The Phillies have recently emerged as one of the front-runners in getting the services of veteran outfielder Carlos Beltran. The Philadelphia club is in good position to make a move to get the switch-hitting 34-year old. The Phils are a good candidate to get Beltran because they have the bargaining chips to make a deal and have a good enough team to get Beltran to waive his no trade clause in his contract to make a move here.
It is easy to come up with reasons as to why the Phillies should not go after Beltran. Yes, he is 34-years old and will be a rental player for this year. And the Phillies would most likely have to give up one of their most coveted prospects in Vance Worley or Domonic Brown to get the offensive aid he can provide. If Worley or Brown become a legitimate Major League starting player the Phils will be reminded each time the Phils play the Mets.
Beltran is getting up there in age, so the Phillies might be able to offer him the best shot he’ll ever get to take a trip to World Series for the remaining time he has left in the big leagues.
All reasons why the Phillies should not make this move are in the future. Staying in the present, the Phillies window to get another World Series title is starting to close. If the Phillies can land Beltran it should instantly make them even more of a World Series favorite than they already are.
Sure there are sexier names out there, but the Phils have a great opportunity to improve the team right now and solidify a roster they should have no bad feelings about entering the post-season.
It seems as if the Phillies should get Beltran if for no other reasons than to keep him off other teams. Other teams rumored to be in the mix for Beltran’s talents include the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox; all teams the Phillies could easily end up running into this post season. While Beltran might not be the dominant player he once was, you still would rather have him on your team than be facing him.
If the Phillies are going to make this trade it has got to be Worley for Beltran. They have more invested in Brown than Worley, plus the outfielder will be the better Major Leaguer and simply he has more to contribute to the team this year. Worley might become a good pitcher someday. He has good stuff and an equally as impressive mental approach to the game. The young right hander has become a popular guy in the City of Brotherly Love, but then again so was J.A. Happ until Roy Oswalt came to town.
The Phillies are primed to make a serious run at a championship this year. They simply cannot afford to strikeout at the deadline this year. If the occupants of Citizen’s Park do not get a bat at the trade deadline and the offense goes cold as they did last year that will not be acceptable and this ballclub will regret the decision for years to come.
It is if the Muts are paying the rest of his salary, like they said they would. But I am not trading them Worley, even if he might be a flash in the pan. He’s a rental. Now if it is Pence or Kemp, I might reconsider.
Worley must go. DDCar you must sell high! I wouldnt say this if we didnt have the BIG 3. But honestly Worleys stuff is ok and the odds are this wont last forever. Can you imagine this in October. Rollins, Polanco, Beltran, Howard, Victorino, Utley, Ibanez,, Ruiz, Halladay! Ozwalt is coming back so Worley is very expendable!
soriano might be an option too. apparently the cubs will eat some of his salary to move him.
Worley for a rental is not smart. For Kemp or Pence is a different story. But Oswalt is iffy at best & Blanton is finished this year, you can’t trade Worley.
I love this speculation: it HAS TO BE WORLEY FOR BELTRAN!…Well, no it doesn’t…The Phillies don’t have to do anything, and they certainly won’t be forced into any deal…I would suggest neither Worley nor Brown will be traded for Beltran…A young player makes sense, but nothing is set in stone…How about a Ross Gload for Carlos Beltran blockbuster for all the ‘fantasy leaguers’ out there?
Cubs and Mets will have to eat most of Soriano & Beltran’s Current Salaries for there will be almost no interest from any team for either one, unless they do.
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Jim Salisbury is on DNL talking about Hunter Pence and giving up Dominic Brown.
They should not give up Worley for anybody because pitching rules and good young pitchers are hard to come by and Worley is a good one . This kid is going to be real good in the future and I hate to see the Phillies trade him to a National League East team and he beats them every time they face him . Another thing they say they are looking for a right handed bat to bat behind Howard . I have to laugh at this because the real problem is Howard himself ,this guy is not a clutch hitter and has never been or ever will be because he is a strike out king ,thats about it . They way overpaid ($25 million a year for 5 years ) for Howard to please the fans or draw the fans in and keep them coming , because sure as heck it was not because of Howards performance on the field . The Phillies could have got 4 or 5 good hitters for what they paid Howard whom make contact with the ball and would have been way better off .They don’t stike out with men on base as Howard usually does almost 80% of the time . Now they are stuck with Howard for 4 more years because no team is going to pick up his overpaid salary . And no way don’t put Howard in Pujols class ,that is just ridiculus to compare Howard with Pujols ,its not even close ,Howard couldn’t carry Pujols jock strap when it comes to perform on the field . Yes ,out of Amaro’s biggest bungly mistake was paying Howard that money ,they should have left him walk if he didn’t take 5 or 8 million dollar a year or at least now take money from him evey time he strikes out with men in scoring position, maybe they will get most of their money back the way he strikes out in clutch situations. After all he holds the strikeout record for the World Series .
Bye, bye, Brown. Good riddance. Another overrated, never will be. If we can get Pence for Brown & Rizzoti OR Singleton, & have Wade pay Pence’s salary for the remainder of 2011, as is being reported, it’s a no brainer. We have too many lefties, Brown is not progressing fast enough, Ibanez is absolutely untradable, we are built to & have to win now, Singleton & Rizzoti are stuck behind Howard, & this offense needs a serious jump start. BTW, have I said, it’s a no brainer.
birdpoop how in the world can you say howard is over rated- that is f.ing ridiculous. every full year in the majors he drives in 100 runs….actually over 120! mike schmidt the greatest phillie ever had over 120 once in his entire career.
DDCar, Rizzoti is not a prospect. he is a 25 year old in AA that is a flat out HORRENDOUS defensive 1B. Singleton isn’t stuck behind Howard, he will be put back in the OF in the offseason i believe. the reason he was taken from LF and put back at 1B is because of an ankle injury and he was struggling hitting because the phillies tried to mess with his swing at the beginning of this year. and trading Domonic Brown for Pence still leaves you an OF short next year with no money to buy one in free agency.
Good points hot96x. I agree, but you gotta give to get Pence. They have approximately $70M+ coming off the books this offseason. They will have more than enough $$$ for Pence, Hamels, a closer, & another OF. I don’t think Rollins will be back. If Blanton gets Tommy John, I believe his contract will be covered by medical insurance somehow. Not positive about that, though.
well that’s actually pretty debatable whether they would have money for another OF bat. i think they actually have more like 60 million coming off not 70. so you figure Pence will be making $10 million, Hamels will be getting a significant raise to about $15 million, Lee’s contract jumps 10 million, Madsen or an equivalent closer will be 8-10 million. i think they do re-sign rollins because they don’t have a replacement in the minors that’s ready RIGHT NOW. so if Rollins gets around $10 million now all of a sudden you have spent $45-50 million of the 60 million they are losing. then you have to fill spots like backup C, probably another veteran BP arm, and i believe Kendrick gets a raise next year as well. then if you figure in the buyouts for Oswalt and Lidge, which i think are $3.5 million and $1.5 million, now all of a sudden they are at or near the luxury tax again.
a big mistake i see people making is that the phillies will have all this money to spend in the offseason and it’s only partly true. they will have some money to spend, but almost all of it will be spent on retaining there own guys or replacing guys that absolutely need to be replaced like Ibanez.
also i 100% believe Jayson Stark when he says that other teams ask about Domonic Brown as part of a package for a big name guy and the phillies flat out tell them “that’s not happening”. this is the exact quote that he says he has gotten from several executives around the league.
Hot97x, you should be one of the writers on this site. You are better and more informative than most of these hacks. I mean it. 😀
Anyone that thinks Ryan Madson is going to get 8-10 million is misinformed. The best closers in baseball are averaging 7.5 mil a year. Madson should get a 5-6 mil offer and be happy with it.
Cole will make 15 mil, but it won’t be next year….unless he gets it from another team.
With Ibanez, Lidge, Blanton (upon his trade, retirement or release) off the books next year — That’s 31 million just for those three players. Thats enough to resign Jimmy AND Cole just off that.
Phils will be in fine shape next year.
Birdo, yep!
1. rollins
2. polanco
3. utley
4. the big peace
5. pence
6. victorino
7. mayberry– we can’t afford all stars at every position- he’s cheap!
8. chooch
thats a damn good line-up
I agree with you Cigar, except I would switch Polly with Victorino. Need that speed at the top of the order.
Birdo, there is no chance they get Madsen back for 6 million. right now Lidge makes 11.5, Rivero 15.0, Soriano as a set up guy 11 million, Papelbon 12 million, Joe Nathan 11.25 million, FRod 11.5. most of the other guys that are very good and making 7 million signed those contracts to avoid arbitration. that is not the same situation that Madsen is in as a free agent. he will get 8 million at the minimum. most likely 9-10 million tho.
furthermore you can’t just release Blanton and get rid of his money. baseball contracts are garaunteed. he is going to be almost untradeable, and he certainly will not retire.
He just might retire with his injury. Heres to hoping he does us all a favor.
And since when is Madson on the same level as Papelbon and KRod? Be real. You’re overestimating Ryans value.
Birdo, I think he is too young to retire. If he gets Tommy John, he can be back in 2 years. He can still play, if all goes well. Just not here, thank God!!
Hopefully he gets it, so we can use medical insurance, to cover his salary.
Blanton will remain in Philly, The Phils would have to Pay a big chunck of his Salary for any team to be interested which is unlikely, so they will use him up as a 5th Starter,Long Relief while they have him..
i didn’t say that Madson is as good as Papelbon, even tho in reality he probably is about as good. the last 3 years Papelbon’s era has been 1.85, 3.90, 3.59. Madson’s has been 3.26, 2.55, 2.02. there whip is identical over those 3 years also. Madson is going to be looked at as an elite or very good level closer on the open market. that’s how free agency works. teams overpay in free agency, see Jayson Werth. your underestimating Madson’s value.
Blanton is 30 years old. even if he needs TJ surgery he is not retiring at age 30. c’mon, who needs to “be real” here?