Phillies Add Grilli to Minor League Deal

My Fellow Phans,

It is with great excitement that I finally say that we have some Phillies news to report. Of course, we cannot forget to mention that Pitchers and Catchers officially report in just 13 days to Clearwater for Spring Training.

In other news, the Phillies have signed right-handed reliever, Jason Grilli. I'm not sure how many of you really know him, as he was never a prominent player in the league. So for those of you, who are not familar with this new acquisition, here is some facts about our newest signee.

He was drafted by the Giants as the 4th pick of the 1997 draft. Ironically enough, the Phillies just recently signed the top pick in that draft, Matt Anderson, just a few weeks ago.

Overall, Grilli is 18-18 with a 4.74 ERA in 238 appearances over eight seasons in the big leagues.The last time he pitched was in 2009 with The Rockies and Rangers. That year, he went 2-3 with a 5.32 ERA in 52 games. He did not pitch at all in 2010 due to a knee injury.

His best season was in 2008 when he went 3-2 with a 2.93 ERA in 60 appearances while splitting time between the Tigers and Rockies. 

Strangely enough, Grilli was not invited to the spring training, despite the fact that he has big league experience and has a chance to be a valuable asset to our club. He will instead, be in Minor League camp which I honestly do not understand.

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies! 

Howard Asskin Strikes Again

My Fellow Phans,

I’m sure all of you have heard by now the tireless ranting of our good buddy, Howard Eskin, last night on the news. For some whacked out reason, he felt it necessary to flat out bash Roy Halladay along with his quiet nature.

After watching my Steelers emerge victorious last night, I discovered that there would be some Phillies coverage on the Sports Final Wrap show thingy that they have on every Sunday night. I turned on the program to discover that douche was hosting the show all by himself. Knowing that he would probably piss me off numerous times before the night was out, I flipped back between channels waiting for the Phillies coverage.

Finally it was Phillies time. It wasn’t much, but just enough for me to get my Phillies fill for the day. I regret not changing it immediately when it ended for that was when the rant began. What follow was this childish little rant about how pissed off Asskin, isn’t that how you spell it?, is at the fact that Roy Halladay is a quiet individual and doesn’t make talking to the media a top priority. He then concluded his whining session, which totaled just about two exhausting minutes, by saying, (pardon my here, I am paraphrasing) “well at least he has this big, fat paycheck.”

Did he ever stop to think that there is a reason that Halladay never wants to interview with him? I’ve seen Doc interviewed plenty of times. The only difference is, none of those are with Eskin. I think he just needs to look in the mirror. Howard Eskin is nothing, but a clueless toolbag. While Halladay is making millions to actually do something constructive with his day, like pitch a no-hitter and a perfect game as well as winning 21 games, Eskin is sitting on his ass, no pun intended and just runs his idiotic mouth about things he has no idea about.

He takes lies and forges them together to create his own little fantasy world in which he is always right. Oh did I mention that he also gets a nice hefty salary to do absolutely nothing to this world besides provide this city with a tremendous amount of unwanted noise pollution? Howard is a total a** with nothing but shit coming out of him. Why people actually listen to him is beyond me. Can somebody fill me in? I mean if I wanted to listen to garbage, I would just sit in a bathroom all day.

Does Howard forget that Halladay is simply one of the classiest guys in all of Major League Baseball? Maybe he forgets that Halladay bought his teammates a gift after he threw that perfect game. I guess he just cannot stand anybody with even an ounce of class in them since he clearly has none. I think next time he better shut that gaping mouth of his since nobody likes a talking garbage dispenser. When it comes down to it, this city will side with Roy Halladay over Eskin’s punk ass any day of the week. I still don’t see how he is still on the air since his words are nothing but a detriment to our health.

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies! 

The 24 Days of Spring Training!

My Fellow Phans,

I bring to you great tidings of Phillies joy. As we sit here on the 20^th of this cold January, it is just 24 days until pitchers and catchers officially report for the Phillies down in sunny, Clearwater.

I don’t know about you, but I have been counting down the days to this season since that infamous strike 3  that Ryan Howard took way back in October which turned out to be the final pitch in the Phillies season.

It is a season of hopes and even higher expectations with the welcoming re-addition of lefty ace Cliff Lee and minor league superstar Domonic Brown along with the regular returning cast of characters. Throw out the greedily-departed Jayson Werth, add Lee and Brown and this Phillies team seems poised to make another run during the 2011 season. I refrain from making predictions although, this may be the more anticipated year from my perspective that I have ever known so we will see what happens along the way.

There is one more new addition that the Phillies are currently adding this offseason. When fans enter Citizens Bank Park this year, they will be greeted by a brand new scoreboard. Once the 10 million dollar upgrade is completed, it will be the biggest HD display in the entire National League. It will measure 76 feet high, 97 feet wide and totaling 7,372 square feet. This new screen will be just about triple the size of the old scoreboard. The old scoreboard will still be around though, as it is being located to the Phillies’ Spring Training facility, Bright House Field, down in Clearwater.

On a more humorous side, Lance Berkman, whom signed with the St. Louis this offseason, claims that Cardinals is the best team in the National League. "If there's a better team in the National League, I don't know who they are.”

I will leave it at that for now. I do not doubt that the Cardinals are a quality team; I guess we will just have to wait and see how the season plays out. The Phillies visit Lance and the Cardinals for the first time in mid-May, with the Cardinals not visiting Philadelphia in September.

Oh and before I forget, since we are doing countdowns now. I added a countdown to pitchers and catchers reporting on the right side of this blog so enjoy!

Oh and its just 71 days until Opening Day 2011. 


Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies! 

Kendrick Avoids Arbitration with 1-Year Deal

My Fellow Phans,

I bring to you some Phillies news as we enter the last few days before Spring Training. Kyle Kendrick has avoiding arbitration when he and the Phillies agreed to a 1-year deal worth 2.45 million.

That closes out the list of arbitration-eligible players for the Phillies. They now have no players to go to the negotiating tables.

This may be the last new Phillies news until Spring Training, although I will try to keep posting as regularly as 

possible.

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies! 

Phillies Avoid Arbitration with Francisco and Sign Former Top Pick

My Fellow Phans,

For the first time in a considerable amount of time, there is some Phillies news to report. It is not a breaking news story, but it is something notable to report.

The Phillies have avoided arbitration with outfielder Ben Francisco when both sides agreed to an 1-year contract worth 1.175 million dollars. Francisco, the other player acquired in the original Cliff Lee deal and one of my personal favorites, is expected to platoon with budding star Domonick Brown, or get a chance to be the everyday starter in right field this season for the Phillies replacing the recently greedily departed, Jayson 

Werth.

From my view, this is a good deal for the Phillies. Francisco is a quality extra man and can provide a nice presence off the bench or as a starter. Last season, Francisco hit .268 with six homers and 28 RBI in 88 games last season, which included a .282 average coupled with 7 RBIs as a pinch hitter.

In other news, The Phillies did add a new member to their minor leagues recently. They signed Matt Anderson, a former No. 1 pick in 1997. He struck out 44 hitters in 44 innings pitched during his rookie year of 1998. However, the highly anticipated starter flamed out early and found himself out of baseball after 2006.

Now the 34-year old flamethrower is attempting a comeback with the Phillies. I don’t see him making serious noise in Spring Training, but if he comes back to his form, there is a very small chance he could make a positive impact for the hometown club. This is a small risk for the Phillies and we shall see how it turns out. 

No matter how you slice it, this Spring will be quite an interesting one.

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies! 

Tragedy Strikes the Phillies' Family.... and the Nation....

My Fellow Phans,

I know it has been awhile since I have had some significant news on the Phillies front to report and although I kept wishing that I had more to blog on over the past days, I regretfully come to you today with a story that I wish I did not have to be writing to you today.

I’m sure all of you by now have heard of the shooting rampage that occurred in Arizona just yesterday when an, what authorities are calling, unstable individual opened fire during an outside meeting of Representative Gabrielle Gliffords and those looking to speak with him. A total of 6 people were killed and over a dozen people were injured.

One of those killed was a 9-year old girl. This girl, Christina-Taylor Green, turned out to have Phillies’ connections. She was the granddaughter of former Phillies’ manager Dallas Green.

I’m not going into a serious opinionated piece on the matter as this is not the time nor blog or to do it on. I just wanted to mention this to those of you who didn’t know. I will be praying for her and her family in this tragic time. Crazily enough, Christina was born on September 11^th, 2001. I guess that was just a bad omen.

Keep her and your family in your prayers folks. As for the shooter, I will say this. I hope the *insert explicative here* gets what he deserves.  Politics is no excuse to do what he did. It’s just horrible.

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies! 

It's Official! Romero Returns to Phillies!

My Fellow Phans,

It’s official! After a reported deal had been finalized, lefthander J.C. Romero completed his return to the Phillies by passing his physical.

The announcement came today by the Phillies that they have signed Romero to a one-year deal worth $1.35 million dollars. Aside from the overall total, the contract includes performance bonuses.

This signing leaves the Phillies with just one more piece of the bullpen puzzle to sign, right-hander Chad Durbin, whom I hope that the Phillies will bring back and do it sooner rather than later.

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies!