A word on Jim Thome
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A word on Jim Thome
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
MIAMI — Ten days ago, Ruben Amaro Jr. said he was fielding calls from American League teams regarding Jim Thome. The future Hall of Famer was recently removed from a terrific nine-game stretch as designated hitter. Now he was relegated to the bench.
It's easy to see what will eventually happen. So AL teams called Amaro.
"I may very well have [received calls]," Amaro said June 19. "Fact of the matter was he was great and exceeded everyone’s expectations — including mine. And honestly, he was fantastic and in some ways, it is a little bit of a disservice to have him sit there as a pinch hitter when he can't do much more than that.
"But we'll see what happens. Right now, I hope he gets a couple of chances to win some games, and then we’ll go from there."
Since then, Thome has won the Phillies one game with a walk-off home run. He is 1 for 6 as a pinch-hitter in the last 10 days with four strikeouts. For the season, he is 1 for 17 with 11 strikeouts.
He needs regular work, something that will not happen while with the Phillies.
Thome will not finish the season with the Phillies; Amaro said as much 10 days ago. Now an ESPN.com report has piqued the Internet's interest by changing "fielding calls about Thome" to "shopping Thome."
Not much is different. The Phillies would like to do Thome right by finding the best situation for a man with 609 homers and zero World Series rings.
The return for Thome will be limited. Perhaps the Phillies can have the acquiring team pay the remainder of his $1.25 million salary. Perhaps they could fetch, at best, a marginal prospect — emphasis on the word "marginal" and not "prospect."
Either way, this is about Thome, a man the Phillies respect immensely.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
The reason nobody ask the question, "does Thome want to be traded" is because Jim is a true professional who will do what is best for the team, including his hitting mentor, Charlie Manuel. It has NEVER been about Jim. Maybe other players on this team would look at it that way. Yes, at the end of his playing career, he probably might make a good hitting coach - if he wants to stay in the game.— sonnybuoy01- Keep him...field calls for GG— NewMick314
- sunnybuoy1...Stick to watching a over the hill DH in the American League. Some of us enjoy baseball as it's been played for close to 100 years, with fewer changes on the field. Next, I suppose, you'll want aluminum bats, and tennis balls .
Putting a pitcher in a hitting situation, or pulling him for a pinch hitter is part of the charm of the game.
You stick to the AL. We'll enjoy the NL.— phineas - Sooner or later there will be a vote for consistency in both leagues. The players union will never allow the DH to go away because of the money it allows for players who can't play a position. It's being talked about for all levels in the minors. After it comes to the minor, it will come to both the AL & NL, especially now that there will be inter-league play for all series beginning in 2012. Love it or hate it, it will be the future of the game in both leagues. I'm personally opposed to it, but sometimes you can't change what is inevitable. — sonnybuoy01
- The DH is a stain on baseball.
Its down there with aluminum bats in how awful it is for the game.— fmMD - Keep Thome, they will need him as a great DH if they get to the World Series..Thome could be the difference in a seven game world series...hey the Cradinals did it last season, and when the Phils injured stars all play together, the Phillies will get hot also and make the extra playoff spot.— phil500
- Keep him. Cholly needs his lawn mowed, his dog walked, and his dry cleaning picked up. Slow Jim is his new Eric Bruntlett.— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- I rewatched the final three outs of the 2008 WS. I forgot Bruntlett was playing in LF when Lidge threw the deciding pitch. That's a nice trivia question as most people would probably remember Burrell being on the field when they clinched it. I totally forgot he was always being removed for defensive reasons when he was here.
— Sam Crow - And who can forget Bruntlett's unassisted triple play? Talk about a guy being in the right place at the right time. — s
- Stop with the Cardinals comparison. This time last year the Cards were 5 games over .500. The Phillies are 6 games under .500. The Phillies have to play from here out as well as the Rangers have played all season. While I'd like to see it happen it's ridiculous to plan a bench spot around the World Series. You first have to get there and Thome, as a horrible PH who can't field in the NL, offers very little to help make this miraculous run that's going to start any day now.
The Phillies showed who they still are by only winning two from the Pirates and losing the Rays series. They have yet to flip that magic second half switch. Each day they make the parameters of this mythical run that's going to occur more and more impossible. With the current bullpen I can't see how they can possibly come anywhere near playing .600 ball -- which is what they need to start doing.
— s - Even if the Phillies get it going, there are 7 teams + 3 division leaders ahead of them. So, what? Six of those teams would all have to fall apart? This isn't like 2010 when they chased down the Braves or 2007-08 when they chased down the Mets. The Mets and Braves can fall apart this year, but the Phillies are still behind the Dodgers, Marlins, Cardinals, and Pirates. The Brewers are 0.5 games behind the Phillies and the Astros are a few games back. So even if the Phillies somehow play .600 ball the rest of the way and finish with 86 wins. There are 4 other non-division leaders on a pace to win more than that. Three of them would have to falter and none of the other three teams ahead of the Phillies in the wild-card could go .600 the rest of the way...There is a reason why simulations give the Phillies a 7.4% chance of making the playoffs at this point. — jtj06
- Another reality slap in the face regarding those "stinking" 2011 Cardinals who were supposed to be the same as: The Cardinals were consistently one of the top 5 NL teams last year. The Phillies have consistently been one of the bottom 5.
— s - Just let Rube tell all of the AL contenders that Thome will be going to the team that offers the best bullpen piece; and he will get a decent offer.— drbob1
- Sure, 17 AB seems like a meaningful samples size upon which to judge the ability of a Hall of Famer. It really doesn't matter, because you're not going to get a lot of production from any PH, and you're not going to get a lot of production from whatever you would get in return, so it's basically a wash, production wise.
But let's dispense with the notion that we can predict anything from a sample size of 17 ABs.— EricL
