Phils Interested in a Reliever, But Unsure Who the Hell It Is
By Justin Klugh
Good news! The Phillies have every plan to sign a reliever to back up the surgery-riddled arms of Brad Lidge and J.C. Romero. In the weeks following the holidays, a new arm will be ripe for the picking in our quickly depleting bullpen. This news couldn’t come any sooner, with Chan Ho Park, Scott Eyre, and Clay Condrey all already gone or probably on their way out.
One problem, though. Nobody knows who it is.
“Its Mike MacDougal!” cries the Philly Inquirer.
Sure, let’s start speculation. Its the holidays. I’ve got nothing better to do. Let’s say it’s MacDougal. All right, cool. The guy’s not a mind-blower, but he’s got closing experience and in the right environment he could thrive as much as anyone else.
“Its Danys Baez!” MLB.com shouts back.
O…Oh. Yeah, that’s fine, too. Honestly, I’m finding myself more and more drawn to anyone new pitching out of our bullpen when I think about Charlie Manuel talking on the phone in the middle of a tense early season game, and Lidge and Romero just look at each other and shrugging.
Baez has even worked with Charlie before, and with an Orioles club that’s perpetually tripping over it’s own division, he’s probably more than ready to get some time with a club like the Phils. His 4-6, 4.02 ERA in 59 appearances isn’t incredible, but hey.
Somebody’s gotta jog out to the mound late in the game. Might as well be somebody that’s done it before.
UPDATE: HELLO, GOOD BAEZ
Maybe.
It ain’t Smoltz, because of durability issues, it ain’t Rodney, who went the way of the Angels (LA, not… death) it ain’t MacDougal, because Ruben’s telling us there haven’t been any serious talks with him… it’s dwindling down to Danys Baez, the Orioles reliever.
If it is indeed true, Baez is the first block in a bullpen that needs some building. Get to it, Ruben.
Merry Christmas.