IS LAMENTING OVER THE LATISSIMUS
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- What qualifies as news in Phillies land these days is nothing earth-shattering, but there is this: They met with Oscar Suarez, the agent for lefthander Dennys Reyes during the day Tuesday but did not offer the pitcher a contract.
They also, according to a baseball source, had discussions with the agent for lefthander George Sherrill. Both Reyes and Sherrill would be cheaper alternatives to filling the lefthanded void in the bullpen. The Phillies remain interested in the top-tier lefties, like Pedro Feliciano and Brian Fuentes, but they could price themselves out of the Phillies' range.
The source said the Phillies have told agents they are in no rush to sign a pitcher. The team will continue to kick the tires on all of the bullpen options.
Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said the team had more substantive conversations with free-agent pitchers Tuesday.
Reyes, who turns 34 in April, was 3-1 with a 3.55 ERA with St. Louis in 2010. He has a 2.63 ERA over the last five seasons, spent with Minnesota and St. Louis. But he has also had control issues.
Sherrill, a pitcher the Phillies have had interest in before, was awful for Los Angeles in 2010. He had a 6.69 ERA and walked 24 batters while striking out just 25 in 36 1/3 innings. But he was dominant in 2009, posting a 1.70 ERA in 69 innings.
Beyond those discussions, the Phillies did make two roster moves Tuesday: Pitchers Jesus Sanchez and Yohan Flande were released to clear space on the 40-man roster, which now stands at 38. That means the Phillies could be active in the Rule 5 draft, which is held here on Thursday.
Sanchez, a converted catcher, was the last link from the Bobby Abreu trade. Flande, who turns 25 in January, spent the past two seasons at double-A Reading. In 2010, he was 10-8 with a 4.38 ERA. He doesn't have blow-away stuff; he struck out just 84 batters in 158 1/3 innings.
Amaro said he hopes to re-sign both players to minor-league deals if they clear waivers.
Below is a video of Charlie Manuel talking about Domonic Brown earlier today...
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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