Archive for category Coaching
Dickie Assburn – 3B – Philadelphia Phillies
Posted by Dickie Assburn in Coaching, Free Agency, injuries on November 9th, 2009
Got a better idea? Let us know.
Well, I’m sure everyone that still cares about the Phillies realizes that Ruben Amaro Jr. declined the team option on our (possibly former) starting third-basemen, Pedro Feliz. The option saves the team $5 million (option was worth $5.5 million with a $500,000 buyout clause.)
I should point out that Amaro did not rule out bringing Pedro back even after declining the option, but this is a good sign, as it shows that Ruben is not open to overpaying a very average third basemen just because the market for the position isn’t overflowing in talent.
At the very least, even if we wind up getting Feliz back, it saves us money that can be used to aid our bench/bullpen. If we save 2 million dollars, maybe we could use that money to sign a MLB-level talent to spell our infielders when they’re tired (Eric Bruntlett, this means you suck, btw.)
The major guys out there are all pretty old. Mark DeRosa, Chone Figgins, and Adrien Beltre are all in their 30s. All three have had their problems with injuries as well. But what else are we to do? These three are better than guys like Troy Glaus, who has also been heard in the grumblings of who might replace Pedro (clearly by people who don’t know what they are talking about (I don’t want an overly inconsistent power hitter that played 12 games last year, thanks.)
Quick question:
1. Was Brad Lidge pitching hurt all season? He recently had surgery to remove “loose bodies” in his pitching arm. If this is true, as Rob Neyer of ESPN stated, ’someone needs to be fired.’
The Phillies have some spending decisions to make
Posted by Dickie Assburn in Coaching, Free Agency, General Thoughts, Mic'd Up, Phillies Rants on November 7th, 2009
Charlie: "I need the same exact players playing the same exact roles as they did last year, even if they are ineffective... Patrick, get back over here and start re-collecting your 14 million dollar yearly paychecks again, we need YOUU AHHHHMFKMAfsdff!!!!"
A lot of you have been talking about the Phillies’ current financial state in light of free agency/the offseason. Already we have seen Cliff Lee’s thrift-store-esque $9 million team option exercised. We have also seen, as stated in the last post, Brett Myers leave without a contract offer.
Amaro has stated that his payroll will be around 130-140 million dollars. We will likely see ourselves locked up for around $125-130 million before we sign any free agents/trade for someone. (Side note: we are paying those pieces of shit known as Geoff Jenkins and Adam Eaton a combined $2 million dollars this year… ugh)
Article of the Future: Charlie Manuel pleas with Ruben Amaro Jr. to bring back Adam Eaton in the interest of loyalty... HE PLAYED HERE IN 2008, WE NEED HIM!
A couple of things I’d like to point out/talk about (in no real order):
1. If Brad Lidge is fucking up, we need to deal for a new closer. I can’t do last season all over again. If he’s going to play like shit, we have to deal for a closer. Period. Fuck ‘loyalty,’ Charlie. I don’t want to hear it. There is no way IN HELL we can settle for 2009 Brad Lidge in 2010. For a team that wants to compete, that is retarded. I don’t think we can afford to sign a closer right now (we have Lidge signed to a big contract and you know they’re going to try their luck with him again because of it), but like I said, if he sucks again… we NEED to get someone to do that job during the season.
2. Victorino, Blanton, Ruiz, and Durbin will all likely see pay raises. Do I really think Durbin deserves a raise through arbitration after the shitty season he had? No, I don’t. Chooch was Senor Octubre, but over the course of the season, he wasn’t anything spectacular (not that I mind, just saying.) Blanton had a good year, and Shane deserves a raise — ‘no questions asked.’
"Son, I promise I'll be able to afford pants for you to wear once I get this raise..."
3. It would be a good idea to re-sign Scott Eyre and Chan Ho Park. Eyre is a great clubhouse guy that can get the job done out of the bullpen, and Chan Ho was great for us when he settled into his relief role. As long as they’re willing to come back at a reasonable asking price, I’m down.
4. We need a fucking bench – seriously. The problem is that the free agent pool seems to be full of players that are past their prime and will want to start, and guys who will want more than they’re worth (which is partly going to be due to a weak free agent crop.)
5. Regarding Pedro Feliz, Ruben Amaro Jr. said:
“He had a solid year for us,” Amaro said. “I like the man personally. He’s a great person, a great teammate, but I also believe in trying to improve and change can be for the better. It doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to, but it’s something that we’ll look into.”
For the most part, I agree with this. While I don’t like Pedro Feliz, there aren’t many options available at third base. Kudos to Ruben for telling it like it is.
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This offseason:
Given the pay raises that we will likely see out of the guys we will actually keep, we’ll probably have $20 million to spend at the most. With that, we need to revamp our bench and fix our bullpen. Starting pitching is the next biggest concern, and then, lastly, we should address third base (the only part of our everyday lineup that I’m not satisfied with.)
The Phillies have a lot of guys that can be starting pitchers in the majors, but they do not have a lot of guys that would be good at it. In hindsight, Jamie Moyer should have gracefully retired after we won the World Series last year. I really don’t want him to be guaranteed a spot in the rotation on Opening Day, but I’m sure we all know that that’s going to be the case. We’re going to have to sit through him getting rocked for 5-10 starts before Drabek/Kendrick takes his place.
I’m oddly optimistic about Kyle Kendrick. He seemed to have better stuff when he came up late last season. What we do know about Drabek is that, even if he starts as a rookie and pitches for an ERA under 3 during the season, he won’t smell any playoff action, because it will be more important to pitch guys like Durbin and Madson (even if they put 10000000…00000…00000 runners on base per appearance… YOU MUST BE LOYAL. Fuck JA Happ. l8uh – cholly.)
YOU DID NOT PLAY MUCH LAST YEAR, SO YOU CANNOT PLAY THIS YEAR$@#@ LOL - Charlie Manuel (photo courtesy of thefightins.com)
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Past next season:
Not sure you get paid more or less for looking like Edge
The Phillies have Jimmy Rollins (club option), Ryan Howard, Brad Lidge, Raul Ibanez, Cole Hamels, Ryan Madson coming off of the books after the 2011 season. To me, it is very possible that none of these guys will be re-signed. Ryan Howard will get many offers from other teams that will overpay him for way too many years, and it will be hard for him to turn that down. I personally do not want Ryan Howard until he’s 40 years old, and you know someone’s going to offer to sign his checks until then… and pay him handsomely in the process. If Cole can get his head back on straight, we will probably do whatever we can to keep him, but if he doesn’t, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him walk, either.
It is important to keep in mind that we will need to re-sign Jayson Werth and Cliff Lee next year. Both are eligible for free agency at that time. Cliff Lee is going to want a LOT of money (the guy hasn’t gotten a good contract yet and he could very possibly be looking for something long term with a lot of zeroes.) We have Werth going into the last year of the extension we signed him to, and he’s making $7.5 million. In my opinion, I think we’ll see him ask for something in the ballpark of $12-13 million, maybe more. We have to decide if what he’s asking is worth it. He can do it all, but he’s not a young guy. He’ll be 31 next offseason, and I think negotiations will depend heavily on how many years he’s willing to accept. To me, he’s worth the money, and his body hasn’t seen as much wear-and-tear as a guy his age would have by now. Overall, the amount of games he has played in isn’t even the equivalent of 4 full seasons. He’s seen less action in the big leagues than the typical 30-year-old big leaguer, and that’s definitely a good thing.
Charlie Manuel Is Out Managing Joe Torre. Really?
Posted by WTT in Coaching, Phillies Rants, Playoffs and World Series on October 19th, 2009
Editor’s Note: Written during the sixth inning of Game 4…
If you opened up the papers today after Sunday night’s 11-0 win, you may have read the lavish praise heaped upon Charlie Manuel for simply “out-managing” Joe Torre. I guess my question is this- what series has everyone been watching? Let’s take a look at both managers moves throughout the first four games of the 2009 NLCS.
Joe Blanton can go deep too, I'll totally leave him in the game so he can get as many at bats as possible tonight.
Game 1: Joe Torre decided to stick with Clayton Kershaw after Carlos Ruiz touched him up for a three-run shot. I particularly enjoyed when Jim Thome reached base after pinch-hitting, only to be replaced on the base paths. Torre’s stream of consciousness appeared to work along these lines…Thome is going to replaced by…wait…who the fuck am I going to put into the game? Shit, Wolf doesn’t even have his fucking shoes on. Lemme call timeout.” Okay,I’d agree that Manuel got the best of Torre in Game 1, although Manuel’s use of the pen in Game 1 didn’t appear to brilliant because, well, the bullpen sucks.
Game 2: All Torre had to do was write the name “Padilla” in the lineup card and the rest was easy. Still, it was a good move opting for Padilla here, given that up until a month ago it seemed like his most notable accomplishment in 2009 would be contracting swine flu. Meanwhile, Charlie Manuel used five fucking pitchers in a catastrophic eighth inning that lead to a disgusting and disappointing loss. I’m not going to kill him for removing Martinez after the seventh, but if Madson is your eighth inning guy, then start the eighth with him. Worse yet, bringing in J.A. Happ, who spent the majority of this season in long relief and as a starter, is terrible. Happ isn’t a situational lefty. He’s on the road. The bases were loaded. Come on. Hind sight is 20/20, but even as it was happening, there I was cursing the move in a crowded bar. So fuck your hindsight.
Game 3: Manuel wrote the name Cliff Lee in the lineup card. Not exactly brilliant, but for the Phil Sheridan’s out there who were high on the win, sure, Charlie was great.
Game 4: It was pretty clear that Blanton had nothing left after allowing 5 runners to reach base in the fourth inning, but Manuel wanted to get at least five out his starter. Enter Matt Kemp who hit what Ron Darling (pussy) termed a “majestic” home run. Okay, fine. You want to get the big guy through five, I’ll accept that. But in the bottom of the fifth after the Phillies finally figured out how to reach first base to leave Joe Blanton in the game to hit is absolutely inexcusable. The Phillies were down, the Dodgers have a stellar pen, and Blanton was obviously completely cooked. So what does Chuck do? He sticks with Blanton who ends the inning and then promptly surrenders a run in the sixth. That’s fucking awesome. It felt a little bit like watching Andy Reid on Sunday throw play action go routes on 3rd and 2.
Manuel isn’t blowing the series, but he’s made his fair share of moves to this point that have had me wondering what the fuck he was doing. All year, Manuel’s point of pride has been having confidence in his players, but he’s managing scared and that has to stop. So if someone wants to explain to me why exactly Manuel has been so superior to Joe Torre in this series, go ahead and fill me in because the hangover of 11-0 is wearing off here in the eighth…
EDITOR’S NOTE (POSTGAME) FUCK YES. CHARLIE IS GOD! LOLZ!
In all seriousness, the claims above remain, in my view, true, but…fuck it. It’s amazing how a win like that takes you from analyzing every single pitch to just screaming obscenities and jumping up and down as your cell phone is flooded with obscenities from people who were also jumping up and down. That, friends, is what it’s all about.
Brett Myers isn’t happy… I don’t care.
Posted by Dickie Assburn in Ballplayer Lifestyle, Coaching, Mic'd Up, Phillies Rants, Playoffs and World Series, injuries on October 16th, 2009
Hey guys, should I hit my wife with this or shoot her with it?
I don’t care if Brett Myers is pissed at getting benched. What has he done to prove otherwise? It’s embarrassing that Charlie chose Bastard-O over you, Brett. You’re the highest paid Phillie, and you’re not even playing. You’ve posted nearly a 7.0 ERA since your return, and quite frankly, I really only want you around the clubhouse to shove champagne into Ruben’s mouth again, assuring him that it’s “good for him,” after we slaughter the Dodgers out of the playoffs.
“When I told him, he kinda looked at me and went like that [shrugged] and then he got up and left,” Manuel said.
Fuck off, Brett. Charlie doesn’t have time to babysit you right now. Go cry on your wife’s shoulder… and then, beat it off of her.
Anyway… GO PHILLIES!!!! KICK ASS, PEDRO!!!!
Who’s on third? Sam Perlozzo, that’s who.
Posted by WTT in Coaching, General Thoughts, Miscellaneous Rants, Phillies Rants on May 11th, 2009
Who is the Phillies third base coach? Think about it for a second. Oh wait, it’s in the title? ****, bro. The point is, after listening to Chris Wheeler gush about Sam Perlozzo’s work with the once defensively-challenged first baseman, it occurred to me that this is the same man who has been waving home all those runs through these first 29 games.
Steve Smith, former Phillies 3rd base coach and no talent assclown, yelling at an innocent umpire: "Look man, I'm just going to keep yelling at you no matter what because Ruiz was out by 25 feet on that last one and I'm REALLY embarrassed."
Perlozzo has been a good hire in many ways for the Phillies. They have made only 8 errors this season and within the organization Perlozzo is given much of the credit for this dramatic improvement. Furthermore, the fact that it actually took me a minute to conclude Perlozzo was the third base coach is significant. He has yet to make a ridiculous error in judgment or cost the Phillies a game this season. Back on April 17th, Greg Dobbs was thrown out at the plate running from second base on a two out single, which proved to be a fatal blow in the eventual loss that night. The mistake, however, was Dobbs’ because he should have waltzed home on the hit.
Like a long snapper, the only time fans hear the name of the third base coach is when something goes wrong. To Perlozzo’s credit, he has been a significant upgrade to Steve Smith, who you may remember as the no-talent ass clown who constantly ran the Phillies out of big innings and killed rallies with his inexplicable judgement calls and total lack of depth perception. Asshole.
All hail Perlozzo.