Philadelphia fans will recognize the name John Maine because of his time spent in the Big Apple with the Mets, but they may soon be calling him one of their own.
Reports are suggesting that the Phillies are interested in signing Maine.
The right-hander is coming off season-ending shoulder surgery in July, which has scared off many teams.
If Maine is to sign in Philly, it would most likely have to be a minor-league contract because of the lack of money in Philadelphia and because of the uncertainty that comes with Maine.
As of now, Philadelphia is loaded in the rotation with Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, and Hamels. But for now, there is one spot available in the rotation, the fifth spot.
Currently (if the season were to start today), Joe Blanton would start on the fifth day. But his hefty contract is nearing its way out of Philadelphia, which leaves the Phillies with an opening in the rotation.
Unfortunately, the “Big Phour”, “Phour Loko”, “R2C2” (whatever you desire), can’t pitch on four days rest throughout the season, which leaves Philadelphia in the hunt for a fifth man.
If they are to go in-house, the most likely candidate will be Kyle Kendrick (35-24 in career) or Vance Worley (1-1 in career).
However, there is still plenty of options on the free agent market.
That’s where John Maine comes in to play.
He has only won double-digit games twice in his career, with his best season coming in 2007 when he went 15-10 with a 3.91 ERA.
Maine’s lifetime ERA is 4.35, which isn’t impressive by any means, but it is slightly lower than Kendrick’s career ERA (4.69).
He is 29-years old and isn’t getting any better. His injury problems have kept teams from looking at him, which makes me believe the Phillies are only interested in him because he would come at a low price, giving Philadelphia a low risk-high reward scenario.
If he does take over as the fifth starter in the rotation and fails miserably, the Phillies can always bring up the aforementioned in-house candidates, Kendrick or Worley.
Because Philadelphia has two young, talented starters, they can afford to go out and sign a “hit-or-miss” type free-agent, such as Maine.
I’m all for signing Maine, but I wouldn’t expect much from him; his only job is to throw the ball over the plate, keep the balls in play, and give Philadelphia a chance to win his starts in the latter innings.
