Cole Hamels is one of the best starting pitchers in the game.  He ranks second in the Majors in strikeouts (133), innings pitched (150.7), and fourth in WHIP (1.01).  While Hamels should finish in the top-5 of the National League Cy Young Award vote, the other starters in Philadelphia’s rotation have not been good. 

Brett Myers, the Phillies’ Opening Day starter, has an ERA of 5.84 and had to be sent down to Triple-A.  Adam Eaton hasn’t been much better.  With the addition of Blanton, the Phillies are sending Eaton and his 5.71 ERA to the bullpen.  Second-year righty Kyle Kendrick is 8-4, but his ERA isn’t good either at 4.87.

45-year-old Jamie Moyer has been a solid sidekick to Hamels as he continues to get people out on very limited stuff.  He is 9-6 with a 3.90 ERA for the 2008 season.

Joe Blanton isn’t flashy.  He is a solid right-hander who throws just above 90 mph with an average breaking ball.  However, if Kyle Kendrick has won twice as many games as he’s lost in 2008, Blanton could be a great addition.  Blanton’s dependability could translate into several wins behind Philadelphia’s prolific offense.  He’s made at least 31 starts and logged at least 194 innings in each of his three Major League seasons.

Blanton is one of the original Moneyballers, drafted in the first round of out of the University of Kentucky in 2002.  He finished 6th in the 2004 AL Rookie of the Year vote by posting a 12-12 mark with a 3.53 ERA.  He won a career-high 16 games in 2005, though his ERA ballooned to 4.82.  Last season, Blanton took over duties as staff ace and logged a whopping 230 innings, but kept his ERA (3.95) under 4.00.  His career ERA is 4.25, just above the league average of 4.24. 

Joe Blanton is not yet arbitration eligible and made only $380,000 in 2007.  The Phillies will take no risk monetarily, and Blanton isn’t scheduled to become a free agent until after the 2010 season.  However, while Blanton’s durability almost guarantees that he is able to throw 200 inning annually, his rough 2008 season is concerning.  He is 27 years old and, although his MLB career is relatively short, his best years could already be behind him.  Plus, Oakland general manager Billy Beane seems to have a knack for trading away pitchers just as they begin the downside of their careers.  (See:  Barry Zito and Mark Mulder.)

Billy Beane is running laps around the rest of the general managers in Major League Baseball.  This trade is no blockbuster, but supply and demand ensured that Beane maximized Blanton’s value.  Adrian Cardenas was named the High School Player of the Year by Baseball America his senior season at a Miami, Florida high school and was the Phillies’ best position prospect.  Cardenas is a second baseman–obviously blocked at that position in Philadelphia by superstar Chase Utley–that will more than likely be a top-30 overall prospect going into 2009.  Since the Athletics drafted University of Miami second baseman Jemile Weeks last month in the first round, Cardenas may very well end up playing third base in the Major Leagues, but scouts believe his bat will be powerful enough to play at the hot corner.  The Athletics also received Josh Outman, a left-hander who ranked as the Phillies’ fourth-best prospect entering 2008.  He has moved to the bullpen and has a 3.20 ERA in Double-A.  Matt Spencer is a second-year outfielder who is struggling at Class High-A.

Cardenas is a prized hitting prospect, but Billy Beane was able to pry him away from the Phillies even though Joe Blanton is having the worst season of his MLB career.  Blanton is just 5-12 with 4.96 ERA in 2008.  While the National League will not be as strong as Blanton’s American League foes, Philadelphia’s park is grossly different than Oakland’s pitcher-friendly park.  Despite the poor numbers, Blanton was one of the best pitchers available in the trade market.  Beyond the supply and demand factor, the New York Mets have been on fire of late and are tied for the NL East lead, heightening Philadelphia’s urgency to acquire a starting pitcher.  Now Blanton is thrust in the midst of an exciting playoff race.  He will make his Philadelphia Phillies debut tomorrow in Shea Stadium versus Johan Santana and the New York Mets.

  How often does a division leader send its Opening Day starter down to the minors?  The Philadelphia Phillies have done just that, sending down Brett Myers to Triple-A.

Of course the Phillies will recall Myers sometime in the second half of the season, but it was a mistake by manager Charlie Manuel to choose the veteran Myers to start the club’s first game of the season over rising star Cole Hamels.  The Phillies lost that first game of the year and have not fared much better in Myers’ starts since, compiling just a 4-13 record when he pitches.  But this team leads the National League East, meaning Philly is 41-26 when their supposed ace does not pitch.

Myers has been terrible in 2008.  He is 3-9 with a 5.84 ERA.  His WHIP is a whopping 1.564 and he leads the National League in homeruns allowed (24) as well as earned runs (66).  Batters are hitting .284 off Myers this season–which is not outrageous–but these hits aren’t only singles.  Hitters are slugging a powerful .551 off Myers.

After early struggles as a starter in 2007, Myers became the Phillies’ closer and notched 21 saves for the NL East winners.  However, that is not an option this season as offseason acquisition Brad Lidge has thrived in the closer’s role.  Lidge has already saved 19 games in the first half of 2008 and owns a 0.82 ERA.

The Phillies say that Brett Myers simply needs to work on the mechanics of delivery.  Triple-A will give him more time to play practical jokes and beat his wife.  It’s interesting that the Phillies don’t necessarily need Myers to win the division.  They won it in 2007 with Myers pitching in relief.  His production has been so bad this year that whoever replaces him could do no worse.  Besides, they are in first place right now.  So who will Myers’ replacement in the Phillies’ rotation be?  One option is Philadelphia’s number one prospect Carlos Carrasco, who is in Double-A.   While the 21-year-old Carrasco is known to be pretty inconsistent, scouts believe his stuff is adaquate for the Major Leagues right now.

Playing in some worn down midwest town 1,000 miles from home.  After the game, getting on a bus and driving all night to another miscellaneous town.  Trying to be a dad and a husband via a cell phone.  The disappointment of being assigned to repeat a level you’ve played before.  Being the oldest guy on the team every year.  Taking a job in the offseason to help pay the mortgage.  All of it in the hopes of one day making it to the Major Leagues.

  Chris Coste finally made it to the Show in 2006 after spending six seasons in the minor leagues.  Coste also had spent parts of five years playing independent baseball following his career at Division-III Concordia College.  It’s been a long journey, but Coste’s dream has come true.

Chris Coste isn’t just a ballplayer, but a writer too, apparently.  Coste tells his story in his new book called “The 33-Year-Old Rookie”.

Coste is having a superb year thus far behind the plate for the Philadelphia Phillies, hitting .385/.484/.731 in 10 games played while platooning with Carlos Ruiz.  He’s also thrown out a third of attempted base stealers.  In 2008 Coste will be one of the lowest-paid players in the Major Leagues.  But it’s six figures.  No more offseason jobs.  And no more bus rides.

Jimmy Rollins said the Phils were the team to beat in the NL East going into 2007.  The Phillies won 13 of their last 17 games to win the division by one game over the Mets, and Rollins went ahead and won the NL MVP Award while he was at it.  Mets centerfielder Carlos Beltran has already said they are the team to beat this year.  Real original.  They have added Johan Santana to the team that fell one game short a year ago.  The Atlanta Braves will have Mark Texieria for a full season this year, and go without Andruw Jones for the first time since he broke into the league in 1996.  The Washington Nationals have a new ballpark and a new centerfielder in Lastings Milledge.   The Florida Marlins will have a new centerfielder of their own in Cameron Maybin, but be without Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis.  Expect another spectacular year from Hanley Ramirez.  The NL East could be very similar to the NL West in 2007:  very competitive and very balanced among the top three teams.

Here’s the link to the NL East outlook for 2008: 

http://thebigleaguebeat.com/2008-nl-east-preview/

 Loading …

The 2006 National League MVP made less than a million bucks in 2007 ($900,000), but he will be getting a nice raise for the upcoming season.  Ryan Howard won his arbitration case today.  The three-judge panel decided that Howard deserves the $10 million he was seeking for 2008 and that the Phillies’ request of $7 million was inadequate.  Take a look at Howard’s numbers since he’s come into the league.

Ryan Howard

Howard wasn’t quite as good in ‘07 as he was the year before, but his MVP season was monumental, and he definitely looks like he will post monster numbers for years to come.  The arbitration panel thinks so as well.

Pedro Feliz has hit at least 20 homeruns in four consecutive seasons.  This streak has come in one of the worst ballparks for hitters and in a lineup with only one other decent hitter.  Now that he is away from the frigid winds blowing in from the San Francisco Bay and has more than just Barry Lamar Bonds to complement, look for Feliz to up his yearly homerun total to 25-30 range.  In this four-year streak, Feliz has yet to drive in 100 runs.  That will also change in Philly.  That brings up an interesting question:

 Loading …