Sherrill may be lefty reliever Phillies are looking for
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Sherrill may be lefty reliever Phillies are looking for
Bob Brookover and Matt Gelb
DALLAS -- Even though Ruben Amaro Jr. is the general manager and David Montgomery is the team president, the voice of former Phillies general manager Pat Gillick still carries a lot of weight in the executive offices at Citizens Bank Park.
Gillick, a senior advisor to Amaro and Montgomery, was asked Monday at the winter meetings what he thought the team needed most at this stage of the offseason and he did not hesitate with an answer.
"It would be good to have a veteran lefthander to go with (Antonio) Bastardo," he said. "I think that would fit in well."
It appears as if the veteran reliever the Phillies have targeted for that role is free-agent lefty George Sherrill, who also drew interest from the team as a free agent last season before eventually signing with the Atlanta Braves.
Sherrill, 34, rebounded from a poor 2010 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers and played his lefty role well for the Braves, going 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 51 games. Left-handed hitters batted .256 against him and had a .275 on-base percentage. He struck out 32 of the 81 left-handed hitters he faced.
Left-handed hitters are batting .180 against Sherrill for his career and they strike out nearly a third of the time.
A second lefty who specializes in getting out lefthanders is something the Phillies had with J.C. Romero in 2008, but he struggled to throw strikes the last two years and was not nearly as effective.
"You have to balance your club out," Gillick said. "Be it your position players, be it your starting rotation or the bullpen, you have to have balance down there. I think that's important to have the right mix down (in the bullpen) so if the situation calls for it, you have that person available. We had really one lefthander at the backend and you really need two."
Comments (34)
When Sherill was with the Orioles the Phillies were hot for this guy and he was nasty against lefties...although he improved some with the Braves this past season, I don't believe he's quite the same guy that the Phillies' brass gushed over.He definitely hasn't been too good againt the Phils these past seasons, showing a lack of command...But it looks like Joe Savery has joined Mayberry Jr. in the Rodney Dangerfield school of "no respect at all" concerning opportunities to make an impact...Maybe Diekman shows them something in camp as well.— bearsfriend- Sherrill will turn 35 on April 19th. At least he is under 40. With an old pitcher you need to look at his recent numbers. Holding lefties last season to .256 is nothing to write home about. Lefty Diekman held lefties at Reading to an .099 batting average. In the Arizona Fall League lefties went 0 for 8 against him. Or with Joe Savery lefties hit .192 off him at AAA last season. But these guys are way too young for Ruben and Pat.— Dull
- Savery isn't too young, but I don't think the Phillies brash are quite sold on his transformation yet. As for Diekman, he's only recently come into the Phillies' radar, so he will have to prove himself at Reading and LHV this year to get some consideration.— robm0202
- In recent seasons the brass has not trusted the minor league reports (maybe that's why LaMar and Ruben clashed)...shying away from the talented but still young Bastardo for Denys Reyes, who flunked a physical, and then settling for JC Romero..The Baez signing prevented a few kids from making the club, sending them back for more seasoning..Competition in camp is great, but if guaranteed deals compromises guys from opportunities, then it's a waste...Diekman is the nastier of the two (between Savery, who is more conventional) against lefties, but barring a spectacular spring, he'll open in AAA..He changed to a sidewinder and that's why he has sort of emerged. — bearsfriend
- Diekman is filthy against lefties, but he still has no idea where the ball is going. Until he improves his command, I'd like to see a veteran lefty on a 1-year deal.— Laika33
- If 2-3 million, 1 year deal, anything beyond that and no thank you, I'll take my chances with a young arm and/or plug in at the trade deadline.— CosmoK
- Sherrill has been too up and down, even in his prime. Too many blown saves and inconsistent ERA, year to year. He was a hot item at one time, but I think that time may have passed.— skipintro
- Here's the worst case scenario: Sherrill comes in and . . . meh. By July, Savery has 30 LH innings worked and is looking consistent to go with the good he has now. He comes up, with Sherrill cut, and proves himself, on to the WS. Oh, it gets worse. Sherrill busts, Savery has nothing, Diekman comes up in August and handles those innings like Stutes did last year, and into the playoffs. Gee, can it get worse? The Phillies wise up and employ Baez just to hang around the clubhouse and whisper to Bastardo and Contreras. They pretend to be Madson/Romero of 2008, on to the WS. Bring George in and start those balls rolling.— calm weather
- We suffered through 1 and 1/2 seasons with Danys Baez, this guy seems to be MUCH better.— Bruno Sammartino
- U think this would be a good move to get an experienced lefty that the team needs. This would allow those younger guys time to prepare for their opportunity. I think a few are close to being ready (Savery, Aumont, and De Fratus). Schwimer thought he was ready. The talk was bring him up to take a spot. Reality came quick and often. Bastardo and Stutes got minor opportunities before they were into the mix. Do the same with these other kids.— bsmallg1
- Calm weather - I'd advise you to take a pill, but I suspect you've had a few too many already. Sherrill for one yr. gets us to where Savery/Diekman are consistent enough to be brought up.— dwp66
- Sherrill should have been the lefty reliever when the Phillies pursued Dennys Reyes instead before re-upping with J.C. Romero.— PhightinPhil
- Sherrill would be a nice addions to the bullpen as long ashe knowsif he can't get leftys out at around .200 or less he will have to go.... lol Lets hope they get a deal done at the meetings we need a power bat at 3rd I wouldn't like to see polly go he would be grweat as the super utility guy playing 2nd, SS and 3rd and I would bet he would be a great bat from the bench when you need a hit or walk as he will work the pitch count. But we need a power bat at 3rd.— srcdaddy1216
- Sherill stinks. Call Scott Eyre.— Relocator
- I think John Mayberry, Dominic Brown and Ben Francisco are now trade bait with the two free agents signed that will only play in left field. The question is who might they be traded for.
My guess is that they would be exchanged for a prospect SS or 3B man that is on a team that have established players at those positions. They would have to be major league ready for the Phillies to make any such deal.— candidly - Give the young lefty arms their time in the sun. It worked well for Atlanta!— jpelle36
- Why do we want to sign a lefty specialist that lefties are hitting .256 against (and that was an improvement over 2010)? I don't have MLB stats, but it seems to me that .256 is pretty much league average overall. I would expect a lefty specialist to be MUCH better than league average against lefties. Pass.— Phils Phan 28
- candidly - who are these two FAs that only play LF? Nix plays CF also, and Wigginton plays all kinds of positions including IF. Ben Francisco has no value. Mayberry will be the front runner to start in LF. And I don't think they just unload Brown after consciously holding him out of all the trades they've made over the past 2 years.— Phils Phan 28
- Mayberry's definitely going nowhere, he shows real promise and makes nothing.If anything, he should see more righthanded pitching this season...Heck, he was real good in center as well, just rally valuable now that they have trusted to use him. As far as Brown, I think the phillies are really on the fence with him..The fact that he crapped out when he went back to AAA for the last month and half, then got sent hoime to put this off year out of mind tells me that he's either gone ( with his trade value severely reduced)...or he'll open in AAA, try to put up real good numbers, build that swagger (with proper fielding and baserunning fundamentals, as well as lower hands at bat) and see where his value lies then...But Brown may still attract that Davis Wright or Hanley Ramirez type in a package..A guy with tools who makes no money yet.. — bearsfriend
- I don't disagree with anything you say here. My point would be that Victorino, Pence and Howard ( if healthy) have their positions set in stone. The playing time, as the season progresses for Mayberry, Wiggington and Nix will be in left and as pinchitters. I like Mayberry better than the other two. To get a young quality shortstop or third baseman you will have to give up quality. Mayberry and Brown may be that quality that the Phillies may have to part with to get what they want. Mayberry is a very attractive player to other teams - young, coming into his own as a hitter and making a low salary. I am quite sure there are plenty of teams out there that still would jump at the chance of acquiring Brown. He might never amount to anything but he still has that potential and tools to be spectacular.
Nix and Wigginton should be able to hold down the fort in leftfield and give players in the other positions a day of every once in a while.— candidly - The list of relievers the Phillies have acquired 4-5 years too late is long.— Gnip Gnop
- Sherrill would be a great signing. Give Zumaya a look too. Phils are one of the few teams w/out a couple of guys who throw 95+ in the pen.— Tomeastburn
- Your lefty specialists need to be nasty! Remember how Bastardo was the first 2/3rds of last season? Nobody could touch him. Your 2nd lefty doesn't need to be as nasty, just semi nasty! Sherrill is certainly no closer anymore since coming off the PEDs and shrinking back down to normal size. He's also not very nasty, however he has tons of late inning experience and in pressure situations and he's still nastier than plain old vanilla stuff Savery. If Joe could develop a nasty slider, wow! Then we got something, but on tv his stuff comes across as very straight and very plain.— Mark1npt
- Why Laynce Nix? I don't get it. If that's the best they can do then they may as well bring back Ibanez for a big pay cut.— SteveS11
- Once again, D. Brown made a bad choice in by-passing a Football career, for a baseball career!
Its not too late Dominic! A 6'5" WR, do it son!— larryv - Concerning Dominick Brown's gridiron prowess,I don't know how he runs a post pattern or a fade...but his routes to fly balls this summer were all classic "double moves". — bearsfriend
- Most leftys out there have good numbers against left handed batters if they've faced the Phillies. They won't have that luxury when they're here.— burholme
- No fxxking way, ruben— illrhyme
- I do not like Sherrill at all. I like many of Rubens moves, but one of his worst moves was not paying Scott Eyre what he was looking for. He was huge during that World Series run.— watsonmr
- After reading another post of what the Phillies are looking for, why not try hard and get Curt Schilling back for cheap? Talk about the season ending playoffs showing us that we had aging veterans and worn out athletes playing injured! I thought all that was extremely obvious to everyone. And yes, I thought I read that in the media and in print? What is becoming increasingly obvious with our GM is this, let's continue to get older, cheaper, and more worn out athletes so they fit our model of "WIN NOW" philosophy. Let's keep Rollins or if we are unable to agree with his longer term 5 year deal, why not get a 33 year old Ramirez instead? Come to think about, aren't we also in need of a left handed reliever to help Antonio Bastardo? Why not seek out George Sherril isn't he 33 or so? Certainly, getting older, slower, less agile isn't going to hurt our chances of getting that shot at that World Series title especially for Doc's sake or Cliff Lee's? Why not bring in young and versatile Galvis and let him play or platoon with Wilson Valdez? Wait, what am I saying? Get our younger players from the minors and bring them into the MLB level and help them develop with our other leaders around the clubhouse? If we could begin sprinkling that in while we have such awe inspiring talent on this team? Wow, what am I dreaming about?— linkster
- I wish Amaro would figure out a way to get a clutch hitter in the lineup.
And trade Ryan whats-his-name for whatever you can get for him.— fmMD - Forget about Sherrill
Give Joe Savery and/or Jake Diekman an opportunity in Spring Training to make the Phils' regular season roster.— johnpaulcpa - nix and wigginton can't hit throw have no speed they are not better than mayberry, brown or franciso if phillies expect to win with them letting rollins walk and trading polanco watch the infield defense drop like a rock extend innings and losses phillies may not make play-offs in 2012.— only 9
- Let's see what the lower priced guys can contribute. Jeez you can't sign an expensive FA for every position. Guys like Sherrill can be had at the trade deadline if the guys aren't working out.— hillbillybirdsfan
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