OT: Philadelphia Phillies (MLB): Wheels and Sarge out.

[DrinkFightFlyers]

Just in time for Tanaka...

That would be pretty damned sick. I can't remember a time when the Phillies got in on a Japanese bidding war. Only Japanese player I remember on the team is So Taguchi for a year or two. Hated that he wore #99.

 

[JDinkalage Morgoone]

That would be pretty damned sick. I can't remember a time when the Phillies got in on a Japanese bidding war. Only Japanese player I remember on the team is So Taguchi for a year or two. Hated that he wore #99.

Ah come on man! One of the best deadline deals ever that helped the Phils make the playoffs for the first time since 93.

I refer to Tadahito Iguchi of course.

 

[JDinkalage Morgoone]

Taguchi and Iguchi are the only two Asian born players to ever play with the Phillies, I'm pretty sure.

 

[DrinkFightFlyers]

Ah come on man! One of the best deadline deals ever that helped the Phils make the playoffs for the first time since 93.

I refer to Tadahito Iguchi of course.

Haha, wow. Forgot about him. He batted over .300 apparently during his time in Philly that year.

 

[JDinkalage Morgoone]

Haha, wow. Forgot about him. He batted over .300 apparently during his time in Philly that year.

Oh yeah, he was absolutely terrific! After Lannan broke Utley's hand, the guy was a godsend from Chicago. Iguchi was a huge part of the great run at the end of the season (coupled with the Met collapse.)

 

[jml87]

Haha, wow. Forgot about him. He batted over .300 apparently during his time in Philly that year.

He was a bit overshadowed by his awesome translator

 

[zarley zelepukin]

Taguchi and Iguchi are the only two Asian born players to ever play with the Phillies, I'm pretty sure.

Chan Ho Park.

 

[JDinkalage Morgoone]

Chan Ho Park.

Ah haha! How could I forget.

 

[jml87]

Ugh, I ****ing hate Pabelbon

http://www.crossingbroad.com/2014/0...rips-phillies-clubhouse-atmosphere-again.html

 

[DrinkFightFlyers]

Ugh, I ****ing hate Pabelbon

http://www.crossingbroad.com/2014/0...rips-phillies-clubhouse-atmosphere-again.html

Meh. If that's how it is I've got no problem with what he said. He didn't name names or anything. He just said the locker room doesn't gel. He really shouldn't be talking about it, but what he did say I don't have an issue with. Now, if he was making that stuff up or throwing specific teammates under the bus, that's a different story. Either way, dude needs to be traded. If they aren't in it this year at the deadline, deal him. Someone will be injured somewhere and be willing to take on the salary, or at least part.

 

[zarley zelepukin]

Ugh, I ****ing hate Pabelbon

http://www.crossingbroad.com/2014/0...rips-phillies-clubhouse-atmosphere-again.html

Let the blowing out of proportion begin.

 

[JDinkalage Morgoone]

I'm not giving Crossing Broad hits (and I can't access at work anyway.) What did that blogger idiot say now?

 

[jml87]

I'm not giving Crossing Broad hits (and I can't access at work anyway.) What did that blogger idiot say now?

Nothing he said, just the transcript of what Pabelbon said on a Boston radio interview. Stuff about how Boston's locker room is better than the Phillies and that the Phillies clubhouse has problems. Quotes:

“I watched every game of the World Series, every inning, every pitch. I loved it, man. I was calling pitches when Koji was in there — you know how you do when you’re watching games, ‘He’s going to go to this,’ or ‘He’s going to go to that.’ I tell you what, I was pulling for them,” Papelbon said. “I knew, I don’t want to say this now, but I knew they were going to win. I knew what that clubhouse was like. I knew what was probably going on before the games, how it was, I knew what kind of leadership they had over there with David and Dustin. I just knew, if I was a betting man, I would have bet on them. But I’m not a betting man. I was happy for them. Dustin’s one of my best friends in the game. I couldn’t have been happier.”

“On our team, I honestly believe we have more talent than any other roster out there. But if you don’t take that talent and mesh it together, figure out each others’ little pros and cons and figure out how to make a 25-man roster form into one, nothing will work. I don’t care how much you spend or how many guys you have in the bullpen or how many starters you have and it just doesn’t work,” said Papelbon. “Look at the Red Sox last year. John [McDonald] will probably tell you the moment he walked into the Red Sox clubhouse there was an entirely different feel from when he left Philly. I’m not putting those words in John’s mouth by any means, but when you have a group of guys who go for 162 games plus spring training plus the playoffs, you have to have each other’s backs and know what he’s going to do before the next guy from you is going to do before he does it.”

“I was a new guy coming into the Philadelphia clubhouse. Coming into a new clubhouse, you tend to watch more than you speak. I will say this, I came from a clubhouse where it was in your face, it was, ‘This is how we’re going to do it. We’re going to yell at each other and when we don’t do what we’re expected of, we’re going to let you know.’ That’s kind of the way I was groomed into being a baseball player,” Papelbon said. “Then I go to Philadelphia and it wasn’t necessarily that way, and I know that I’ve gotten a bad rap, some of the guys will say I’m not a good clubhouse guy because I’ll get upset and I’ll say something, but I’ve always said what’s on my mind. I don’t think I’ve ever shied away from my beliefs. But I think some of it reporters in Philly maybe take a little bit different because I was used to saying that, hey, this is how I feel, we’re not winning and I’m not happy.”

Couple things. First of all, if you aren't winning, the clubhouse is not going to be happy. It's not going to be good atmosphere. Two years ago, I bet you no one wanted to be in Boston's clubhouse when they were on that massive downward spiral.

Secondly, I don't need to hear about how great another clubhouse is and how you miss it and want to go back there. Especially when your play and your big mouth are a detriment to the team. Imagine if someone new came into work and started spouting about how much better it was over at the competition's office and that we should be doing things more like them and how much he wished he was still there. For me, that would get pretty fricking annoying. There's a difference between what Cole Hamels said for instance this offseason and what Pablebon is saying. It's how you say it. Pabelbon comes across more as a Boston fanboy who is telling us all how awful Philly is in comparison.

Thirdly, you're the top paid closer in baseball. I'm sorry you're so ******* unhappy but you haven't exactly played like you deserve all that money. With that declining velocity and all those blown saves, nobody wants you, including the Phillies and the Red Sox. Just shut your mouth and do your job.

I swear if I was a billionaire, I'd right the Phillies a check to pay that *******'s remaining salary just so I could get him off the team. You want to talk locker room problems? That dude right there is in the center of it.

 

[zarley zelepukin]

Couple things. First of all, if you aren't winning, the clubhouse is not going to be happy. It's not going to be good atmosphere. Two years ago, I bet you no one wanted to be in Boston's clubhouse when they were on that massive downward spiral.

Secondly, I don't need to hear about how great another clubhouse is and how you miss it and want to go back there. Especially when your play and your big mouth are a detriment to the team. Imagine if someone new came into work and started spouting about how much better it was over at the competition's office and that we should be doing things more like them and how much he wished he was still there. For me, that would get pretty fricking annoying. There's a difference between what Cole Hamels said for instance this offseason and what Pablebon is saying. It's how you say it. Pabelbon comes across more as a Boston fanboy who is telling us all how awful Philly is in comparison.

Thirdly, you're the top paid closer in baseball. I'm sorry you're so ******* unhappy but you haven't exactly played like you deserve all that money. With that declining velocity and all those blown saves, nobody wants you, including the Phillies and the Red Sox. Just shut your mouth and do your job.

I swear if I was a billionaire, I'd right the Phillies a check to pay that *******'s remaining salary just so I could get him off the team. You want to talk locker room problems? That dude right there is in the center of it.

Except he didn't say he wants to go back to Boston, and it doesn't come across that way if you listen to the interview. He said he was rooting for his old teammates and is happy that they won. Almost any player in any sport would say the same thing about a team they had 7 great years with.

It's not Papelbon's fault that Rube gave him a stupid contract. He's pitched well for the two years he's been here.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Let's take bets on the annual value.

For reference:



Also remember Philadelphia actually has the largest (not dimension, but tv viewers) single-team designated media market in the country.

I say $175 million per season. I hope it breaks $200 per, but suspect it won't.

Sounds like a 25 year $2.5 billion deal.

 

[JDinkalage Morgoone]

From what I read in what you quoted... yeah he is silly for saying those things while still employed by the Phillies, but I don't get the impression he's ragging on our team.

 

[Broad Street Elite]

Sounds like a 25 year $2.5 billion deal.

Where are you hearing that? That is brutal if true. Dodgers got 3 times that in a split market.

 

[Hollywood Cannon]

Sorry that it's a mobile link.

http://mobile.philly.com/blogs/?wss=/philly/blogs/phillies_zone/&id=238630331

 

[Broad Street Elite]

"I don't see us going any higher than where we've been," Montgomery said. "For us, the secret is to spend it well, not necessarily tied to how much. Since we've moved in here, we have been able to be a club that is substantial in its payroll. I assume we will continue to be in the top four or five in the game. Hopefully we'll make some good decisions and people will see an improved club in 2014. That's what we believe."
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/...more-than-25-billion.html#pwuJDEEXU8ykJd5j.99

Meh. I guess we'll see.

 

[jml87]

Except he didn't say he wants to go back to Boston, and it doesn't come across that way if you listen to the interview. He said he was rooting for his old teammates and is happy that they won. Almost any player in any sport would say the same thing about a team they had 7 great years with.

It's not Papelbon's fault that Rube gave him a stupid contract. He's pitched well for the two years he's been here.

He doesn't directly have to say he wants to go back to Boston. And you can root for your teammates without making it seem like you are trashing your current team. Which is how it comes off to me even when listening to the audio. If the situations were reversed, I don't think the Red Sox would like Victorino going on about how much better the Phillies clubhouse is. And it certainly doesn't help that he made comments during the season about how 'he didn't come here for this' when he's part of the problem.

He blew 7 saves last year. That's a save percentage of 80% and among starting closers, that's only above Heath Bell. That and his fastball went down 2 mph from the previous year. That's not ok for a guy who has paid top dollar. That's not good for any closer and he'd be fighting to keep the closer job if he wasn't paid so much. And I don't care if its not his fault that he got a big contract. That doesn't excuse Ryan Howard or Jimmy Rollins from sucking either. Stop going on about clubhouse dynamic and start actually performing on the field. They win, the clubhouse will be happy again.

 

[zarley zelepukin]

He doesn't directly have to say he wants to go back to Boston. And you can root for your teammates without making it seem like you are trashing your current team. Which is how it comes off to me even when listening to the audio. If the situations were reversed, I don't think the Red Sox would like Victorino going on about how much better the Phillies clubhouse is. And it certainly doesn't help that he made comments during the season about how 'he didn't come here for this' when he's part of the problem.

He blew 7 saves last year. That's a save percentage of 80% and among starting closers, that's only above Heath Bell. That and his fastball went down 2 mph from the previous year. That's not ok for a guy who has paid top dollar. That's not good for any closer and he'd be fighting to keep the closer job if he wasn't paid so much. And I don't care if its not his fault that he got a big contract. That doesn't excuse Ryan Howard or Jimmy Rollins from sucking either. Stop going on about clubhouse dynamic and start actually performing on the field. They win, the clubhouse will be happy again.

Hamels and John McDonald both said there were clubhouse issues last year. McDonald even says in the same interview that it didn't bother the team when Papelbon said he "didn't come here for this". Nobody on the team was or should have been happy that their season was going down the drain.

And 3 or 4 of those BSs were directly attributable to piss poor defense behind him. His velocity has declined but there's literally nothing he can do about that. It could happen to any pitcher at any time. He's actually done really well considering what he's lost on his fastball. When Lidge's fastball dipped to the low 90s he was a trainwreck.

As for the contract, there was never a chance he'd live up to it, unless he started getting 2 and 3 inning saves.

 

[Protest]

Honestly if they get less than the Rangers and Mariners, than I don't know what to say. This is a larger media market, the team has a large number of fans spread out around the country, and they've shown how incredibly popular they can be when they're winning.

Is it because of the number of other teams that are close geographically? I have a sinking feeling it's because of Comcast's monopoly, but I always blame everything on them lol.

 

[Halladay]

There was a good fangraphs article written about 4 or 5 months ago about how the new tv deals could be going down. We'll see.

 

[sobrien]

Honestly if they get less than the Rangers and Mariners, than I don't know what to say. This is a larger media market, the team has a large number of fans spread out around the country, and they've shown how incredibly popular they can be when they're winning.

Is it because of the number of other teams that are close geographically? I have a sinking feeling it's because of Comcast's monopoly, but I always blame everything on them lol.

Yeah but how will it be when they're losing? Attendance has been great for 5-6 years but people seem to forget how awful this team was for almost 20 years outside of 1993.

I used to enjoy getting my FREE tickets inside packages of Phillies franks at the supermarket, and being able to walk up and purchase nosebleeds in 2005-06 for under $15.

It's not news to anybody that this team's window is nearly closed...and there's not much of a future on the way to save it. I REALLY hope the Angels can't/don't re-sign Trout and we have a garage full of cash lying around when it happens.

 

[DrinkFightFlyers]

Today is Hall of Fame day. Who gets in?

I think Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine are 100% locks (not locks to get 100%, but 100% locks to be voted in). Frank Thomas is like a 90% chance to get in. Other than those three I think the only other guys with legit shots this year are Biggio and Morris. Morris I think will get in because there has just been so much talk about him. Biggio I think waits until next year.

In conclusion:

Maddux, Glavine, Thomas, and Morris are in.