Phillies trade Francisco
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Phillies trade Francisco
Daily News staff
On the day teams had to tender contracts to arbitration eligible players, the Phillies traded outfielder Ben Francisco to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for minor league lefthanded reliever Frank Gailey.
Gailey, 26, is a product of Archbishop Carroll and West Chester University. He was a 23rd-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2007.
He split last season between Single-A Dunedin and Double-A New Hampshire in the Blue Jays’ minor league system where he combined to go 5-6 with a 3.41 ERA in 45 relief appearances.
For his minor league career he has gone 23-15 with a 2.45 ERA in 175 games (one start).
"Even as a collegiate pitcher, one of the things that Frank did better than just about everybody at that level is he had a great feel for how to get certain hitters, guys he was going to throw it by them or force contact early in the count," said former West Chester coach Greg Mamula, now an assistant coach at Cincinnati. "He has good movement on his pitches, he can change speeds. There are a lot of different things he can do as far as location, movement and changing speeds and that's been reflected in minor league baseball."
"How he’s made his way through the minors and had success and the way he is going to potentially get big-league hitters out is to expose their weakness because he can do different things with a baseball."
Mamula said Gailey will benefit from coming home.
"He’s a kid from Philadelphia so he’s got family and friends there," he said. "At the time, he was well known as one of the top high school pitchers and going to West Chester, he has that following and has got the support ... There’s going to be a lot of people following him, obviously, and a lot of people requesting tickets from him whether he's in Reading, Allentown or Philadelphia."
Francisco, 30, spent parts of three seasons with the Phillies (2009-11), where he hit .259 with 17 home runs and 75 RBI in 225 games. He was initially acquired in the trade that brought Cliff Lee to the Phillies the first time. He hit .244 with 6 home runs and 34 RBI last season.
He made $1.8 million last year and was likely to get a raise via arbitration.
The Phillies have made significant moves to remake their bench and ran out of room for Francisco. The team has added Jim Thome, Laynce Nix and Ty Willingham, along with re-signing Brian Schneider. It is likely the Phillies tender Wilson Valdez before the midnight deadline tonight.
He appeared in 17 career postseason games for the Phillies and belted the sixth postseason pinch-hit home run in club history in Game 3 of the 2011 NLDS against St. Louis.
Tweeted Phillies centerfielder Shane Victorino, "Gonna miss my boy BennyFresh #goodluck in Toronto bro!"
The Phillies now have 39 players on the 40-man roster.
Comment removed.
Cannot imagine the Phillies seriously interested in Gailey for 2012 (or beyond, really). They just wanted to clear Francisco from the roster because they knew he wasn't going to have a place come next season. With Ramirz signing with the Brewers, I'm afraid it is almost a certainty that Rollins is coming back. I only hope Ruben doesn't make too much of a commitment in years and money to JRoll. Personally, I'd trade for the Red Sox' Mike Aviles and go with him in 2012. He is an adequate fielder and has shown an ability to be a decent hitter...at least as good as Rollins will do.— MrPhillie- Wilhelm Von Humboldt calling people hillbillies. I bet your trailer is as shiny as they come you piece or garbage.
— wearepsu00 - I like ben, wish him the best of luck.— dreinterests
- Won't miss Ben Fran. Sort of reminded me of a book with a great cover (Spring Training) and back (shocking 3 run game winning homer against the Cards), but little content in the pages.— VermontPhilsFan
- Comment removed.
- Why are 99% of the posts about what the Phillies gave up rather than about the additional pitching they are receiving? Since RAJ has consistently built the team around "you never have enough pitching", why would this be a surprise?— sonnybuoy01
- Well, I mentioned Gailey, but I ain't no 1%er...wish I was. — bearsfriend
- Well, RAJ should have something up his sleeve. MLB just reported that Aramis Ramirez has agreed to a 3 year deal with Milwaukee for $34-$37 million. With Ramirez off the dockets, Rollins looks like the only option unless RAJ has another 3B trade prospect we are unware of. The trade saves another $2 million. Now I'm really curious what is happening on the Rollins front and upgrading the offense. Time will tell. Hopefully, RAJ is a better poker player than any of us suspect.— drhoffman
- Ty Wigginton is now the primary right handed pinch hitter for the team.. If they wish to keep both Valdez and Martinez on the team like last year, they could not keep Francisco as well. Most likely, the last move is to resign Rollins. With Aramis Ramirez going to Milwaukee, Amaro is looking for a bounce back year from Polanco at 3B. They'll address the long term solution to 3B at the end of this upcoming year. There is still a slight possibility that Madson does not find the closer job he seeks and returns here on a one year deal too.— bradco
- i see bearsfriend is still shaking out the stars he sees from being Tee-bowed yesterday.— Sackbutt
- Not, I love Tim Tebow and live (and die) with the Birds...My shepard is Bear.... — bearsfriend
- Ty Wigginton not Willingham— albanykey
- inexplicable that Phils couldn't come up with the $12 million/yr that the Brewers are going to pay Aramis who would have filled a major void for Phils and was by far the best offensive option left other than Fielder --he would have been a game changer --Rollins is business as ususal -- Amaro continues to amaze with egregious errors of omission and commission as he seems to have no clue how to build a team or what they need ($12 mil. for a closer but not for a .300 power-hitting 3rd baseman?) -- for next 3 years as Phills get meaningless offensive production from 3rd base and shortstop, one just will look at Aramis solid htting --similar to how the Phils the past few years just ignored Beltre and wasted time with useless Ibanez, Polanco and Oswalt, etc,- or going way back when Phils signed Gregg Jeffries for what Rockies were getting Larry Walker --clueless bozos— warbiscuit
- The Phillies go after certain types of players, Aramis was not one of them. Clueless bozos won over 100 games two years in a row. — TexasYankee
