Light-hitting Galvis heads down the home stretch

The prevailing wisdom suggests a future without Jimmy Rollins will include Freddy Galvis. But it should be stated that the 22-year-old prospect is hitting just .229/.301/.313 in 160 plate appearances against Venezuelan League pitching. This is a league where noted ace Renyel Pinto, who was a lousy pitcher for Florida through five seasons (2005-10), holds the league lead in ERA (1.41). By the Phillies' mandate, Galvis will cap his winter league season tomorrow before joining the Phils at Spring Training, where he will be mentored by incumbent shortstop Wilson Valdez, who is hitting .217/.257/.321 for his Dominican Winter League squad.

Comments

[Iceman]

Debating the merits of Betancourt vs. Janish: the reason why the people who just want J-Roll gone are complete buffoons.

Next discussion: which is more uncomfortable, a colonoscopy or a root canal?

[John Stolnis]

This guy, by all indications, is Steve Jeltz.

[Heather]

I don't think anyone said they wanted j roll gone. Just passing time in a long offseason discussing Plan B's.

[johnnysanz3]

The phillies have been pretty averse to using Dom Brown at all, even though he has already shown to be at least an average MLB player... I highly doubt Galvis has any role on the 2012 phillies, in any situation.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

I think "donc" is on to something about Rube going out of his way to get the guy he wants, regarding Rollins. Hopefully, he's just playing it smart with Jroll, or he has something up his sleeve. Don't agree with Hamels, though. Rube's said he'd like to get something done, but other priorities first. Of course, those priorities can be linked to Hamels.

I still think there might be something up with Toronto. 3 way deal with OAK with Gio, d'Arnaud and Brown being the main parts, with others involved.

[Heather]

Also, Honus Wagner's Corpse can play a better shortstop than Betancourt.

[Renyel Pinto]

Yo Homes,
Why you got to hate?

[Muuurgh]

Andy: I guess I'm just unsure of how that all works. Reportedly the Yankees aren't close to working out a deal with Nakajima--does that mean he's off the market if they don't reach an agreement?

[Jbird]

@ Heatehr: And, Chase Utley's lawnchair can outhit Freddy Galvis. . . . maybe we can just prop up Wagner's corpse in the lawnchair, and call it a day.

[Dickie Thong]

Rube is trying to swing a deal for HanRam. If that doesn't work out, JRoll is Plan B.

[bay_area_phan]

All the signs are pointing toward either Chase Utley's Lawnchair or Honus Wagner's Corpse as our 2012 opening day shortstop.

[bay_area_phan]

jw's advertisers are hoping that Rollins remains unsigned for at least another month.

[mm]

Time to get dontrelle his infielder's mitt...

[Scotch Man]

We're doomed

[J. Weitzel]

bay_area_phan: I have advertisers?

[bay_area_phan]

jw: Drexel Lebow?

[mm]

If dom brown can't play the left field, i'm sure he can play at short right?

[Sneed]

It's been a while, but I'm back. This Winter has just been too exciting not to get back to talkin' Baseball.

Freddy Galvis can't hit in the majors yet, that's all there is to say. Everytime BL posts his, or any of the other incumbent backup/AAAA SS numbers from Winter League, the price tag on J-Roll goes up a notch.

[Dickie Thong]

@mm: How many LH SS's can you name?

[mm]

Dickie: It's called sarcasm. It's nice, you should try it? ;-)

[bay_area_phan]

Yuniesky Betancourt reminds me of Pedro Feliz the year that we signed him. The Phillies needed a 3rd baseman that off-season & I distinctly remember that he was the one free agent possibility whom I absolutely dreaded above and beyond all others. Sure enough, he was precisely the guy we signed. The feelings of dread I had about Feliz are precisely the same feelings that I now have about Yuniesky Betancourt.

[rauls grandpa]

Mystery Team = Camden Riversharks

[mm]

but feliz ended up being a decent defensive player, if nothing else, and had the occassional clutch hit. Betancourt brings nothing to the table. He's terrible defensivley and a subpar hitter.

[Willard Preacher]

Sneed is back??? Well, now it's officially the Hot Stove season!

(who is Sneed, again?)

[Robby J]

Beetancourt's lifetime OBP is .292 and he's made 126 errors in 7 yrs while J-Roll has made 14 fewer boots in 10 yrs.

[Willard Preacher]

BAP, given the options and what they'll presumably want in years/$'s, I'm apt to lean toward:

Plan A: Utley's lawnchair (and we can probably get a hometown discount)

Plan B: Honus Wagner's corpse (going to cost more due to his name alone; you're paying for his previous performance)

Plan C: Freddy Galvis (even though already under contract)

[Willard Preacher]

Oh, and thank God that Dom Brown was able to show the mutual exclusion between Winter Ball performance and it's meaning on actual MLB performance....

[MG]

Galvis and SS:

Future - Maybe. 2012 - Nope

Please stop too with the JRoll/Galvis comparisons about when they came up. JRoll was a highly-touted prospect and rightly so. JRoll posted solid numbers at Reading/SWB in '00 and really had a breakout year in '01 (just 21) at SWB with a .798 OPS.

Galvis hasn't hit at all in the minors until last year and struggle patience/power at Lehigh. He is already 22 too.

Jeltz though is a bad comparison to Galvis too. Jeltz was a average/below average defender at SS and didn't really crack the majors until 26.

Even if Galvis can't hit, he could stick around for 7 years as a utility infielder type because of hsi defense. Jeltz was just a crappy player who the Phils' FO put in place because they didn't have a better alternative & they had a series of progressively terrible teams by the late 80s.

[MG]

If Amaro can't resign JRoll, he goes 'ludicrous' and goes all in for H. Ramirez.

Just the question of whether the Fish will deal a player like H. Ramirez to a key division rival under really any circumstance. If Beinfest is smart, he will get rid of a malcontent who is going to be a real problem next season making big dollars while effectively cleaning out the rest of the Phils' MLB ready talent.

You want H. Ramirez? Okay I want Brown, Worley, and at least 2 good/very good prospects in return. Maybe a power arm like Aumont and another starting pitching prospect.

[Willard Preacher]

MG, if I'm RAJ, I'm thinking hard about Brown/Worley/Aumont for Hanley...

[mm]

Maybe we can trade kendrick to japan for prototype baseball playing robot. They've got to be working on one right?

[clout]

Heather: "I don't think anyone said they wanted j roll gone."

Clearly, you don't read Beerleaguer.

[lorecore]

"The prevailing wisdom suggests a future without Jimmy Rollins will include Freddy Galvis."

Ouch, not proud to be BL poster if thats what the site lists as it's "prevailing wisdom".

[clout]

Melancon is a pretty good prospect who had a nice rookie year, but Lowrie is an overpay. If he can learn to hit RHP even a little bit, he'll be an everyday SS for 10 years.

[clout]

The previous threads remind that that many posters here know little about the fielding prowess of non-Phillies.

Theriot at his best was just league average at SS. He is now well below league average and I cannot conceive of him playing the position every day in the the big leagues.

The same is true of Keppinger, another object of desire on this blog.

[RK]

Wrong Ramirez. I wouldn't trade what's left on the farm for H Ramirez. He peaked in 2009 and is now 29. There are no guarantees in baseball but trend lines are something we should be looking at and his are not looking up. We need a strong 3rd baseman unfortunately our hope has signed with the Brewers, that Ramirez would have been fine.

[Rauls grandpa]

Lowrie, meanwhile, has been injured and didn't follow team training protocol because his buddy Jacoby E told him not to believe them (due to his own rib issues). Lowrie has has lingering shoulder nerve damage which effects his fielding and throwing, not exactly a good chronic condition for a SS.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

I think Hanley turns 28 in a few days.

[Rauls grandpa]

Sorry, wrist hurts the throwing. Shoulder is bothered by fielding and hitting.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Sox sign Punto.

[awh]

Sox signing Nick Punto. I guess he's Scutaro's backup.

Whare does that leave Jimmy?

[awh]

Damn BedBeard beat me to it because I typed a longer sentence. :)

[Marcus]

Yeah, this is Steve Jeltz, I agree. A 50 year old JRoll is probably better than a 25 year old Galvis. I say we just pick up Ryan Theriot and forget them both for now and figure out a better long-term plan.

[Meyer]

"Happy Days" in Boston. First they sign Richie Cunningham from the Astros and now they nab The Fonz.

[AT]

Now I'm wishing that Rube had merely made Jimmy a "take-it-or-leave-it" offer early in the offseason, and then moved on if he turned it down. Had he done so, he could have grabbed Clint Barmes (an offensive mediocrity, but arguably as good as Rollins on defense) for SS and then signed Cuddyer, A-Ram, or possibly Willingham (who, incidentally, is reportedly about to sign with the Twins for the amazingly low AAV of seven million--for three years--don't tell me that the Phillies couldn't have afforded that). Now, if we lose Rollins and Cuddy goes to the Rockies (as seems to be imminent), we're still stuck with a weak-hitting shortstop like Barmes and have no way of upgrading the offense.

[Brett]

Red sox just signed Nick Punto. If I had to guess I'd say they are not the "mystery" team in on Rollins. I'd say the odds of a legit mystery team are the same as Galvis being our opening day SS.

[Rauls grandpa]

My wife was cleaning the home office and found scorecards I wrote from games featuring G Stephenson and Calvin Maduro.

[Brett]

If the Phil's can resign Rollins for a very affordable deal, do they bring back Madson as well?? His market has been dinged and nicked through signings and trades more than he probably assumed at the outset of FA. I know he wants to close, but I'm just thinking there is a glimmer of hope there.

[awh]

I read through a chat with Dierkes on mlbtr. Someone asked him about a Chase Headley to Detroit rumor.

Is Headley available, and is that Rube's stealth master strategy - to make a deal with SDP for headley in lieu of bringing Jimmy back? Valdez at SS with Polly as UT?

[Willard Preacher]

Nick Punto is off the market? Damn, there goes our World Series hopes.

[Lake Fred]

I feel like an ostrich with my head in the sand, waiting for the Phils to sign JRoll so I can pull my head out and see that all is well. Reading all this garbage on BL about Galvis as the next Phillies starting shortstop has made me sick to my stomach. Excuse me while I go off somewhere to barf.

[awh]

LF, I'll go with you. Bring a bag for me.

[HammRadio]

I wonder if the "Mystery" team is really Rube disguising himself as another team just so he can try to outbid himself, as his normal process of outbidding himself by just giving an extra year or two to an aging veteran "isn't all that fun"

[awh]

Here's some insight from Dierkes:

Comment From Bob Villa
who are the most common sources of trade/signing information? Scouts? Agents? GMs?

Tim Dierkes:
I think agents are the most common sources of signing information. If you ever see a rumor from one reporter than these five teams have interest in a free agent, it usually came from the agent. Trades I think will come from teams more often, because until the deal is reached the agents sometimes don't have any knowledge of it.

[schmenkman]

clout: agree on Ryan Theriot -- 32 and awful

AT: Cuddyer is a good hitter, but where do you play him? He's deaf in his left ear, so has played a total of 15 games on the left side in the past 6 years: 14 at 3B, and 1 (2 innings) in LF

Maybe that can be overcome with handsignals, but point is he hasn't tried that very much.