Gillick's three previous stops as a General Manager have been Toronto, Baltimore and Seattle. Yea, we all know he "built winners" there and has gotten every team into the playoffs, blah blah blah. The one thing that I think plays heavily into these equations, however, is the League Gillick was in: American. I'm not saying that it is easier to put together a team in the AL, just that Gillick can't do it in the NL.
There is one major difference between the NL and AL, and that is obviously the Designated Hitter. Having a DH affects two major areas. The first being the bench, since pinch hitting isn't as crucial and double switches are not as relevant. The second is the bullpen, since there is no spot for the pitcher to hit, you can basically leave your starter in the game until he tires or starts being ineffective. And regardless of what you may think about our light-hitting outfield or our 3rd basemen or Adam Eaton, the biggest flaws on this team are currently the bullpen and the bench.The Bench:
- Nunez - .220 AVG / .533 OPS
- Dobbs - .194 AVG / .547 OPS
- Barajas - .195 AVG / .719 OPS
- Werth - .273 AVG / .671 OPS
- Bourn - .235 AVG / .703 OPS
The Bullpen:
- Rosario
- Hernandez
- Castro
- Condrey
- And we used to have someone named "Smith" in there too
Look, Gillick clearly knows more about baseball than I do. I just wonder if he has grasped the concept of how important a bench and bullpen are in the National League. Add all of this to the fact that we have Charlie Manuel as our manager. A guy whose previous stop as a manager was in Cleveland, an American League team. Giving him 4 minor leaguers for a bullpen is just asking for trouble.
Simply put: We have an American League GM with an American League manager playing in an American League-sized ballpark trying to put together a National League team.
...maybe that is the problem
9 comments:
I discovered this blog this offseason and have been reading it ever since. This is my first comment. Here's how we solve the bench problem: bring up Chris Coste. Once that happens, the Phils will go on a 15 game hitting streak, I guarantee it. It's science.
*winning streak
I hate Pat Gillick and I hate Charlie Manuel. This season is going down the shitter quicker than I though possible.
I agree Pat Gillick seems to be struggling with the National League concept of baseball. He obviously failed to give Charlie Manuel a decent bullpen, and the bench is probably one of the worst in baseball. Charlie Manuel should be fired, but at the same time he was not given a lot to work with this season.
I hate to say it, but the bullpen and the bench are places where this team saw they could go "cheap," and now we're seeing that sometimes you get what you pay for (and other times you get Gavin Eaton).
Gee Skeeter, your posts lately have been like the Sopranos... just kidding!
Thank you Philly Phan.
And I can't believe Gillick thinks you can go cheap on abullpen. He has said time and time again that he doesn't want to overpay for relief pitchers...ok...then why over pay for shitty starters (eaton). He let Wagner walk because he didn't want to give the extra year AND money to someone of his age. So he signs Gordon, someone 4 years (I think) older than Billy for only one year less than Wagner got from the Mets.
And we had a reliable 4th outfielder in Conine, but we let him go because we could get cheaper (and crappier) substitutes.
Right now, look at our bullpen. There is one ML reliever (Geary), One opening day starter (Myers), One over-the-hill reliever (Alfonseca) and four minor leaguers (Rosario, Castro, Condrey, Hernandez). So in an offseason where Gillick knew he had to strengthen a weak and injury-prone bullpen, we are left in May with ONLY one major league reliever in the form of a 7th-8th inning pitcher named Geoff Geary. The rest are mop-ups or starters.
Skeeter - When Billy Wagner's four year deal with the Mets expires he will be the same age as Tom Gordon when the Phillies signed him before the 2006 season.
The Phillies tried to convince the fans that Wagner was too old to get a four year deal. After they let #13 go to Queens, they promptly hired a relief pitcher who was too old by their standards, but was cheaper in the long run.
The owners and front office of the Phillies must think the fans are a bunch of idiots. Letting Wagner walk was purely based on economics, yet they tried to spin it into something about age. Pathetic.
The Phillies are like baby chicks hopping around the barnyard... "Cheap! Cheap! Cheap! Cheap!"
Oh, and chickens are pretty fucking stupid, so that describes them too.
HAHA. very clever. And Jacobin, if my crappy little posts end up as shitty as the recent Sopranos episodes, I will delete this blog faster than...well, I can't really think of something really fast right now. But it will be quick, trust me.
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