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.
Thome will be great for Phillies in the World Series as DH...let Thome finally get his World Series ring with the Phillies this season.— phil500- Phils won't sniff the world series for 10 years. — fmMD
- Anyone who watched Thome hit as a DH this year will probably disagree with the claim that he will only fetch salary relief or a marginal prospect in any trade. In fact, the Phils should not trade Thome for anything less than a right-handed reliever who can immediately become the Phils set-up man. A major league ready catcher or third baseman would be acceptable alternatives. The reasons Thome has much more trade value than the article suggests are numerous: 1) He has the potential to be an every day DH with .300 batting and power number potential, as well as the ability to come through in the clutch. 2) As a DH, he is healthy, motivated and still competitive. 3) His salary is extremely affordable, if not laughable. 4) A number of AL teams headed for the playoffs need a DH and have pitching and position players to spare. 5) Acquiring Thome would give a team the ability to shed salary. 6) 2012 may not be the end of the trail for Thome who may be still be able to DH after this season and cannot be viewed as just a rental player. 7) Thome is a future Hall of Famer, a class act who makes every clubhouse better, and a player who typically serves as a bench coach and hitting instructor when not actively playing. Thome is worth a lot more than the article suggests, and absent a substantial player in a trade, worth more to the Phillies in Philly.— onthebucks
- It was stupid to even sign him. The Phillies wanted fans to forget about the NLDS debacle so they signed Thome. But it was a bad idea from the start. I don't know why it wasn't mentioned in the article.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- just let him out of the prison that this roster is... he deserves time off for good behavior!
- Yep, that's why they signed Thome, to make the fans forget the NLDS. Talk about an imagination running wild...— Russ
- DH needy teams are the O's and rays.
hope they get more than a bag of balls for him.— schmidty123 - Thome did pretty well the 10 days when the Phillies could use him as the DH, and they still lost 6 of 9. No knock on Jim, but another reason to wonder what the hell Amaro was thinking in the off-season....— ijj
- I also think Thome should bring more than a marginal prospect, but the window for helping this team is rapidly closing.
The Phils need to get help or get hot NOW... the outcome of their next 9 games against NL East teams will likely make or break their chances of making the postseason.— DPinDC - Hard to believe people are advocating keeping him so we have a DH when the last place Phillies get to the World Series.— s
- agreed. I'm just shaking my head in disbelief. I guess there's something to be said for hope and faith. I wish I possessed that degree of optimism. I wouldn't be so bitter.
— Sam Crow - Nobody asks the question "Does Thome want to be traded?" He came here because he wanted to finish his career in Philadelphia under Charlie Manuel. Why are we so sure he wants to be moved to another team?— vvvmetallicavvv
- Thome wants a ring more than he wants to finish in Philadelphia.— s
Comment removed.- Are some of these posters serious? He's a three month rental of a part time DH. The Phils will get the 11th pitcher on some AL team's roster(maybe). More likely, they will get a Triple A re-tread who will fit in with this disgrace of a bullpen like a glove. Ruben certainly doesn't get a passing grade this off season.— syddan26
