Add Meyer to lefthanded relief candidates
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Add Meyer to lefthanded relief candidates
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
It's quiet on the Phillies' free-agent front. Not hard to see why. The Phillies want to upgrade the bullpen, where a multitude of possibilites exist.
But it might be worthwhile to sit back and wait to see how the market develops. That is, unless you want to pay $16.5 million over three seasons for a middle reliever, like the Detroit Tigers did Wednesday with righthander Joaquin Benoit.
Remember, middle relievers are the most difficult to predict from year to year. That's because they don't have good enough stuff to be a starter or a closer. So by nature, they are suseptible to ups and downs. (Need we not look any further as Danys Baez for an example of the perils of multi-year deals with middle relievers.)
Lefthanded relief is a target of Ruben Amaro Jr. this week and for the remainder of the winter. J.C. Romero is gone. Antonio Bastardo is young and talented, but the Phillies want additional options. Pedro Feliciano, Hisanori Takahashi and Brian Fuentes are top lefties on the market.
But they will scour the bottom of the barrel, too, and come up with signings like Dan Meyer, a lefthander who spent the last two seasons with Florida.
Meyer, a Woodbury native, signed a minor-league deal over the weekend, according to the Gloucester County Times.
Last season, Meyer pitched in just 13 games for the Marlins with a 9.64 ERA. In the minors, he had a 2.93 ERA in 46 innings.
During the 2009 season, Meyer was Florida's primary lefthanded option out of the bullpen -- a role he thrived in. In 71 games (58 1/3 innings) he had a 3.09 ERA. He held lefties to a .228 batting average and .674 OPS.
But for his career, lefties hit .283 with an .816 OPS against Meyer.
Meyer, 29, is a former first-round pick of the Braves. He's a low-risk signing with potentially high reward, a type the Phillies will seek out this off-season as the payroll climbs even higher.
"It was one of those things, I struggled with my breaking ball early, tried to do too much in too short an amount of time," Meyer told the Times. "I ended up going down and pitching well, but I never really got a chance the rest of the year. I came up in July, threw one good inning and got sent back down. I never really got an explanation why."
So for the cost of a split minor-league contract, the Phillies will attempt to discover if Meyer's 2009 was an aberration or not.
Sounds like Meyer persevered from his middle school days and detractors, huh rsjII?- RSJII... I don't remember him crying in school... but he seemed to do well in front of 40,000 in '09. Keep watching him on TV. Hopefully you have done as well for yourself as Dan, and havent decided to just sit in front of your computer and talk smack on a guy who's actually doing it.— jigglyjaunt
- Well if Lee does come to the Phils again and does not want to pitch on 3 days rest they would have the options of Halladay,Oswalt or a improved Hamels. In on 09 we only had broken down Pedro.
- 9 something ERA.. kinda like a Conlin footlong after one bite— stoky
- With Doc, everyone man's up to keep pace with the king!— Clem
- We're not signing Lee! Let it go!— ejc527
- Middle school and high school he cried. I forgot that the Marlins play in front of 40,000 people everynight in that great stadium they play in. 3,000 people in Miami watching and 40,000 in philly is a big difference moron. Yeah, he did great last yr when he came to town in april and got hit around like he did in little league— rsjII
- oh.. i forgot that the Marlins are the only team in the MLB to play 162 home games. You sound like an idiot. And I'm sure he appreciates your support. Check what he did against the Phils in '09. If you'd like I could tell him you were asking about him?— jigglyjaunt
Comment removed.- @rsjII -- you have to stop the Q-tip when there's RESISTANCE!— ejc527
no risk signing of a guy with injury issues - in '09, during his only full injury-free season in the majors, he was very effective. so if healthy, he'll make the squad and help the phils this year, if he isn't, no harm done.— CosmoK- Bud Black may well deserve being named NL MOY but a good case could be made for his team's late season collapse having cost the Phils a WS ring...
— stan the man too - i'm fresh out of D-cells....i stuck the last one i had in JD's ear.
- He had a 9.64 ERA......yeah, low risk, no reward. And they shouldn't go near Pedro Feliciano merely for the fact, that we crush him. Let him keep throwing his meatballs to our lineup— kozykoz26
rsj, why do you have such a hard-on?— road515
