Winter Meetings: The Final Day
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Winter Meetings: The Final Day
Todd Zolecki
It's the last day of the winter meetings in Las Vegas.
Sniff, sniff.
Oh, well. Life goes on. The Phillies traded catcher Jason Jaramillo to the Pittsburgh Pirates last night for catcher Ronny Paulino. Paulino and Chris Coste will compete to be Carlos Ruiz's backup. Lou Marson, the organization's catcher of the future, is expected to open the season in triple-A Lehigh Valley.
The Phillies remain hopeful they can acquire Mark DeRosa from the Chicago Cubs in a three-team trade that would send Jake Peavy to Chicago. DeRosa remains in play, but the Cubs don't really want to trade him. That could be a problem. Especially because other teams are in on DeRosa, including the Minnesota Twins. That could jack up the price.
The Inquirer's Jim Salisbury reports that the Phillies are ready to send two prospects to Chicago to get DeRosa. The Cubs would spin those prospects in a package for Peavy. The Phillies have submitted a list of prospects, from which the Padres can pick two. The list likely includes pitchers J.A. Happ, Kyle Kendrick and Edgar Garcia. Jaramillo was on the list before being dealt to Pittsburgh. Other prospects are also on the list, and the veteran Coste could be had. It is unlikely that top pitching prospect Carlos Carrasco is available.
Some reports have said that infielder Jason Donald could be in the deal, but sources say he is not. Donald, however, could be available in a different trade. The Phils are not eager to trade Donald and would have to get top quality in return if they did. If the Phils do not land DeRosa, they could turn their attention to Minnesota's Delmon Young.
*
Ruben Amaro Jr. reported no progress on negotiations with free-agent lefthander Jamie Moyer.
The Phils would like to sign Moyer to a one-year deal with an option. Moyer, who won 16 games in 2008, is likely seeking a two-year deal.
*
The winter meetings end this morning with the Rule 5 draft. The Phillies traditionally like to be active in the draft - it got them Shane Victorino in Dec. 2004 - but this year's pickings are slim and it doesn't help that 25 teams pick before the Phillies.
*
Yahoo! Sports reports the Phillies are close to signing righthander Chan Ho Park.
If the Phillies sign Park, he would seem to the multiple innings relief pitcher they have been looking for. He also can start, which gives the Phillies flexibility and a little more depth should they end up trading Kendrick or Happ to get DeRosa.
*
You could see plenty of Phillies in the World Baseball Classic.
Why not trade Kyle and JAHapp and the new catcher or Coste for Peavy? Why wait for a 35-36 yr. old like De Rosa ? This is silly. Why not beat the Pads to the deal?— KGKoons- Charlie just said on the ESPN Blog that he wants Burrell back and would spend a little more to bring him back, but of course he doesn't get to make the call, Junior does, God help us!!!— geoff02
- Coste may not be gone, even if the Phils decide to keep Marson or Paulino as backup catcher. he's a good PH and very usable. Unfortunately, our pitching staff doesn't seem to like him behind the plate, which is very important. Chollie didn't have confidence in his D during the Playoffs. As for teh idea that this move was a prelude to a bigger deal with a catcher, I doubt it. It was a straight up trade, which means their value is about equal. One has experience and one has potential. Unless the Cubs/Padres didn't want Jaramillo and we didn't want to have marson as openign day back up catcher without making him fight for the job. Regarding Pat, if anyone pays him more tehn $9 million for more then 2 years they are getting ripped off.— jeff gross
Comment removed.- Welcome to the Hot Stove, KGKoons! Peavy won't waive his No-trade Clause to come here.— Sully
- Jeff, my point is, if you have a surplus of catchers; prospects Jaramillo and Marson, a good catcher in Ruiz and a nice backup in Coste, why in the name of Sal Fasano you trade one of them for another catcher, when you can use that same catcher in a trade for another piece (bullpen, utility infielder, ect)? I think one of them is on the move, and it could be Coste. But then again, is he going to get you a better player than Jaramillo? I don't get it, unless a bigger trade is looming or Amaro doesn’t know what the hell he is doing.— EL Zorro
- Dave: I need to ask-WTF are you talking about. Jarmillio had no chance of ever making the Phils. he was no longer teh top prospect in the organization and was, tehrefore, useless to us. trading him was good for us and good for him. As for comparrisons to the '80 team and teh '83 team, get real,. They called teh '83 team teh wheeze guys for a reason, tehy were all old. How many of them were still playing in 1985? as for the '80 team the same guys (except teh Bull) came back the next year. Teams do change, however. I don't see any moves here to save money, but rather to bring in those few elements we are missing (SP, RP, LF) KGKoons: because Peavy has a no trade clause and doesn't want to come here that's why!! Read a few blogs, articles before opening your keyboard please— jeff gross
- Coste has been mentioned as part of the Peavy deal a few times. also, as I said, the staff doesn't like pitching to him, and Chollie doesn't like his D. This way, they have an experience C instead of Coste as back-up until marson is ready, whether that's opening day, All-star break, or next year.— jeff gross
- Davegas, the Phillies traded a 26 yr old catcher who hit .260 in AAA last year, for a 27 yr old catcher that has had some success in the major leagues (a career .278 hitter, that is, in the bigs). I don't see what the problem with this deal is...unless you're Chris Coste, who's most likely as good as gone. Jaramillo projects to be nothing more than a backup catcher at the major league level. Why do you have a problem with this?— Billy The Kid
- Peavey deal dead with Cubs. 8 teams interested in DeRosa. Nothing happening for the Phillies on these fronts boys.— bigredmachinefan
- I am really beginning to get impatient. What have they done this off-season besides give Burrell the finger, jerk Moyer around, make two minor league swaps of inconseuqnetial players who will never be ML regulars? It's nice to know that after 28 years without a WS win, finally winning one leads to complacency. God forbid they make an effort to improve the World Champions in order to make another run. 2 months into the offseason and here we sit with the same roster, except we are missing a #5 hitter who hit 33 HRs last year, and our second best starting pitcher...and apparently have not made an overwhelming effort to retain or replace either.— RollinsWasRight
- RWR, I hear you, but if you look around the league, nobody has done much other than the Yankees and the Mets, who are making it obvious that they're desparate to get starting pitching and bullpen help no matter what the cost. Be patient bud...I don't think the Phils are going to roll into the '09 season with nobodies in LF and in the 4th and 5th spot in the rotation. We have a looooong time until Spring Training.— Billy The Kid
- RWR, please relax. It's not even Christmas yet! How many big name outfielders have changed teams? One, because Rube wouldn't give up the talent to get Holliday. He's got 3 more months to figure out this whole roster thing. Just sit back and enjoy being World F'n Champions a little longer. It's the OTHER 29 teams that have a right to get impatient for not getting where WE ARE NOW.— Sully
- jeff, I agree with most of what you say, but I think you might have Burrell in a wheelchair just a wee bit early. While I do expect that he will eventually ride off into the sunset as an AL DH, I think I might go for the 3 years (if that's what he wants) because, obviously, the Phillies still have a chance to win now. And guys like Rollins and Utley aren't kids anymore either. Soak this group for all it's worth. I know you can't just watch other teams, but it must be noted that the Mets added a bunch of wins this week - they simply aren't going to fold up and get beaten by the likes of Wes Helms and Greg Norton next year. I dunno, I just kind of think that 2009 is worth going all out for, but it's going to be a tougher fight.— NJLouis66
- If Amaro trades these prospects for an elderly utility player he should be fired.— jp
