Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Coin-loaded GM’s

Juan Pierre is still with the Philadelphia Phillies and I am not surprised. Why would you swap a .300 hitter to save $267K and receive a no-shot prospect?

TAL’S HANDY CAPS

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Check out: Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Expectations for Cholley and Rube

CAP-SIZE HINDSIGHT: 5-1 Triumph

TYPE	PLAYER	REASON
The Crystal Champagne Toast	Kyle Kendrick	Four-Star Performance
The Penthouse	Juan Pierre Chase Utley Kevin Frandsen Ryan Howard Chooch Ruiz Kyle Kendrick Antonio Bastardo	* Smoked A Triple & Scored In The 1st For A 1-0 Game * An RBI Groundout In The 1st Homered For A 2-1 Advantage In The 3rd A Solo Blast In The 4th For A 3-1 Score A Solo Bomb To Open A 4-1 Lead In The 4th During A 2 For 3 Night With A BB & 2 RBI 6.2 Strong Innings A Solid 8th-Inning Hold
Greenhouse Cholley's Bats	Juan Pierre	* Tripled & Scored On A Groundout In The 1st
The Animal House	Ryan Howard Ryno & Chooch	3 Straight Games With A HR Consecutive Homeruns In The 4th

Above Asterisk ( *) = Corresponding Play And/Or Event

J-Roll Looks Into The Crowd After The Victory With The Thought Bubble: We’re Not Dead Yet.

NITECAP INSIGHT

Ready To Spend:

The baseball dynamic has changed over the last 2 seasons, but most observers are still mired in the before-parity past. All GM’s–no exceptions–are restricted by the $178M limit to avoid the competitive-balance tax. That stated, Rube Amaro needs 2 endgame relievers, a third baseman and 3 outfielders, but he has $27.5M to work with. That does not count $5M for the trading deadline and $3M to compensate achieved incentives, which leaves $19.5M. He can add Magic Juan to platoon with John Mayberry Jr. for $1M, which includes a $200K raise. For that he gets a steady bat who works endlessly at his craft, like Chase Utley and Doc Halladay. Where else can you get a deal like that?

J-Roll Pilfers 2nd In The 9th With His It-Ain’t-Over-Until-It’s-Over Mentality

The higher-ticket keepers are listed in the decisions column and can sign elsewhere. Their current organizations will need to think, long and hard, about their value, which in the case of Josh Hamilton will skyrocket. The Mets may pass on this year’s FA crop because their finances are questionable. Jon Rauch is an arm they probably will want to re-up. The White Sox are included because they play in a 2-team city, like New York and Los Angeles. Their 3 players are: SP Francisco Lirano, LF Dayan Viciedo and C A.J. Pierzynski. Meanwhile, Texas has to be interested in: Hamilton, Ryan Dempster, SP Colby Lewis, C Mike Napoli, RP Mike Adams and RP Koji Uehara. It will cost the Rangers a lot more to keep these five for 2013 and beyond.

Antonio Bastardo Has Back-To-Back Extended Performances

Adams, Uehara and Rauch are veterans on Amaro’s radar. However, the Sox and Cubs are the huge buying favorites. Red Sox Nation will experience certain unrest, if that franchise doesn’t ink a few stars. They have David Ortiz and Cody Ross, while Matt Garza will cost big bucks for Theo Epstein. Epstein has a ton of money and another curse to vanquish in Chicago. He loves expensive contracts and a championship for the Cubbies would enshrine him in Cooperstown.

Keys:

	DESCRIPTION		DESCRIPTION
Deals	Players & Dollars Under Contract	Buyouts	Players & Owed Dollars To Not Re-Up
Min. $	Players @ Approx. $500K MLB Minimum	Bal. & Bal. $	# Of Players To Reach 25 & Dollars To Hit $178M
Arb. $	Players & Arbitration Dollars Estimate	Dec. $	Players & Dollars Needing A Decision

Part 1: Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Greenback mountain

$178M Range Teams:

NOTE: Click entries button to open more than the visible 10.


TEAM	DEALS	MIN. $	ARB. $	BUYOUTS	TOTAL	BAL	BAL. $	DEC. $
Phillies	11 @ $145.50M	09 @ $4.5M	-----	1 @ $0.50M	20 @ $150.50M	5	$027.50M	-----
Dodgers	17 @ $169.90M	06 @ $3.0M	-----	3 @ $0.95M	23 @ $173.85M	3	$004.15M	-----
Angels	08 @ $101.63M	09 @ $4.5M	3 @ $18.0M	2 @ $4.50M	20 @ $128.63M	5	$049.37M	3 @ $37.50M *
Yankees	07 @ $131.07M	08 @ $4.0M	5 @ $21.0M	-----	20 @ $156.07M	5	$021.93M	4 @ $42.75M *
Tigers	09 @ $092.42M	04 @ $2.0M	3 @ $15.5M	-----	16 @ $111.92M	9	$066.08M	3 @ $23.75M *
Rangers	09 @ $084.31M	08 @ $4.0M	3 @ $17.0M	1 @ $0.60M	20 @ $105.91M	5	$072.09M	5 @ $38.40M *
Marlins	09 @ $087.50M	11 @ $5.5M	1 @ $03.5M	-----	21 @ $096.50M	4	$081.50M	-----
Cubs	05 @ $039.88M	16 @ $8.0M	1 @ $11.0M	-----	22 @ $058.88M	3	$119.12M	-----
Red Sox	05 @ $038.81M	04 @ $2.0M	7 @ $32.0M	-----	16 @ $080.81M	9	$097.19M	2 @ $17.58M *
Mets	06 @ $071.52M	09 @ $4.5M	2 @ $09.0M	-----	17 @ $085.02M	8	$092.98M	1 @ $03.50M *
White Sox	11 @ $122.44M	09 @ $4.5M	-----	1 @ $2.0M	20 @ $128.94M	5	$049.06M	3 @ $14.00M *

* 2012 Dollars

King Cole Survives The Rain At The Bank On August 23 Against The Reds

PRECAP PITCH

Cole Hamels:

He was 3-1 for his last 5 efforts with a 1.86 August ERA. During those 5, his ledger reads: 38.2 frames, 33 hits, 9 runs (8 earned), 7 walked (1 intentional) and 34 fanned. Against the Braves (three times) in both parks (1 home), his line is: 1-1, a 2.25 ERA, 20 total, 15 hits, 7 runs (5 earned), 8 free passes and 19 whiffs.

	STARTER	RECORD	TM	STARTER	RECORD	DAY & TIME
3	LHP Cliff Lee	06-08, 3.12 ERA	@ Nats	RHP Edwin Jackson	09-11, 4.13 ERA	Wednesday, Day

Paul Maholm Hurls A Dart On August 27 In San Diego

Paul Maholm:

For Atlanta, he is 2-3 with a 2.45 ERA and his numbers are: 36.2 innings, 29 hits, 10 all-earned runs, 7 BB and 31 K’s. Overall, he has toiled 6.1 frames or more in 13 of 25 showings with 5 clunkers. He faced the Phils as a Cub at the Bank with this mark: 6.1 innings, 5 hits, 1 run (earned), no walks and 1 strikeout on 100 late April tosses.

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

Starters’ photos, not described otherwise, are in the 1st inning.

Quality number of the pitcher: 1 – 5

Slot on his club: 1 – 5

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

*** = Approximately equal to after plus-and-minus computation

HURLER	Cole Hamels	Nate Eovaldi
NUMBER	A One	A Five
CLUB SLOT	Two	Four
FOR 2012	3-Quarter Sidearm	Short Arm
'12 RANKING	2nd of 5 Categories	4th of 5 Categories
LAST START	Knuckleball	Slider
LAST HIGH OR LOW	11th of 15 Categories	7th 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

STATS APOCALYPTIC HORSEMEN CLIFF LEE
CLIFF'S LINE: 6 INN, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K & 109 DARTS

ACE	W - L	ERA	INN+	CONV	CG - SO	BAD	INN	ER	BB - IBB	SO
Total	34 - 23	3.48	6.1	59 of 86	2 - 2	12	582.2	225	114 -2	557
Hamels	17 - 06	3.05	6.2	21 of 31	2 - 2	03	215.1	073	050 - 2	218
Lee	06 - 09	3.16	6.1	23 of 30	0 - 0	02	211.0	074	028 - 0	207
Halladay	11 - 08	4.49	7.0	15 of 25	0 - 0	07	156.1	078	036- 0	132

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