Archive for July, 2010

By now, everybody knows how I feel about Ruben Amaro. Disdain threatened to evolve rapidly into seething hatred if, as was rumored earlier this month, he attempted another ill-advised “three-team” deal to acquire pitching and ship out Jayson Werth.

Well, here we are on July 29th, and the situation has worked out better than any sane, rational Phillies fan could have hoped. Werth isn’t going anywhere, and Amaro deserves credit for getting Roy Oswalt for pennies on the dollar. Granted, he was dealing with Ed Wade, so it wasn’t exactly a triumph of intellect, but I can’t be as harsh toward his many failures without giving the man credit for his successes. Not without being a Mets fan giant hypocrite.

Ed Wade (Artist's rendering).

Seriously, folks, this could’ve been so much worse. Word ’round the campfire was that the Astros wanted Jonathan Singleton, that they wouldn’t kick in a significant amount of cash, and that Oswalt wanted his $16 million option for 2012 guaranteed as a provision for waiving his no-trade clause. Any and all of that would have been terrible for the Phillies. Read the rest of this entry »

Howdy, folks. You haven’t seen me around much lately (or any of us, for that matter). Let’s just forget the month of June happened. I’m sure the Phillies would like to.

July 1st is one of the more exciting days on the sports calendar. Both NHL and NBA free agency begin, and the hot stove usually kicks into high gear leading up to MLB’s trade deadline at the end of the month. And boy, did Jerry Crasnick crank up the heat this morning, breaking the news that the Phillies are interested in Dan Haren, and that Arizona scouts are checking out our prospects.

I’ll pause for a moment while you close your eyes and dream of a Halladay-Hamels-Haren playoff rotation. Read the rest of this entry »