Phightin' Phils Phorum

Greg Dobbs is Back!

I forgot to mention in the gameday post that Greg Dobbs was activated from the disabled list today. The Phillies can certainly use his bat off the bench!

Am I Missing Something About Chris Coste?

All Chris Coste has ever done his entire baseball life is battle. After an impressive Spring in 2006 he had the team made out of Spring Training. Then a last minute trade brought David Dellucci to the Phillies and Coste was optioned. After being recalled and batting .328 with 7 homeruns as a back up catcher, he was sure to be a lock for the 2007 squad. Not so as the Phillies made the mistake of bringing in Rod Barajas. Coste for a second time showed his worth and won the role. This off season the Phillies acquired back up catcher Ronny Paulino from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Again Coste had to compete for and again won the back up catcher role.

Yesterday, the Phillies signed veteran catcher Paul Bako to a minor league contract. Why? Are they filling out the minor league roster or is Coste really this inadequate? Sure his batting average is down a little this year at .235. But with only 55 at bats one good game can change all that. Bako hit .209, .205, and .217 from 2006 to 2008 respectively. He is a year older than Coste and bats left handed, something the Phillies really don't need on their bench.

Again, the move may just be to fill out the minor league roster, but why does it always seem like the Phillies are saying to Coste, you are just keeping a seat warm for someone else? Coste won the back up job in 2009. Let him serve in that roll and I bet you will see some big hits from him both when he plays and off the bench. If he can't hit all season address it next winter. But for now, bringing in a career .231 hitter just doesn't seem to make sense. Am I missing something?

Mayberry, Giles, Stairs?

Last night on XM Radio's Homeplate, Joe Castellano was asking callers what their team's weakness was and if they addressed it this off season. It was great for once having won the World Series and not having to think what the Phillies were missing and that we would once again have to wait for next year. But then I thought, what do the Phillies need? The answer is a solid right handed pinch hitter/bench player and a set up man caliber left handed reliever to bolster their bullpen.

Thinking about the right handed bat situation, I like many Phillies fans was disappointed to learn that Nomar Garciaparra signed with the Oakland A's. I could list all of the ways he could have helped the team but that is a mute point now. So I then thought about the internal candidates. The two that really came to mind were John Mayberry Jr and Marcus Giles.

Consider the team to look like this:

• 5 starters
• 7 or 8 relievers
• Catcher
  • Ruiz R
  • Paulino R or Coste R
• Infield
  • Howard L
  • Utley L
  • Rollins S
  • Feliz R
  • Bruntlett R
  • Dobbs L
• Outfield
  • Ibanez L
  • Victorino S
  • Werth R
  • Jenkins L
  • Stairs L

The roster above has 25 men on it with a 7 man bullpen. Therefore if Mayberry or Giles were to make the team, someone would have to be cut or traded.

Let's start with Mayberry. Mayberry hit .262 with 20 homeruns between Double and Triple-A last season. While he has been very impressive at the plate this Spring, one has to wonder if the winter and trade really made him good enough to be ready for big league pitching. One also has to wonder if putting him on the team as a role player is the right decision. I like Mayberry, and am optimistic that he could be a real contributor in this line up. But for now, I think he is better suited at Triple-A playing every day and getting ready should the Phillies need him during the season.

Marcus Giles is on a mission. He wants to show the baseball world that he can still hit and be the player that made the All Star team several years back. My issue with keeping Giles is that again, someone else will need to go. The Phillies have been using Bruntlett more in the outfield but his bat is not good enough in my opinion to be a back up outfielder. This limits what the team can do with their line up especially against a tough left handed pitcher.

Looking strictly from a roster stand point, the right move would be to replace one of the left handed bats in the outfield with a right handed outfielder that can hit left handers well. That of course means the Phillies would have to move either Geoff Jenkins or Matt Stairs with Stairs being the likely one to go. But, is Mayberry the right fit for that position should the Phillies go in this direction? For my money, they will use Bruntlett in the outfield and keep Giles. This means Stairs will move on. But in a perfect world, they would move Stairs for a right handed bat similiar to his.

Your thoughts?