Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Trade deliberations

With the Chase Utley watch in full swing for the Philadelphia Phillies, the loss of a veteran set-up man hasn’t been completely examined. Rube Amaro will try to barter for his replacement in the 8th inning. Who will he target and what will it cost?

TAL'S HANDY CAPS

CAP-SIZE HINDSIGHT

Penthouse Occupancy for the 4-3 outcome: 2

The Chrystal Champagne Toast is a salute to Joe Savery.

J-Roll Cannot Believe The 1st-Inning SB Call

He kept the red pinstripes in the close game, facing their competitor’s ace. He fired 2.1 scoreless frames behind Vance Worley, beginning in the 5th.

He was joined on the top floor by Polly Polanco, who had a 2 for 4 night. Polly cracked a battle-tying dong in the 3rd.

2B ump Derryl Cousins had 2 questionable calls on a stolen base, and an inside pick-off play during the 1st to land in the Outhouse.

Rally Tal & Cap in the 3-run 3rd: A two-bagger, a single and a 2-RBI bomb knotted the score at 3.

The Leather Warehouse was revisited by Hunter Pence after a diving-and-tumbling catch in the 4th with 2 on to preserve the 3-3 score at inning’s end. Hector Luna snared a wild pick-off throw in the 8th.

The Lighthouse was operating on a windy and rainy night when a wobbly Polanco tracked down a foul pop to complete the 7th. In the 9th John Mayberry Jr. could not corral a wind-blown pop, but he recovered to make the force at 2nd.

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I will publish after every battle that is not washed out. The Phillies finished last summer 42 games over .500, which equaled a year of many positives. I will have many season-long highlights of puzzle pieces, especially important after drubbings and defeats.

Check out Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Trade considerations

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Cinco Ocho Gives The Blues An Earful

NITECAP INSIGHT

Limited Possibilities:

This is the 2nd in a series of an undetermined number that involves the next move by Amaro. Yesterday, I said that Rube was set with Jimmy Rollins at short. Jimmy is the infield captain, Freddy Galvis is a rookie, and he was only a fallback plan. Plus, nobody will deal for a struggling J-Roll with his contract, and he won’t be swapped, if he’s raking. Basically, Amaro will live or die at 7 positions, and Juan Pierre is averaging .340 in the other. That said, these regulars are in the final year of their agreements: Pence, Polanco and Shane Victorino.

BAT & POS	PLAYER	LEVEL	AVG	HR	RBI	SB	CS
LH - CF	Dom Brown	AAA	.264	2	18	4	5
LH - CF	Tyson Gillies	AA	.280	2	15	7	4

Chase Faces Live Pitching In Clearwater

These are the most attractive bargaining chips at Triple-A Lehigh Valley and Double-A Reading. The stats for the most part don’t jump off the page. That said, the Front Office is happy with Tyson Gillies, and they hope Dom Brown can replace Victorino in center. With the dollars earmarked for Cole Hamels, Vic will probably be a casualty. In addition to the 2 outfielders, Tyler Cloyd is most likely unavailable.

Rube will probably have to part with J.C Ramirez, Jonathan Pettibone, Austin Hyatt or Trevor May for a decent 8th-frame reliever. He probably won’t want to offer Phillippe Aumont, who has closer potential. However, he may have to overpay for a June transaction. Talent below Double-A is possible for a future-oriented organization, like Houston or Oakland. I covered this acquisition issue in March, and the A’s Grant Balfour was at the top of the list. He is 1-1 with a 3.76 ERA and 7 saves in 9 opportunities. Next, I’ll be looking over the other possibilities on Rube’s desk.

ARM & ROLE	HURLER	LEVEL	W - L	ERA	SVS
RH - RP	Phillippe Aumont	AAA	1 - 0	4.85	4
RH - SP	Tyler Cloyd	AAA	4 - 1	2.47
		AA	3 - 0	1.80
RH - SP	Austin Hyatt	AAA	2 - 6	5.47
RH - RP	J.C. Ramirez	AA	0 - 2	3.62	3
RH - SP	Jonathan Pettibone	AA	4 - 5	3.92
RH - SP	Trevor May	AA	5 -3	4.94

The Clean-Shaven General Pictured On May 30 In New York

PRECAP PITCH

Cliff Lee:

The team and the number one need a win. This is a favorable matchup for him and he excels at home. That said, he did shave to change his luck last time out, which wasn’t successful.

	STARTER	RECORD	TM	STARTER	RECORD	DAY & TIME
1	RHP Vance Worley	4-4, 2.92 ERA	@ Mets	LHP Jon Niese	6-3, 3.55 ERA	Tuesday, Night
2	LHP Cliff Lee	0-5, 4.13 ERA	@ Mets	RHP Chris Young	2-1, 3.30 ERA	Wednesday, Day
3	LHP Cole Hamels	10-4, 3.08 ERA	@ Mets	RHP R.A. Dickey	12-1, 2.15 ERA	Thursday, Night

Chad Billingsley Works At Home On May 31 Against Milwaukee

Chad Billingsley:

He has had difficulty with the Phils at the Bank over the last few campaigns. So far, he has lasted 7 innings or more in 2 of 11 attempts with 3 clunkers.

DELIVERY = PITCHER’S 2012	DEFINITION OF SEASON
Over The Top	Excellent
3-Quarter Sidearm	Good
Sidearm	Above Average
Short Arm	Approximately Average
Submarine	Below Average

Quality number of the pitcher: 1 – 5

Slot on his club: 1 – 5

Ranking is 1 to 5 & 15 for the less adventurous.

HURLER	Cliff Lee	Edwin Jackson
NUMBER	A One	A Four
CLUB SLOT	Three	Three
FOR 2012	3-Quarter Sidearm	Short Arm
'12 RANKING	2nd of 5 Categories	4th of 5 Categories
LAST START	Cutter *	Eephus Pitch
LAST HIGH OR LOW	3rd of 15 Categories	13th of 15 Categories

	PITCH	INN	ER - R- H		PITCH	INN	ER
1	Gyroball	9 (CG)	0 - 0 - 3	10	Screwball	6	4
2	Fastball	9 (CG)	0 - 0	11	Knuckleball	5	3
3	Cutter	9 (CG)	3	12	Forkball	0 - 4.2	Monstrosity
4	Split Finger	7	2	13	Eephus Pitch	0 - 2.2	Disaster
5	Curveball	7	3	14	*Palm Ball	Ejected
6	Sinker	6.1	3	15	*Spit Ball	**Ejected+
7	Slider	6	2		*Breaking Ball	Injured
8	Changeup	6	3		*Fosh	Rain Interrupted
9	Slurve	5	2		*Knuckle Curve	Pitch Count
	** = Suspended				* = A 2nd Pitch Also

TAL'S HANDY SERIES

The Core : Check it out.

Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Trade chips (Friday)

Philadelp hia Phillies storyline: The other Phillies (Thursday)

Philadelphia Phillies storyline: core value (Wednesday)

Philadelphia Phillies storyline: tomorrow’s guarantee (Tuesday)

(May 14 -18)

MAC:

The program acronym is for Methodical Algorithmic Computerization or Mac. That is the feed system from Fox Sports that had dogged me for 2 months. I probed for a compatible solution, and found that I had possibilities 90% of the time. The rest is luck, which means that you know about half of my articles. In other words, if a Fox affiliate publishes, that trumps everything else. The balance is a flip of the coin. The breakdown at 20 submissions minus 2 unacceptable was 11 of 18 or 11 to 9 total. Some of those other 7 drew positive responses from other outlets.

TAL'S HANDY SCOREBOARD

COMPUTER ALGORITHM VS. TAL:

TAL 18 – MAC 7 (& 2)

Philadelphia Phillies storyline: The other Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies storyline: tomorrow’s guarantee

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