Joe Blanton Easily Convinced to Not Go Anywhere
By Justin Klugh
Ruben Amaro slammed the door shut on Phillies off season moves.
"“Joe Blanton is part of our rotation and the guys that you see on our roster right now are part of our club. We’ll see where it goes from there.”"
That seems pretty defini–*sound of papers rustling* This just in, Ruben Amaro has signed a bus full of school children to platoon in right.
Apparently all those reports that J.C. Romero was coming back to the Phillies bullpen were all empty half-truths, until today, when he “officially” came back. What does that mean, you ask? It means that the Phillies will now probably not sign Chad Durbin, somehow.
If only Chad Durbin were left-handed, maybe Ruben would have leapt at him with a little more vigor. Instead, the guy we shepherd back into the flock is J.C. Romero, a psychopath with increasingly problematic control issues.
Who is left-handed.
It’s easy to predict that we’ll need less of a long-reliever’s services with the rotation being comprised of monsters, but what happens when we inevitably, you know, do? Charlie Manuel squints toward the bullpen and mutters to Rich Dubee, “Whose even out there?”
Right now its:
- Brad Lidge
- Ryan Madson
- Danys Baez
- J.C. Romero
- Jose Contreras
Closer, set up man, a guy Charlie reported (unprovoked) that he doesn’t “… see as more than a one inning guy,” LOOGY, and back up closer and/or set up man. You could piece something together, but there will be times that Chad’s durability and stability will be missed.
Hopefully, there will be so few of those times that the money saved by not bringing him back on board will be totally worth it.