Pujols to Angels; Phils go home without signing Rollins
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Pujols to Angels; Phils go home without signing Rollins
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
DALLAS -- The Phillies left the Hilton Anatole Thursday without accomplishing their primary goal of signing shortstop Jimmy Rollins, but the pursuit will continue.
"Nothing is scheduled (with Rollins' agent Dan Lozano), but I'm sure we'll be in touch with each other sometime soon," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said after the Rule 5 draft brought an official close to the winter meetings. "I'm concerned about filling that spot, but overall I'm not concerned."
The Phillies' only move here was the signing of free-agent utility man Laynce Nix, which is expected to become official after he passes a physical Thursday. That's not the kind of move that will get the folks back in Philadelphia too excited, but at least the Miami Marlins' initial assault of the free-agent market fizzled and gave way to a late surge by the Los Angeles Angels.
As teams checked out of this sprawling hotel, the news that the Angels had signed Albert Pujols and pitcher C.J. Wilson was exploding on Twitter.
This was good news for the Phillies.
"If that's the case, I'm glad he's out of our league," Amaro said when told of Pujols' agreement with the Angels.
The Marlins had been in pursuit of Pujols and Wilson and if they had landed them, the balance of power may have shifted in the National League East. The free-agent additions of shortstop Jose Reyes, lefthander Mark Buerhle and closer Heath Bell will certainly make the Marlins better as they move into their new ballpark, but the Phillies remain the team to beat.
"Our division is going to be one of the best in the game," Amaro said. "The Marlins have been extremely aggressive and they already had a pretty good, young team. To add what they've done, they'll be a siginficant challenge for us, no question about it."
With Pujols and Wilson, however, they would have become the team to beat. Now, the Phillies don't have to worry about seeing Pujols for the next decade except in a three-game interleague series or the World Series. That's a relief for every National League team except the St. Louis Cardinals, who were understandably distraught after losing their best player.
Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak left Dallas without comment.
Reports on the Pujols' deal said the Angels will pay him between $250 and $260 million over the next 10 seasons. That's roughly twice as much as the deal Ryan Howard signed with the Phillies in 2010.
One possible impact the Pujols' deal could have on the Phillies is that the Cardinals now have more money to go after someone like Rollins. They need a shortstop and the assumption has been that they would re-sign veteran Rafael Furcal after bringing back Pujols. Now, they may want an offensive upgrade at shortstop and Rollins would give them one.
It seems more likely, however, that the Cardinals would get involved in the bidding for Prince Fielder, who is now the best remaining hitter on the free-agent market.
Amaro said the Phillies could still add a veteran lefthander to their bullpen and will still be in search of some bench help, but re-signing Rollins remains the top focus.
"I don't think we have a lot of needs to be frank," Amaro said. "I'm pretty happy with our club as it stands, but that doesn't mean we're not going to try to get better."
Phils lose Castillo
The Chicago Cubs selected righthander Lendy Castillo from the Phillies' triple-A roster in the major-league portion of the Rule 5 draft Thursday.
Castillo must remain with the Cubs for the entire 2012 season or be offered back to the Phillies. The teams can also work out a trade, but Phillies assistant general manager Benny Looper said the Phillies would want Castillo back.
The 22-year-old Castillo is a converted infielder who went 4-2 with a 2.54 ERA in 21 games at single-A Lakewood last season.
For the first time since 2005, the Phillies did not make a selection in the major-league portion of the Rule 5 draft.
onthebucks, interesting thoughts. I like Betemit, too, and think he's widely underrated. It's weird that he almost never finishes a season with the team he started with. You don't see him as a leadoff hitter, though, do you? He has no speed.— 1980- Interesting, another Castillo in Philly who converted positions......it appears he has had success unlike the D Cord for da Eagles!!— eagles2010
- Not enough forums on the Eagles page to bash them, you have to do it here? The Phillies ain't the eagles, get over it — TexasYankee
- Phillie fans should be excited - Rollins still has a chance to go somewhere else. Please Lord, let it be !— candidly
- Unlike most of you, I do not believe I'm a GM in training, but what I do know is that the Phillies won a franchise and major league best 102 games last year, and yes they slumped in the playoffs, like most teams who lead the majors in wins rarely win it all. I do see however that the Phillies will enter the next season a better club, as it is now.— TexasYankee
- 1980, Betemit is not a leadoff man, but his switch hitting .292 bat would allow the Phils to look something like: 1) Victorino (S) CF, 2)Polanco 3B (R), 3) Utley 2B (L), 4) Pence RF (R), 5) Howard 1B (L), 6) Mayberry LF (R) / Nix (L), 7) Betemit SS (S), 8) Ruiz C (R) and 9) Pitcher.
- Ruben is full of sh*t if he says he's happy with the team. He's missing a ss. Has a 3rd basemen who will play half a season at best. Has a 1st baseman who had a down year and is now recoverining from significant surgery. Ans a 2nd basement who is injury prone and has lost his power. He better get Hamels, Gonzalez and the best closer still available because the Phils will average scoring at most 3 runs per game.— Commonesnes
- Phillies scored the most runs in the majors after the allstar break, they slumped in the playoffs...Blame conditioning, not Ruben. — TexasYankee
- Anyone who watched the Phils every game knows that is a bogus, useless stat. The Phillies had 71 games where they scored 3 or less. Also, if conditioning is the problem, why would they be better after the all-star break but fade in October when there is a lot of time between games and the regulars were rested before the playoffs. Your comment is incoherent. — jtj06
- "I don't think we have a lot of needs to be frank," Amaro said.
In my experience of life, people are usually lying when they say they're being frank. Let's hope Amaro is lying here, too, because the Phillies definitely DO still need one or two lefties for the bullpen. Bastardo can't be the only option there.— Dave Clemens - I miss Lone Wolf.— TarHeelJack
- Pujols is a wonderful player but he is not worth 2 x the $$$$ of Howard and the length of the Puhols deal is questionable. This makes Howard more valuable as a commodity if the Phils think about trading the big piece.— johnny eagle
- onthebucks, yup, I could see that. And if Howard misses the first few weeks, I could see: Victorino, Betemit, Polanco, Utley, Pence, Mayberry (1B), Nix/Wiggenton, Ruiz, Pitcher.— 1980
- For those posters who are in love with 102 wins, go to baseball history and find another team that had three, healthy, front line pitchers have career years and lost as many games as the Phillies and accomplished so little. You can't. There are very few teams even in the conversation- Atlanta in the 1998-99, the 1986 Mets, the 1969-70 Baltimore Orioles- none of them had as solid starting pitching 1-through-5 as the Phillies, but they were able to win 106-109 Games and win a playoff series. If you go all in and add Cliff Lee to a NLCS team, it isn't an accomplishment to win one more game than the 1977 Phillies who only had one starter with an ERA under 4 in a pitcher's era.— jtj06
- Hey Stan, 'biscuit (not bisQuit) has never smiled - can't. He thinks(?) by being anti-Amaro, he is somehow cool and hip. He's just a jerk.— dwp66
