Source: Willis agrees to one-year deal
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Source: Willis agrees to one-year deal
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
Dontrelle Willis once won Rookie of the Year and finished second in Cy Young voting. He's resurrected a career presumed done at age 26, and now he'll be asked to assume a role he's never filled before.
A major-league source confirmed the Phillies agreed to a one-year deal with Willis, pending a physical. His base salary, first reported by ESPN.com, will be less than $1 million. All of Willis' 13 appearances were starts in 2011 and 202 of his 205 career games are starts, but the source said he'll be reliever for the Phillies.
Willis posted a 5.00 ERA in 75 2/3 innings for Cincinnati in 2011, but the Phillies apparently saw enough to guarantee the lefthander a one-year contract for 2012.
The answer probably lies in his ability to retire lefthanders.
His career numbers against lefties are outstanding, holding them to a .200/.274/.288 slash line. In 2011, those numbers were even better, as lefties hit .127 with a .369 OPS against. He turns 30 in January.
Ruben Amaro Jr. said he wanted to add a lefthanded reliever at the winter meetings and Willis simply adds depth to a unit teeming with promise. The other advantage: Theoretically, if the Phillies needed a starter to slide into the rotation because of injury, Willis presents that backup plan.
The Phillies have now guaranteed contracts to three relievers -- Jonathan Papelbon, Jose Contreras and Willis. Contreras' health is still in question, but he is scheduled to begin throwing in January. Kyle Kendrick was offered arbitration. The remaining three spots in the bullpen will be filled by a handful of young arms. Figure Antonio Bastardo is a lock. That leaves Mike Stutes, Justin De Fratus, Phillippe Aumont, David Herndon, Michael Schwimer and Joe Savery to fight for two spots.
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EWWW— shmu u 92- we've actually gone more than 24 hours without an article that describes how much rollins and the phillies mean to each other.. quit slacking, philly.com reporters! — zwarte piet
- Worth a shot...— elfman
- Really?...How about more of a pacifier to an unhappy Jimmy Rollins who will return as an unhappy camper, but now will find his hometown bud waiting for him...Willis is a superb bat who really could help more swingin than slingin these days...Command is a real issue here, and coming in cold out of the pen will be real interesting...Guaranteed salary...a real slap to the young guys...I really thought they would get a chance...guess not. — bearsfriend
- Willis is more of the outside the box thinking as Contreras was in converting an aging SP arm into a potential devastating BP arm. Dontrelle is no longer anything more than an emergency 5 inning SP...having him in the BP to pitch an inning or two if needed and to spell Bastardo against a tough LH PH late in the game would be fantastic! Plus he's such a good hitter, you wouldn't have to burn someone on your bench to PH for him if his spot came up. This is a win-win for Willis and the Phils....especially since we don't know if Bastardo will round back into form from whatever injury (thoracic outlet sundrome?) that plagued him the last 2 months of the 2011 season. Great move Ruben... the bp and the bench are looking much stronger for '12.— Mark1npt
Comment removed.- Good signing... I've been screaming for more lefty help in the pen for 3 years. D-train can work as another lefty specialist from the pen, and as Matt suggests, step into a starter role if needed. AND he's experienced the grandest of stages, pitched in a WS. No complaints here.
- PS....I still don't get how this is going to change the approach of your starting lineup however......unless of course JNoRoll isn't retained.— Mark1npt
- this allows Bastardo to be the set up guy and still have a lefty specialist in the Pen. Great move. Worst case senerio we dump him like we did Romero last year. Only (only?) costs a million, so cheap move to upgrade pen. RAJ strikes again— jeff gross
- Absolutely worth the risk.. Maybe this guy could be that lefty specialist the Phillies have never had???— FetchDixon
- Scott Eyre was a lefty specialist and did pretty well in '08... — ESFjellin
- Comment removed.
- garbage -- will make fans long for Adam Eaton...the Rube looks for 'bargains' on the cheap after wasting $125 million on a dh who cant hit lefties, $50 million on a relief pitcher, $24 million on a 5h starter worse than a typical AAA pitcher, etc --and then cant spend $12 mil./yr on a .300 power hitting 3rd baseman -- completely clueless ... an 11 year old would have a better sense how to build a team— warbiscuit
- Yeah.......at least he built a World Series winner. — BigPapiChulo
- ruben has never won a world series as gm. and buscuit, this is a signing for less than 1 million dollars, its not liek giving eaton 8 million per year for 3 years. cheap and affordable with a dearth of experience. maybe you should put in your resume to the team so you can be the gm. you should use black crayon instead of red though, just my advice. — ESFjellin
