the Phillies do not want to eat that expensive contract, much like they did with Adam Eaton last year. Okay, so you rule out Myers in the rotation, why couldn’t he be in the bullpen? He would be a great backup plan to Brad Lidge if he cannot come back healthy or come back like the 2008 Lidge, instead of the 2009 Lidge.

Myers has experience as a closer in 2007, when he was 21-for-24 in save opportunities. Although that’s a smaller sample size, that success rate is much better than Lidge’s in 2009. All I’m saying is that Myers could be a good late inning bullpen guy, 7th or 8th inning, and he would be a heck of an insurance policy for Brad Lidge. However, I guess the Phillies didn’t feel the same way. I have a feeling that the Phillies will go out and sign another quality bullpen pitcher before the start of the 2009 season. Or, they may simply be satisfied with J.C. Romero, Ryan Madson, and Brad Lidge in late game situations. Whatever they decide, they better hope they can turn that bullpen around, because their bullpen was one of their weakest links and contributed greatly to their loss to the Yankees in the World Series. Whereas in 2008, the Phillies bullpen was one of their greatest strengths, and it contributed to their victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. Right now, a lot of this is speculation. It will certainly be an interesting 2009 and 2010 offseason. Stay tuned.

Topics: baseball, bullpen, Club Option, Cole Hamels, Free Agent Pitcher, Game World, Games, Guess, Happ, Incentives, joe blanton, MLB, Offseason Moves, Phillies, Sports Talk Radio, Term Contract, Trades, Winter Meetings, World Series, Yankees Offseason

hometeamgal says:

November 10, 2009 at 3:02 pm

The Phillies may go after Halladay, and might need Myers’ money to pursue him. You make some astute points about Myers, though.