Rally behind Beerleaguer; the Final Four awaits

 

Your support helped Beerleaguer advance to the Elite Eight. Now it's time to cast your ballot for the right to move on to the Final Four in The Phield, an NCAA-inspired tournament pitting 65 obsessed Phillies blogs against one another. Voting takes seconds. Show your support for Beerleaguer and the unrivaled conversation that happens here daily. Vote now!

Phillies release 12: Veteran outfielder Brad Wilkerson, 32, and one-time relief prospect Joe Bisenius, 27, were among the Phillies' noteworthy cuts today, according to reports. Wilkerson came out of 2009 retirement for one last shot, while Bisenius, who was a fixture on the Phillies' 40-man roster for several seasons, has been in a downward spiral for two years. As you recall, Bisenius was said to wield a "hammer curve." Beerleaguer is working to retrieve the other 10 names.

Update: Here are the other 10 cuts, relayed via Todd Zolecki: LHP Spencer Arroyo, RHP Freddy Ballestas, RHP Ryan Bergh, LHP Sean Grieve, RHP Rick Guttormson, INF Jeremy Hamilton, RHP Jordan Meaker, OF Gus Milner, OF Arlon Quiroz and RHP Todd Van Steensel.

Guttormson is a great example of the widening talent gap between the Major Leagues and international ball. (Has anyone else noticed how the well seems to have run dry internationally?) The right-hander helped lead the KIA Tigers to the Korean League title in 2009 as part of a dominant 1-2 punch shared by another former Phillie, Aquilino Lopez. Grieve is worth mentioning since he's a local guy. Gus Milner, a veteran, was a solid cog for the R-Phils last season.

Comments

[Bubba]

WVU is my favorite in real life & BeerLeaguer in the alternate world of blogs.

Go JW & Go Mountaineers!

[Rob Bresler]

Beerleaguer, you are the first Phillies blog I turn to in the morning. You should win this hands down

[J. Weitzel]

Gotta admit I feel a little guilty campaigning in the header when meaningful baseball is just a week away. Several issues to sweat over. Ibanez has his elbow wrapped and the bullpen ain't looking so hot.

[NEPP]

Phuturephillies got shafted in the Elite Eight...bad luck to run into the juggernaut that is 700 Level.

[NEPP]

Its starting to look like it will be a rough year for Ibanez where he's always nicked up.

[RodeoJones]

It's the Elegant Eight. When are people going to start getting it right?

[awh]

Wow, I mock clout in the last thread and mikey accuses me of kissing his bee-hind.

That kind of mental acuity is what got mikey named as a founding member of the Sir Alden Trio.

[awh]

Oh, and JW, I voted for BL, but Crashburn Alley is a good site as well.

[awh]

Brookover has an article on philly.com about the Phils' draft philosophy.

It pretty much states what we already knew about the FO's focus on "high-ceiling" talent, but also has a quote from Arbuckel saying they really want a mix of players as well.

[Doohickey]

It was tough voting against Crashburn Alley, but I did my duty.

(Parenthetically, why does BL require a URL now?)

[awh]

Uh Oh, this headline from Philly.com is sure to set off posters here:

Madson will open season as Phillies closer

[thephaithful]

As JW has called for awhile now, I'm also getting the feeling that our #1 lefty out of the pen for Opening Day is currently on someone else's roster.

[timr]

The bullpen will be just as much of a mess as it was last year. Its a shame they didn't fix that in the offseason, but we all knew Lidge and Romero weren't going anywhere, so its also not much of a surprise.

[Greg V.]

In other news, the Lancaster Barnstormers are being stormed with ex-Phils today!

Can't wait to see Duckworth toe the rubber for the Iron Pigs!

[pb]

Coste got released today

[NEPP]

We should sign Coste and stash him in Lehigh.

Seriously.

[NEPP]

Correction, Coste was placed on Waivers, not released.

As he signed a major-league deal, he has to clear waivers to go to AAA. So, even if we claimed him, we'd have to send him through the same process to get him to Lehigh. All this means is that Coste won't be on the Mets 25 man roster and will likely start the season for them in AAA...unless some team really wants him as a backup at the MLB level.

[Jack]

awh: Thankfully, MVPTommy is gone. He assured me there was just no way Madson would ever close for the Phillies, because he just didn't have it in him, and of course Charlie knew this.

[awh]

Lawrence tweeted on the right that Raul is expected in the lineup on Tuesday.

Goo news Phils' fans, no?

[Al]

NEPP:

Coste is on a split contract and can be sent to AAA, I think. The Mets have a logjam at catcher and are probably just trying to dump him at this point.

I could be wrong, but if not, I'd like to see the Phils stash him in Lehigh Valley as well.

[awh]

"Goo" news?

[Bubba]

Can we put Coste in the broadcast booth and option T-Mac to Lehigh Valley?

[bay_area_phan]

With the news about Madson closing, it would almost be worth it to give MVPTommy clemency for a few days. It would provide great entertainment value to watch him twist himself into a pretzel trying to explain how this is what he told us all along.

[awh]

Bubba, that is the best suggestion made on BL in over a year.

Bravo!

[Bubba]

Thanks awh, but I don't hold out much hope for it to happen.

[NEPP]

****Coste is on a split contract and can be sent to AAA, I think. The Mets have a logjam at catcher and are probably just trying to dump him at this point.****

I was basing it completely on MLBTradeRumors. They stated that he was placed on waivers but would likely accept a AAA assignment if he clears.

I recall his original contract saying he was guaranteed a spot on their 40 man roster, nothing more. He is out of options though so he would have to go through waivers regardless.

[Al]

NEPP

He is definitely on a split contract that simply says he's on the 40 man roster. He isn't out of options. Correct me if I'm wrong but a player has three years of options. In these three years the player can be called up and sent down an unlimited number of times. Coste was up and down in 2006 and up and down in 2007. He spent the entire 2008 season as the backup in Philly and spent the entire 2009 season in the majors with the Phils and Astros. That would leave him one year of options left.

I would think the waivers for Coste is a formality to allow someone else to claim him before they stash him as the third catcher in AAA. Just as the Phils could have simply sent him down last season, they did not in order to allow him to find another job.

[awh]

Joel Sherman of the NY Post says he polled a few baseball people and they rate Utley as 4th best position player in the game, and, are you ready for the surprise...................................................Charlie as the 2nd best manager.

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/pujols_halladay_at_top_of_hardball_8TA3x0LfT3nRtYS7EkEGCI/1

[CJ]

Wait, so why was Philliesphans.com excluded?

[clout]

My pool was totally ruined when the 700 level beat Phuture Phillies, which I had in my Final 4. Another $10 out the window.

[awh]

Oh, I almost forgot, Sherman rates Halladay as the best pitcher.

He also puts the Nats' Ryan Zimmerman in the most underrated category, saying that if he played in NY he would be thought of as superior to D Wright.

[NEPP]

**** would think the waivers for Coste is a formality to allow someone else to claim him before they stash him as the third catcher in AAA. Just as the Phils could have simply sent him down last season, they did not in order to allow him to find another job.****

Good to know...thanks

On position players (without looking at the article)

1. Albert Pujols
2. Joe Mauer
3. Chase Utley
4. Hanley Ramirez

Then there's a mess including Wright, Zimmerman, Adrian Gonzalez, Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder, Matt Holliday, etc etc

[NEPP]

Zimmerman IS better than Wright...by far with the glove and the offense is leaning his way now too. Unless Wright goes back to hitting .340 with 30+ HRs, its not gonna be a competition. Zimmerman is Schmidtesque.

[bay_area_phan]

Zimmerman is a better defensive third baseman than Wright and he's certainly a better hitter than the David Wright who hit just 10 homeruns last year. In a normal year, however, Wright is a superior offensive player and the difference is vast.

[NEPP]

Zim had 33 HRs and 100+ RBI last year.His OPS+ was 133. Wright's career OPS+ is 136. Zim is also 2 full years younger and just entering his Age 25 season. Its pretty damn close right now even if Wright reverts back to his career power numbers.

[Bonehead]

But, Zimmerman is taller

[Bonehead]

But, Zimmerman is taller

[NEPP]

Fangraphs Comp tool for all 3 (Wright, Zim, Michael Jack): http://www.fangraphs.com/comparison.aspx?playerid=4220&playerid2=3787&playerid3=1011586&position=3B&page=8&type=full

Interesting comparison. Granted, defensively, Michael Jack was #1 but Zim is reputedly close to that level and Wright holds his own (though not nearly at a GG level despite his trophies in that respect)

[denny b.]

Blanton being lit up in the minor league game.

Is that good news for the hitters, or bad news for Kentucky Joe? At least Mayberry hit a RH pitcher.

[Bubba]

Don't want to get into the political wars but just saw this news item:

President Obama will tend next week to an American tradition he missed out on last year: Throwing out the first pitch of the major league baseball season -- a presidential prerogative now 100 years old.

Obama will do the honors next Monday, April 5, at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., as the home-standing Nationals take on the Philadelphia Phillies.

[Dan in Philly]

Fangraphs, in the middle of ranking all organizations, rank the Phils #9, somewhere behind the Braves. I disagree. I'd put our ranking at somewhere about 4 or 5.

[GSL]

Happ gave up 5 walks? Sheesh.

Also, what happened to Tommy, I must have missed it. Its fine to disagree with someone but I think that comments here have been overly malicious to Tommy at times. We are all on the same team, no?

[NEPP]

Fangraphs is a complete joke. Half of them will tell you that Ben Zobrist is the 2nd best position player in the game because he had a high UZR at a couple positions last year. Seriously, there are 8 teams better than us in the Majors? Yeah, right!

[Patty]

Can't wait to see how this turns out!

[clout]

NEPP: You mean UZR isn't the greatest stat of all time?

Can't tell that from postings here.

[clout]

GSL: You obviously don't pay attention. Tommy has been banned.

[clout]

Coste claimed on waivers by the Nats.

[NEPP]

So the Nats are gonna use a spot on their 40 man for Coste....hmmm.

Finally figured it out, the Mets wanted to clear a roster spot on their 40 man...thus the waivering of Coste. Didn't work out for them I guess.

[GSL]

I try to keep up Clout. Sometimes my eyes glaze over though. If I kept track of every dispute on here I would forget my own phone number.

I went back and found the thread. /begin sarcasm Your taunting of him after the fact added so much value and was exactly the opposite of what people said was his offense in the first place. /end sarcasm

[Bubba]

New Thread

In the eighth inning of a tie game- shows how much Spring Training is keeping our attention.