IS TAKING DOC TO SEE THE DOC
If the Phillies don’t bring back leftfielder Pat Burrell, they will need somebody to fill his spot in the lineup.
How about Matt Holliday?
The Phillies talked with the Colorado Rockies about Holliday (and lefthander Brian Fuentes) before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, but the asking price was too high. The Phillies still have interest in Holliday, and for good reason. He is a righthanded power bat who would fit into the middle of the Phillies’ lineup nicely. He also plays left field.
SI.com reported yesterday that the Phillies are one of the most aggressive pursuers for Holliday. But a couple baseball sources doused such talk. One of them said last night the Rockies likely would require Shane Victorino or Jayson Werth, plus at least a couple top prospects – start with righthander Carlos Carrasco and work down (think J.A. Happ and/or Antonio Bastardo) – to get serious with the Rockies.
Would the Phillies want to ship a big-league talent like Victorino plus top prospects like Carrasco and others for a player that would be with the Phillies just one season? Holliday will be a free agent and his agent is Scott Boras. Boras always has his players test the free-agent market, so there would be little to no chance the Phillies could extend him past 2009.
The feeling I get is that the Phillies are interested, but the asking price needs to drop a lot to be a fit. Do the Phillies have the pieces to make it happen, as SI.com suggests? Yes, they do. They definitely have some minor-league talent that other teams covet. But they also don't feel the need to cripple their farm system to make it happen.
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The Phillies have seen Japanese righthander Junichi Tazawa, but haven't made an offer. Yet.
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Ruben Amaro Jr. just completed his first GM meetings. He liked the experience. John Gonzalez, Bob Ford and Phil Sheridan talk about Curt Schilling and his desire to pitch again for the Phillies.
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The Denver Post offers its take on Holliday to Phillies possibilities.
Bob Brookover and Matt Gelb team up for their third straight season covering the Phillies for the Inquirer and philly.com.
This is Brookover’s second stint writing about the Phillies, having joined the coverage team after seven years as an Eagles beat writer. Brookover was hired by The Inquirer in 2000 as the Phillies beat writer after spending 13 years writing about the team for two suburban newspapers. While on the Eagles beat, Brookover, who had covered just two winning Phillies teams in 15 seasons, saw the Phillies move into a cash-cow new ballpark and begin playing a brand of the game he found unrecognizable. Follow him on Twitter here.
Gelb is in his third season covering the Phillies. He was hired by The Inquirer in August 2009 after graduating from Syracuse University. He has also covered baseball at The Star-Ledger and Cape Cod Times. Born and raised in Bucks County, he attended Central Bucks High School West. Follow him on Twitter here.
To submit a question for Matt Gelb's Phillies mailbag, click here.
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