Here's the latest from the City Of Brotherly Love…
- "Industry insiders" consider the Phillies to be a longshot for Jorge Soler, reports Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. Though the Phils are known to be one of Soler's top suitors, the team has never been big spenders on the international market and may balk at Soler's price tag. Salisbury hears from one baseball executive who predicts Soler will end up with the Cubs, who are reportedly ready to offer the 19-year-old Cuban outfielder as much as $27.5MM.
- The Phillies traded Wilson Valdez to the Reds since GM Ruben Amaro felt his team already had several other utility options in place, reports MLB.com's Todd Zolecki as part of a reader mailbag. Zolecki says he was personally a little surprised by the Valdez deal.
- One of those other utility options, Ty Wigginton, is excited to play for a contender, reports Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer. In that piece, Amaro mentioned that Wigginton had been highly regarded by several Phillies scouts over the last few years.
- David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News looks at five key questions surrounding the Phillies as they open Spring Training.
ty wig is in for big surprise.
Nah, he’s not.
I wish teams didn’t throw away big money at international free agents.
Alexei Ramirez is quietly one of the best players in baseball, and most of the Latin players in baseball were international free agents.
I wish teams wouldn’t throw eight figures at back of the rotation starters.
I personally think the Phils land Soler. I’m really tired of hearing “The Phillies historically don’t…” It’s lazy journalism if you ask me. I mean yeah 10 years ago the Phillies were a narrow minded club ran by Ed Wade. That was then and this is now and the Phillies are literally printing money down at Citizen Bank Park and have one of the most out of the box thinking upper managements in the MLB. So I think if they really want Soler, they’ll get him.
They literally print money at the US Mint, not Citizen’s Bank Park.
Gillick might not dig Soler because of the contract he wants.
He always liked Jayson Werth types find them when their cheap and hope they bloom like he did. Soler is too much of a crap shoot.
I say Gillick because he still advised the Phillies
Its not just Ed Wade, even Ruben barely spends internationally. The Phillies under Amaro have liked to take the money they spend internationally to sign 3 or 4 players rather than 1 big splash signing. The $750K they gave Carlos Tocci last year was a franchise record.
Think about that, the Phillies have never even offered a player $1 million and Soler might end up costing $30 million.That is why journalists see them as unlikely to get him. Its not lazy, its them doing their due diligence on how Amaro operates.
Look at the Phillies draft spending, they usually finish near the bottom of the barrel in that category as well, or at least they have in the past few years.
Absolutely right. Now part of that is teams with the Top 5 or 10 picks will often spend more money on that one player alone than teams in the back end of the 1st round spend on entire drafts.
However, the Phillies usually do a really good job of targeting “tough signs” in the middle to late rounds and it would be nice to see them spend a little bit more to bring more of them into the organization.
I’ll be curious to see how their draft strategy plays out this year with the changes to the draft.
Absolutely right. Now part of that is teams with the Top 5 or 10 picks will often spend more money on that one player alone than teams in the back end of the 1st round spend on entire drafts.
However, the Phillies usually do a really good job of targeting “tough signs” in the middle to late rounds and it would be nice to see them spend a little bit more to bring more of them into the organization.
I’ll be curious to see how their draft strategy plays out this year with the changes to the draft.
The money the Phillies “print” goes to a $180 million dollar payroll. They haven’t spent more than $1 million overseas in years. It’s not lazy journalism… its fact.
Doesn’t mean they won’t land them but history shows they most likely won’t… regardless of the type of money they print. $20 million is a lot to risk on an unproven commodity, which is why the Phillies historically, haven’t spent overseas.
… nothing to do with Ed Wade.
I believe there is some sort of a cap in place now (dunno ho hard or soft it is) to try to at least stave off some of that, but I totally agree. It’s really silly to have to drop like $20 million just to have negotiation rights to some unknown that lights up questionable competition abroad.
What are you talking about? Paying for negotiation rights is only with Japanese players and you get the money back if you don’t sign them.
No, for $20 million dollars they are acquiring Soler. Negotiating rights are free.
Wrong for the reasons people have pointed out, but also because the cap doesn’t take effect until next year.
The only thing Valdez brought to the table was versatility and good defense at short. No speed and couldn’t play outfield. Martinez is fast, can play outfield and is also versatile. He sin’t as good defensively at short as Valdez is but if Rollins is out for an extended time, they can call up Galvis, who is just as good defensively as Valdez. So it should be of no surprise that Valdez was dealt.
Martinez is NOT fast.
A very slow fast. The exact opposite of Utley…MiniMart’s not that baseball smart when it comes to running bases.
Valdez has made 20 errors in his career, 9 of them were made in 2011. Combine that with his sub-.300 OBP and I have no idea why Valdez was ever loved as much as he was here in Philadelphia.
I would love the Astros to sign the Soldude.
Who really cares about whether a reporter was surprised about a move or not. It was the right move, Valdez is a replacement level player making more than league min. Good trade.
I don’t agree.
Wilson Valdez was the most productive of the bunch as well as the best fielder.
Peter Orr: Good in Spring Training, fizzled during the regular season
Wilson Valdez you could say was the least flashy of the bunch, but you always knew what you had in him. I would not have traded him.
Michael Martinez looked great in spring training, but he simply could not hit when the regular season started.
The best guy who I saw last year in Spring Training when I was in Bradenton was by far Vance Worley. He is the player from the Phillies that I am most interested to see if he can keep up what he did in 2011!
His bat is a joke, dude. A pure joke. Guy was a GIDP machine. I appreciate all he did with the team from a defensive and pitching perspective, but he couldn’t hit and he was going to get a raise. The difference between he and the other players you just mentioned is negligible. You attack Martinez for not hitting when Valdez was just as bad and older.
How did he get that “more than league min.” contract?
Oh yea, that’s right, Rube tendered him.
Tendered him and turned him into bullpen depth. (although that kid we got probably won’t amount to anything beyond AAA).
$27 mil for a 19 year old kid with no major league experience? And to the Cubs? Oh, wait—it’s Theo again, right?
If draft prospects were allowed to hit the open market, several of them would get north of $20 million. When Travis Lee was made a loophole free agent after being drafted second overall, he got a $10 million contract. That was more than fifteen years ago, and prospects are valued a lot more highly now.
Yeah like there haven’t been other players that got way more than 27 million that were older and with no major league expierience.
I think the Yanks will get Soler because his salary won’t go agains’t the cap. It will give them a chance to upgrade their outfield prospects. I would give him 30 million, that’s 5 million a year for 6 years or more of control. If he makes it to the bigs in 2 years that 8 years of control, which is only 3.75 million a year.
So in his 7th and 8th year he’s gonna play for free?
You’re doing it wrong.
Who is?
Slider.
Both of you. slider32 meant that New York would have “control” for the 2 years he wouldn’t be in the bigs yet, which is technically true but not really particularly useful. Cost-controlled major league years matter; cost-controlled minor league years do not.
Also, I’m pretty sure that his salary would count against the cap.
Yes I know what he meant… But in his 7th and 8th years of control he will be arbitration eligible and not cheap. He said the yanks will have him for less that 4 million a year which isnt the case at all.
If you knew what he meant, then only he was doing it wrong. : )
I understand that his salary will be more when he gets to the bigs, and he will be paid on his success.
I agree with you, but he still would be affordable.
Thank you aricollins, you said it much better than I did, I was trying to say that the cost to sign Soler wouldn’t be too high at 30 million if he makes it to the bigs in 3 years and is successful.
Cubs have a lot of money on the sidelines – lowered payroll by about $40 this year, they will be tough to beat for Soler money wise. I doubt even the Yankees want to break the bank for this kid.
The Cubs have more depth in their minor leagues in the OF position, I would be surprised that Theo would spend this much unless he thought he was a great prospect. The same goes for the Yanks. Soler is rated as the 8th best OF prospect while Jackson(15) Szczur(19) for the Cubs and Williams(20) for the Yanks.
If the Cubs get Soler, I can realistically see them fielding a full offensive team of age 27 and under by the year 2015. Outfield: Soler, Jackson, Szczur. Infield: Baez, Castro, Lake, Rizzo. Catcher could be the old guy … A lot could change by then though.
I know you say a lot could change by then, but man, that’s optimistic. Of those three outfielders, it’s likely one of them will be a solid regular, one a bench player, and one not hack it in the majors. Meanwhile, Lake is athletically gifted, but doesn’t actually have much in the way of baseball skills.
As a Cub fan you have to stay optimistic, the only other alternative is suicide lol. Yes, I am looking for all the planets to align perfectly, but I think this is a path that the new regime to trying to put in place. Maybe the guys I listed won’t pan out, but maybe other young guys will be traded for or drafted. Overall, I would like to think that 2015 will be a little better than 2012 …
I certainly imagine it would be. I’m not a Cubs fan, but I think you have reasons for optimism. However, that optimism is based on my faith in Hoyer, McLeod, and Epstein bringing in lots of new talent–not on the talent already there. I like a couple of those guys, but don’t develop fantasies around Junior Lake just because he’s there. It’ll only break your heart.
I totally agree. I do, however, think the youth movement that Theo & Co have initialized in Chicago is going to be very helpful. If even five out of eight players that Jammin listed (including Castro) turn into Cubs starters, we’re in a great boat. I see sustained success for the Cubs in the latter half of this decade. Either that or I’ve had entirely too much of the Kool-Aid.
Ninja Edit: Also, Soto would be 31 in 2015. Hardly too old to be a serviceable catcher – hopefully he’ll stop having off years by then and start hitting for average more consistently.
The problem is that all prospects never work out in the real world.
So what are you suggesting? Stop scouting?
Good luck with that.
He didn’t say to stop scouting. He said to not count your chickens. Most scouts would agree with that.