Jeff Francoeur Has A Hissy Fit

You will not like Jeff Francoeur when he's angry. And by moving the Phillies-Blue Jays series from Toronto to Philadelphia because of the G20 Summit, MLB has made Jeff Francoeur angry. Former Phillies beat writer and current writer for the New York Daily News, Andy Martino, published the quote that made I am sure he believed his former fans would enjoy quite a bit.

"That's just bull----," Francoeur said. "That's not really fair. That's just not fair. It's ridiculous. Absolutely crazy."

Well, no one really said it was fair. The fact the NL East favorite happened to be scheduled in Toronto at the same time as the G20 Summit right across the way is nothing if not a coincidence. MLB solved it by moving the games to Philadelphia (complete with the Phillies batting first and the DH rule being in place!). It is hardly a fair solution, no doubt about that, but at the same time, as a Phillies fan, you can't help but laugh. I will never say that MLB's solution to this is in any way a fair one, but the direct and indirect hilarity it has brought out is absolutely priceless.

It's Official: The Phillies Are Playing 84 Home Games In The 2010 Series

Well that was a quick resolution, wasn't it? Because of the G20 summit occurring right across the way from Rogers Centre at the same time as this year's Phillies-Blue Jays series to be played June 25-27 has in fact been moved to Philadelphia. MLB.com has more of the details on the move.

Considering the close proximity of the two sites, the Blue Jays consulted with the G20 organizers and decided that moving the baseball games to a different location offered the best solution. It is a series that was expected to draw a large crowd in Toronto, given that it would have marked the return of former Jays ace Roy Halladay, who was traded to the Phillies in December.

"We regret we had to make this decision," Blue Jays president and CEO Paul Beeston said. "But given what's happening on those three days, and the focus that will be on the downtown core of Toronto, and the fact that we are situated right next door to them, where the G20 is going to take place, we felt it was in the best interest of everybody to move the games.

"It's particularly disappointing, for very obvious reasons, with Roy Halladay coming back. Roy, who had been with the organization for as long as he'd been here, it was our opportunity for the fans and for ourselves to give him the appreciation for what he had done and what he had meant to this team."

Beeston said that the Blue Jays will put in a request with Major League Baseball to host the Phillies in Toronto as part of Interleague Play in 2011. If the series is scheduled as Beeston hopes, that will give Toronto a chance to honor Halladay during his first trip north of the border since parting ways with the organization.

Major League Baseball approved the series relocation after discussing the situation with the Blue Jays, the Phillies, the G20 Summit Management, the Integrated Security Unit and the city of Toronto.

"After reviewing all of the options with the parties and taking all of the security considerations into account, it was determined that the best course of action is to play the series in Philadelphia," Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "I appreciate the cooperation of the Blue Jays, the Phillies and all of the parties who have helped resolve this challenging situation."

While the games will take place on the road, they will still be considered "home" contests for the Blue Jays. The designated hitter will be utilized, and Toronto will have the last at-bat in each of the games. The June 25 game is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET and the June 27 contest will begin at 1:35 p.m. The time of the June 26 game has not been finalized.

Beeston noted that the Jays and Phillies have a financial agreement to share the revenue generated from the series at Citizens Bank Park.

"This wasn't a negotiation," Beeston said. "The Phillies are terrific people to deal with. We were fortunate that we were playing the Phillies at this time, so we could sit down with [Phillies president and CEO] Dave Montgomery. I've had a number of conversations with him, starting back when it was first announced.

"As it became a little bit more definitive that it was happening, we kept him informed as to what was happening. He's got costs of putting on the games, so we've worked out an arrangement that hopefully will make us both revenue neutral."

Beeston, who emphasized that the relocation was ultimately the Blue Jays' decision, said the teams discussed shifting the series to Cleveland's Progressive Field or Detroit's Comerica Park. At the end of the day, though, moving to a neutral site was never a serious part of the discussions.

"No, it really wasn't considered," Beeston said. "I guess that was an option, whether we'd go to Cleveland or whether we'd go to Detroit or whether we'd go up to Ottawa and play in one of those places. At the very conclusion of all our deliberations, the easiest was just to go to Philadelphia."

According to Beeston, another alternative was to play a doubleheader in Toronto on June 25 with a night game on June 26, creating an off-day on June 27 to help account for the G20 activities. Beeston said there were still too many unknowns to go through with that proposed plan.

I guess that's just a matter of being scheduled in the right place at the right time if you are the Phillies. I must admit that even I was looking forward to Halladay's return to Toronto, but Roy Halladay has nothing on global officials with a political agenda. Hopefully they can schedule that series for next year and also hopefully the Phillies will be able to take advantage of the added home games they now have.

There Is A Possibility The Phillies Will Have More Home Games Than Any Team In Baseball This Season...

These are just the kinds of privileges you get when you are 2 time defending NL Champions, bitches. Actually no, not really. Just what happens when you are scheduled to play in Toronto on the just right date. But I do like to feel like I am privileged in some sort of way, so just let me have my glory and let me think it is the former, kk? Anyway, I guess I should catch you up to speed on how we got to this point.....

I thought I brought this up a few months ago but have not been able to find the post. Anyways, in case I did not and it was just something I threw up on Twitter real fast, the Phillies are scheduled a series in Toronto in June during interleague play. Just one slight problem: The G20 summit is scheduled right across the way on Toronto during that same time. And that's an apparent problem. The games must be played, so if they cannot be played in Toronto, where do you play them? At a neutral site somewhere? One possible solution: move the series to Philadelphia and thus give the Phillies 84 home games this season. From Phillies beat writer Todd Zolecki's MLBlog, The Zo Zone.

The Phillies playing 84 games would be kind of a big deal, so I contacted Katy Feeney, who is MLB's senior vice president of scheduling and club relations. I asked her: "Is there any chance that series is moved to Philly or elsewhere, or is the series definitely going to be played in Toronto?"

Her response: "We are fully aware of the situation and working with the Blue Jays and the G20 organizers and security as well as the Phillies and once a final determination is made for any of the games, we will announce."

While there is no inkling as to what the destination might be, it certainly does not sound like the game is going to be played at Skydome Rogers Centre. Will it be Philadelphia? It could be, after all, Toronto is not exactly home to baseball stadiums left and right. This is pure speculation on my part and is backed up with absolutely 0 facts, historical trends, or rumors, but I am thinking the games either get moved around on the schedule, get moved to Citizens Bank Park, Ottawa Baseball Stadium, or even possibly Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Regardless, I do not see high ranking officials with a political agenda allowing baseball games to be played right by where they are meeting. For security reasons, of course.

More Thoughts On The Halladay Trade

First of all, as the deal stands now....

Phillies get: Roy Halladay, Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, and $6 million.

Blue Jays get: Kyle Drabek, Travis D'Arnaud, Michael Taylor (who they will trade to Oakland for Brett Wallace)

Mariners get: Cliff Lee

I know there are people that like this trade. And I know there are others that want Ruben Amaro, Jr. to go find the nearest hole, crawl in it, and stay their for the rest of his life. That's the way things are going to be when you make a trade like that.

However, from a baseball perspective, this was the right move. You can jump at me and say that Drabek took things one step too far, but Drabek is just a prospect. While we in Philly may think that he is the future Cliff Lee/Roy Halladay, there are people out there who see him no more as a #2 or a #3 starter on a team. Instead of looking at what we lost, let's look at what we got in return.

We've got arguably the best pitcher in baseball, Harry Leroy Halladay III. Yes, he is better than Cliff Lee. His wins and losses are better than Lee's and his ERA is better than Lee's all despite the fact that Lee has played on teams that went to the World Series.

People will see the World Series and say that OMFG CLIFF LEE IS DA BESTEST EVER! No. No, he is not. He is a good pitcher, yes, and Seattle made out damn good all things considered, but let us remember Cliff Lee in 2007. And let us remember Cliff Lee in September of 2009. Remember coming into the postseason there were actually questions about Cliff Lee. In September he stunk. He was not the same pitcher that the Phillies acquired in July nor was he the same pitcher that pitched brillantly in the post season. The bottom line is Lee can be inconsistent. Now that's not to say that Halladay does not have slumps as well, but when Lee slumped, good grief, it was like watching Chien Ming Wang earlier in the year. Just dreadful dreadful stuff was happening to him.

And there is another argument that the Stupid Move Phillies club has by saying that Halladay has never pitched in the post-season before. And granted, Lee proved himself this year, but this was the first year that he actually pitched in the post-season. He was injured when Cleveland made their post-season run. So to say that Halladay has never pitched a post-season game before is nonsense when you consider the fact that Lee had not pitched in the post-season either prior to 2 months ago. Where were those question marks on Cliff Lee heading into the post-season last year. There were question marks about his performance in September, sure, but did anyone question his lack of post-season experience when he was on a staff with Cole Hamels, Pedro Martinez, and Joe Blanton, all of whom had not only pitched in the post-season before but all own World Series rings (and Hamels was the 2008 World Series MVP)? Where were the questions then? And not only that, but in his first post-season start when he went up Ubaldo Jimenez, who not only pitched in the post-season before, but had beaten the Phillies before in the post-season? In other words, a pitcher quite comfortable with the position he was in versus a pitcher who had never pitched a post-season game before? My point is this. No one questioned Lee's post-season experience coming into the 2009 playoffs, why are we questioning Halladay's now? For all we know, Doc could throw 3 post-season no-hitters.

And lastly, the prospects. The Phillies may have given up the once untouchable Drabek, but they have gotten 6'7" Phillippe Aumont in return. And while he did see some action out of the Mariners pen last year, he struggled somewhat with control, but whenever you have a 6'7" guy with power, that is going to catch an eye and there is definite potential. And another prospect that the Phillies will end up getting, Tyson Gillies, may have the potential to be the fastest guy in baseball. So while the Phillies are giving up a farm for Halladay, they are getting a farm right back, so in the end, when you trade prospects for prospects, is just that. You wins and who loses will be judged 5-years from now, not today. You can't judge this based on today. You can only judge whether or not right now this was a smart move.

And all in all, I think it was a smart trade for the Phillies as they are on a strict budget and thanks to the "aw shucks, we love you" $7 million contract they gave to Moyer after winning the World Series with him, financially, this was the only thing they could do to lock up a Cy Young winning pitcher long-term as that Moyer contract pretty much made it impossible for the Phils to have both Halladay and Lee for 1-year. Because let's face it, Cliff Lee was going to want CC Sabathia money and a long 5-6 year deal and the Phillies just don't roll like that. They don't dish out that kind of money nor do they sign pitchers for that long. There is without a doubt that Cliff Lee would walk and take the money instead of coming to Philly for a discount.

If the Phillies did not trade for Halladay, then they would be screwed in 2011 when they lose a lot of key players, and that will in turn send them into a tailspin of mediocrity that categorized the early 2000s. Now with Halladay, you can bet your bottom dollar that the Phillies will be perennial contenders for the NL pennant for the next 4 (possibly 5 years) and at the end of the day, isn't that the ultimate goal?

I'll end by summing up a quote of Dan Levy's in The Sporting Blog this morning, the Phillies may have paid a high price, arguably too much for Halladay, but can they afford to move forward into the future as a World Series contender without making this move? The answer: No.

And Here We Go! The Doctor Is In Philadelphia! HALLADAY'S A PHILLIE!!!!!!!!!! And Cliff Lee is a Seattle Mariner

I interupt my working on a research prospectus to announce 2 things:

1). I'VE GOT MY INTERNET BACK!

2). We may be days, or even hours away from one of the most blockbuster trades in recent MLB history.

This weekend, Ken Rosenthal wrote of a crazy hunch based on no factual information (no, really, he was hypothesizing based off of nothing) that the Phillies might somehow involve Cliff Lee in a trade for Halladay. At the time, I thought that Ken Rosenthal was on some nasty drugs or someone wanted 1500 words in an hour and Kenny had nothing to write.

But, Kenny Rosenthal might have been on to something. Jim Salisbury issued this stunning report today that says the Phillies would open to trading Lee to another team (Seattle's said to be interested) for prospects they can ship to Toronto for Roy Halladay, who is currently located in the City of Brotherly Love where talks of an extension are already occuring.

So here it goes. The $10,000,000 question that will make Ruben Amaro, Jr. a genius or run him out of this town faster than J.D. Drew was. Assuming the Phillies can sign Doc Halladay to the extension, do you still pull the trigger on the trade if it means that Clifton Phifer lee will not be a Phillie next year?

Phillies have already said they won't trade Hamels, so this is it. If the Phillies can do it without trading Lee, I'll be running to the store buying new underwear, but is Halladay and the extension worth giving up 1-year of Lee?

The question will soon be answered. If you want to beat the Yankees, you have to play the game. The dice are now squarely in the hands of Ruben Amaro, Jr.

Update: Amaro did it! Roy Halladay is a Phillie! It's a 3-team deal. The 3rd team is Seattle. It was originally reported that they got Lee but that has been changed to likely. I'll keep you posted. But the bottom line is this, after 6 months, it can finally be said, ROY HALLADAY IS A PHILADELPHIA PHILLIE!!!!!!!!!!

Update: If Jim Salisbury is right and if Kyle Drabek is indeed part of this deal, you can kiss the Phillies future goodbye. Please be wrong, Salisbury. Isn't the whole idea of trading Lee to begin with to lock up a Cy Young pitcher long term while preserving the farm?

Update 3: Is it just me or is Dash Treyhorn of The Fightins correct in that this is just the trade that Toronto and Ricciardi wanted back in January for Halladay only with an extra side dish of a straight up Cliff Lee for Seattle prospects trade including Phillippe Aumont (which will hopefully make up for the loss of Drabek). Crazy crazy stuff.

This Is The Dawning Of The Rest Of Our Lives

Here we go! And you thought the Roy Halladay rumors were bad before the trade deadline. Today and today alone, the Halladay talk has ratcheted up 1,000 degrees to a whole new level. Ken Rosenthal has pinned the Phillies (along with the Angels) as the frontrunners to land Halladay, Todd Zolecki went on WIP today and reported that the Phillies were a frontrunner for Halladay.

All the moves the Phillies have not been making in terms of their pitching staff: the not re-signing of Eyre and Park, the not persuing Brandon Lyon. All of the crazy rumors that have circulated, such as trading Joe Blanton and signing John Smoltz, it all makes sense if the Phillies sign Halladay. They need to clear up some salary space, so of course they are not going to sign 2 people that want a shitload of money right now, and Blanton is due another shitload of cash, so if the plan is Halladay, then it all makes sense because you need 3 shitloads of cash for him. Smoltz is going to be fairly cheap nowadays and really he can be a back-of-the-rotation starter or a reliever. I'm not crazy about Smoltz, but it makes sense if we get Halladay and naturally, regardless of his feelings about Citizens Bank Park, he is going to want to go to a winner.

The way I see it, the Phillies have gone deep into this. The rumors have gone too far. The Phillies cannot come out of the upcoming weeks without Roy Halladay. They just can't. We've been pulled in to deep once again. Last time we got away with thievery by nabbing Cliff Lee for an incredibly low price (relatively speaking). The Jays need to get rid of him ASAP. What is the price and how will this end? Because like it or not, it's going to end with either the ultimate euphoria or the ultimate heartbreak.

But alas, this is the dawning of the rest of our lives on holiday Halladay.

Blue Jays-Yankees Brawl FTW!

There's something so great about a bench-clearing brawl that is just so fun to watch. Watch as what starts as a little love top from Carlson to Jose Posada turns into an all out bench clearing brawl!



Good times! I love how one nudge like that can start a whole bench-clearing brawl filled with players going at each others throats. It always fascinates me what on earth can cause classy, grown, and mature men to rise up from the benches and start ripping and tearing and going after other people like that. Good times over in the Bronx......goooooooood times.

Roy Halladay: Is It Worth It?

If you like fights and arguments about sports, now is the perfect time to be in JFein's house. Both my brother and I are Phillies fans and we could not be farther apart on this issue. I am on the side of yes, the Phils need to get Roy Halladay, even if the asking price is high (although I'm hesitant about giving away both J.A. Happ and our top-pitching prospect, Kyle Drabek). My brother, on the other hand, believes that we are find and that we won the World Series last year with these pitchers and we don't need a new one; we should have no problem winning this year, after all, we've only gotten better by replacing Pat Burrell with Raul Ibanez.

I feel as if that Halladay can put the Phillies over the top right now. They need another ace and better yet, they need someone who has the desire to win a World Series for complacency may be setting in real fast. Yesterday's On The DL podcast brought up a good point that you almost wish that the Phillies were in a tighter division race so they don't get complacent because let's face facts here. The Phillies won the World Series last year and may all but have a stranglehold on the NL East this year. They are 5.5 games in first place with the Marlins and the Braves behind them, both of whom have been inconsistent this year and at this point, in my view, do not pose a real threat to making a run and taking this division. The team that on most occasions would be in that position, the New York Mets, have become as 49er16 likes to point out the Triple-A Mets and are currently 10.5 games out of first place with no light at the end of the tunnel even close to being in sight.

The worry that I have, and what really has my brother over the top on this aside from the fact that we don't need him and I don't know what I'm talking about because I have not watched every Phillies game this year like he has (except for when we were on vacastion last week) and that because of such I'm a "bandwagon fan" is that the asking price is way too high. The Toronto Blue Jays, as mentioned above, along with possibly our top outfielding prospect, Dominic Brown, want current rookie sensation J.A. Happ and our top pitching prospect, Kyle Drabek. The question essentially becomes is that too high? Naturally, one would think that 2 top prospects and a rookie sensation would be too high a price for anyone, even for Doc Halladay. But All Things Philly Sports makes a great point about J.A. Happ

So, why the cautionary tale about J.A. Happ? Let's take a closer look at his numbers. In three starts this season against what I would call "good" teams, the Cardinals, Red Sox and Yankees, Happ has been pretty bad, going 17 and 2/3rds innings and giving up 12 earned runs on 21 hits and 6 walks. That's an ERA of 6.11, and a record of 0-1. It's safe to say that Happ hasn't performed well against good competition. Then, when you look at the rest of his starts and notice that he has faced the Marlins, Pirates, Reds, Braves, Blue Jays, Orioles, Mets, Padres and Nationals, and you can begin to see that Happ was able to pad his stats against weaker competition. Of those teams, I would classify 5 as terrible and 4 as mediocre. It's pretty easy to look good against that kind of competition.

Right he is. ATPS also mentions brings up the question of the Happ being the next Kyle Kendrick. For those that don't remember, Kendrick was essentially a rookie sensation like Happ currently is, going 10-4 with a 3.87 ERA in 2007. But look at where Kendrick is now. He is in the Phillies farm system, having only been brought up for one relief appearance where he stunk up the joint. Hell, when Chad Durbin and J.C. Romero were placed on the DL a few days ago, the Phillies brought up Andrew Carpenter and Tyler Walker, and not Kendrick. Tyler Freakin' Walker!

But back to Doc Halladay. According to Jayson Stark at ESPN, the Phillies are highly against giving up both Happ and Drabek, but just yesterday, the Blue Jays scouted another Phillies farm pitcher, Carlos Carrasca, who a year or 2 ago was being looked at as Kyle Drabek is now, however, he has struggled a bit this year in the minors. If the Phillies and can somehow convince the Jays to take Carrasca instead of Happ or Drabek, by all means, go for it! It is true that Carrasca has yet to fully mature, but I would feel a lot better and I'm sure the Phillies would about being wrong about Carrasca and giving him away than being right about Drabek and giving him away.

My brother still says that we do not need another pitcher and that we are fine with the guys we got. After all, we just signed Pedro Martinez who is due to make his first minor league start today. ATPS is failry adament that Pedro can only be a 5-inning starter, which is the last thing that our struggling and injured bullpen needs. For me, the jury is still out on him. They say he's better than he was last year with the Mets and my brother feels he can still go 7-8 innings. In the live blog of the Phillies-Cubs game the other day where the World Series was spoiled for everyone (yeah, um, what is all this talk about whether Halladay will or will not win the Series this year, we already know the Sawx are gonna take it this year), that Martinez, if he is up for it (and it is highly doubtful that this would ever happen), may be best-suited for the bullpen and that Halladay or another pitcher the Phils trade for would be the one to take Rodrigo Lopez's spot in the rotation (or Happ's spot if he is traded and Martinez ends up in the pen).

So what do you think? Should the Phillies trade for Roy Halladay, regardless of the asking price, should they only make the move for Doc only if they can lower the asking price so as not to include both Happ and Drabek, or are you like my brother and do you feel that the Phils don't need anyone and they can it this year with essentially they had last year (even though Jamie Moyer is not getting any younger and Brad Lidge seems to be back to his old Houston Astro self)? I'm curious and intersted to hear others' thoughts on this.

The Phillies Are The Favorites To Get Roy Halladay

Please let this actually happen!!! Days after announcing that the Blue Jays would be willing to trade Halladay, the Phillies have emerged as the favorites to trade for him. And yes, I'd be giddy if we got him!!! From the New York Post

I have talked to a half-dozen baseball executives this morning and the general consensus is that the Phillies should be viewed as the front-runner if Roy Halladay does get traded. Boy the news keeps getting worse and worse for the MetsNew York Mets .

More than one of the executives used this term: "No team in baseball is more motivated to get a starter than the Phillies." If I were to synthesize what was said about the Phillies and Halladay it is this: 1) They are a now team and Halladay gives them a major boost in trying to repeat. 2) He is a groundball pitcher, which only makes him more attractive to a club that plays home games in cozy Citizens Bank Park. 3) He is dominant in the AL East, so the Phillies have to think his stuff would play up to a greater degree in the NL. 4) Philadelphia has volume in good to very good prospects, but might not have the one sure thing to front a deal for a player as special as Halladay unless the Blue Jays see Kyle Drabek, Jason Knapp, Dominic Brown or Michael Taylor in that way.

TRADE FOR ROY HALLADAY!!!! Even though I have questioned the Flyers giving up so much for Chris Pronger, I'd be willing to give up the entire farm for Roy Halladay. And by farm, if it is what it takes to put the deal over the top, I would not mind seeing J.A. Happ in the deal. I think he has done an awesome job and has been one of our best and most consistent pitchers this year, but for Roy Freakin' Halladay, it would be well worth it in my eyes. Come on Ruben Amaro, Jr! Do the right thing! Put this team over the top and back on top in the NL! TRADE FOR ROY HALLADAY NOW!