Comments on: Phillies ‘intensifying pursuit” of free agent outfielder Cody Ross

By: DelawarePhilliesFan

DelawarePhilliesFan — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 14:11:43 +0000

Lets see…..Cody Ashe at 3rd, Freddy Galvis at 2nd, Dom Brown in Right, Ben Revere in Center, Darrin Ruf in Left, about $50 Mill coming off the books in 2014, with tons more each year after that…..yea, I think they can get along just fine.

I guess that is why you are not a GM

By: phillyphreak

phillyphreak — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 00:09:13 +0000

Playing “any infield position” rather poorly though. MY was one of the two worst players in ALL of baseball last year. The career .301 average is fine, though BA isn’t the best way to judge a player as defense and other aspects of offense are important. His walk rate is decreasing (the past 4 seasons since 2009: 7.9%, 7.0%, 6.8%, 5.1%) and so is his power (judged by ISO: 0.196 in 2009, 0.160, 0.136, 0.093).

By the way, for his career he has a lower AVG, OBP, SLG, ISO, wOBA on the road, away from Texas.

Maybe we can expect a small improvement, but it’s not MY In his prime. But hey there’s always that self-less MVP caliber clubhouse guy who would never complain about anything right?

By: edcl48

edcl48 — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 19:03:00 +0000

You mean stupid enough

By: philswin13

philswin13 — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 16:42:26 +0000

Phillyphreak you have no idea what you are talking about. Young is a career .300 hitter that can play any infield position. Before you call someone a “bad major league player” you might want to read up on him before making a fool of yourself.

By: njbrian67

njbrian67 — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 15:36:53 +0000

Strictly on output yes Swisher would be the choice. But Swisher is likely looking at double the annual cost of Ross and another year or two in contract length. Add in the fact that signing Swisher will cost the Phil’s their 1st round pick in this years draft (#16- the highest they’ve had in about 10 years) and Ross looks like the right choice for the club.

By: theskinsman

theskinsman — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 09:26:47 +0000

Swisher is good….unless you want A-roid type choking at the plate in the playoffs.Then, not so much.

By: phillyphreak

phillyphreak — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 01:56:07 +0000

I’m fine with Revere, though it’s more a lateral move because they downgraded in the rotation to Lannan. The defense is an upgrade though, he should be fun to watch out there. I hope he improves his patience or else he won’t be an elite leadoff hitter.

Adams makes me conflicted. I think he’s been a really good pitcher and I like the move. But 6 million a year for a steup guy with declining K rates and velocity coming off of thoracic outlet surgery worries me.

By: rajplayscoy

rajplayscoy — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 01:52:05 +0000

You’re right about Brown, he never really has gotten a chance to prove himself. I’ve wondered if a change of scenery and a new franchise might be best thing for him.

By: tuberippin

tuberippin — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 01:27:46 +0000

I’d rather have Ross for whatever we sign him for over Werth for $127,000,000

By: somekat

somekat — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 01:21:55 +0000

I think I’d rather have Ross for 3 years, and just give him the Ibanez treatment his last year (pay him to watch), than have to give Swisher 6. Obviously Swisher is better, but I don’t want to be stuck with either of them that long, and if I’m going to be taking a 2nd tier guy either way, i’d rather it be the one on the shorter term deal

By: somekat

somekat — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 01:17:22 +0000

I would of love Hamilton on a 3 year deal. No thanks on a 5, so can’t blame RAJ there.

Don’t think he picked up a superstar, but he picked up a young, cheap player who fills a need and still has upside. If they can teach him some patience, he could be an elite leadoff hitter. He is already there with the glove. Adams I think is going to be the gem of this off-season. As bad as the Phils were last year, they were a playoff team with a solid 8th inning guy all year

RAJ has been ok, not great. But I also haven’t seen anyone move who made me say “why didn’t the Phils offer that?”, so it’s not like I can find a bunch of negatives. If they can get that kid to come up at 3rd next year,they should have a nice chunk of cash to throw at a corner outfielder, because they will still be paying a low salary at CF

By: somekat

somekat — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 01:13:08 +0000

Swisher is much better. He also wants more money, which isn’t a big deal. he also wants more years, which is a big deal. RAJ is doing the right thing this year. He is adding guys that are solid, and if Utley/Howard return to 2-3 years ago, they will contend. At the same time, they are not getting stuck in long term deals with guys who are getting vastly overpaid because it is such a weak free-agent class. Swisher is probably going to get 6-7 years from somebody, and I have no interest in being stuck with him for that long.

Utley, Young, Rollins, Halladay and Ruiz are all up in the next 2 years. None will get raises except Ruiz, who may not even be here. Young and Ruiz both have prospect waiting in the wings. Halladay won’t get more than he’s getting, Rollins will get less (more likely gone after this deal). The only big deals they are really stuck with for more than 2 years right now are Hamels, Howard, and Lee

By: somekat

somekat — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 01:07:07 +0000

They wont’ be out of money. If anything, they will get another huge boost of cash when they rework their deal with comcast (or possibly try to make their own network). They are starting to get a bit bare on the prospect end though. Especially since the franchise mantra seems to be to load up on young pitchers, and nto position players. Pitchers seem to be much harder to project 3-4 years down the line, so they are more hit or miss

By: somekat

somekat — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 01:01:31 +0000

He’ll get the exact same chance Werth got to prove himself. The right handed bat in the corner outfield platoon. Just like Werth, he is a right handed bat in a lefty heavy lineup. If he give them a reason to play him every day, they would be thrilled.

I’m conflicted, as I’ve loved what I’ve seen from Ruff. But at tthe same time, it’s tough for a guy to get as far along as he did and not be on anyone’s radar before last season. Brown on the other hand, I’ve been very frustrated about his improvement, or lack of it. He still seems to take the wrong track on every fly ball, and has a huge hold in his swing. However, I also don’t feel like they ever gave him a chance to have a spot, and it be his spot. Not have him looking over his shoulder, knowing the next slump could put him out of the lineup for months. But either way, I was Ruff also spotting Howard at 1st so he can get some time off, so a platoon situation, with Ruff getting some extra games at first, would be ideal right now

By: snowbirdgothic

snowbirdgothic — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 00:59:50 +0000

To be fair, it’s not so much “flexibility” as it is “my back locked up halfway through this yoga routine and my feet are stuck behind my ears”.

By: DelawarePhilliesFan

DelawarePhilliesFan — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 00:56:05 +0000

I don’t know there is a huge difference between 28 & 32 – though I am sure someone wll chime in. I am just saying to your point that 2012 was due to hitting in Fenway, that his career sats show that he is capable of a 22 HR season. Yes, he had lower numbers in ’11 & ’10, and higher in ’08.

What will he do next year? I don’t know. But I don’t see any reason to say he will be worse becuase he is not hitting in Fenway

By: phillyphreak

phillyphreak — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 00:46:12 +0000

I’d much prefer you to stay away from a 3 year Cody Ross deal…ok RAJ?

By: phillyphreak

phillyphreak — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 00:43:38 +0000

A bad free agent/trade market in which he still traded for a bad major league player in MY. I would have taken Hamilton with the right deal, even if he doesn’t meet your “non-drug addicted superstar” qualifications.

By: skerney

skerney — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 00:22:36 +0000

Ross wants three years and RAJ is crazy enough to give it to him.

By: sarcasticks

sarcasticks — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 00:12:34 +0000

I’m lukewarm at best on Ross, but Ruben’s new found fiscal responsibility is encouraging. The best thing about all the moves so far is that the Phillies aren’t jamming themselves up with long term, high AAV contracts. They seem to be into the whole “incremental improvement while maintaining future payroll flexibility” thing. And while that’s far less exciting than waking up and hearing about how you just snagged Hamilton or Greinke, it actually probably makes more sense.

By: westernpaisdirty

westernpaisdirty — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 00:10:09 +0000

Any self respecting Phillies fan wouldn’t want this guy to come here and certainly could not cheer for him. Would you have wanted the Eagles to sign Joe Jurevicius at the end of his career. Every time Ross hits a home run and does his queer little skip I can already see myself throwing up in my mouth. If rueben didn’t make the mistake of signing Cliff Lee to a franchise killing contract, we could have signed a real impact player rather than getting a guy in the downside of his career, that can’t hit right handed pitching, plays horrible defense, and will remind you of a lost WS title in 2010! Nick Swisher is the right guy, he is a spark plug, he hits from both sides, he hits doubles he hits home runs and he works the count like Werth used to. Cody Ross is a waste of 25 million if that’s what they end up paying him. Go get a real player or don’t get one at all

By: schmedley69

schmedley69 — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 23:49:10 +0000

I’ll take Cody Ross over Swisher because we won’t have to give up our draft pick with Ross. I think that Amaro has done ok this offseason. It was a bad free agent/trade market, and he managed to fill some holes without mortgaging the future or signing guys to huge contracts who don’t deserve it. Save the money for when a true (non-drug addicted) superstar is available.

By: dino1730

dino1730 — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 23:32:28 +0000

This makes sense. Has anyone signed Berkman yet? Call me crazy, but I think bringing him in for a year to just swing really hard from both sides of the plate is a better move.

By: rick2248

rick2248 — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 23:17:16 +0000

Swisher is much better.

By: tfoz5150

tfoz5150 — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 23:11:15 +0000

Turd city.

By: tfoz5150

tfoz5150 — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 23:08:46 +0000

Burrell never got on base, he struck out. He sucked.

By: scotttheskeptic

scotttheskeptic — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 22:56:02 +0000

Good God, “no!” A thousand times no!

By: citynative

citynative — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 22:53:39 +0000

What does Roy Halladay think about this?

Go Giants.

By: tashkalucy

tashkalucy — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 22:53:04 +0000

Ruben Amaro just doesn’t get it……

He’s been following the Epstein Red Sox, the Mets of a few years ago and numerous other teams that throw money at veteran players in hopes of staying competitive, instead of acquiring and developing young players that allow a team to reload.

It will either be this year or next when the Phillies are out of money, out of quality prospects, and have a bunch of overpaid / underperforming vets that they cannot unload to anyone. Like it or not Phillie fans, a major blow it up / start all over rebuild is in your near future. Right now one candidate for next Phils GM would be Ben Bernake, who is doing the same thing over at the Federal Reserve. Along with Ruben, Ben too will be looking for work in the near future as others are brought in to fix his mess.

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 22:50:18 +0000

It would be, except in 2010 he played 120 games in Florida before going to SF in those 120 games he hit 11 HR’s.