The Philadelphia Phillies are looking everywhere for a starting pitcher (as if that's a surprise to anyone) and they are looking at the top-of-the-rotation to end-of-the-rotation guys.
Names like Erik Bedard, Roy Oswalt, and Jake Peavy have been linked to the Phillies in the last week or so, but the lower-end pitchers have also been somehow linked with the Phillies.
With Brett Myers season likely over after hip surgery, the Phillies are in need for another pitcher, preferably a top-of-the-rotation guy. However, they have been also looking at a middle-to-low guy as well.
Take Brad Penny for instance.
Penny signed a one-year deal with a base salary of $5 million after struggling in 2008 and having a injury-filled season for the Dodgers, which got his option dropped and made him a free agent. He later signed with the Boston Red Sox.
Thus far into the season, Penny is 5-1 with a 5.63 ERA in 10 starts. The record is nice, but the ERA is way too high for my liking. He worries me too much, but you would think that he wouldn't cost much.
Well that assumption is wrong.
Buster Olney of ESPN reported that the Phillies heard the Red Sox would want Jason Donald for Penny. I would have hung up the phone the second they said Jason and told them no thank you. Penny is not even close of a prospect of Donald's caliber.
Why waste a talent like Donald on an average pitcher at best? Why not package Donald along with some other top prospects for a guy with the talent of Oswalt or Peavy? That makes more sense to me.
BaseballDigest.com suggested that the Phillies are going to sign either Tom Glavine or Vincente Padilla. Five year ago, I would have said yes to Glavine. Now, that reply would be an easy no thank you. Don't get me started on the situation with the classless Atlanta Braves and how they handled his Glavine's release, but he isn't what the Phils need.
Padilla is a quick no because of a number of reasons. He failed here before, and he hasn't been all-too-well in Texas. So what makes you think he can do anything with the Phillies this time? He was waived because he is making way too much money and well frankly, he doesn't deserve anything over a million or two.
What I would do is keep Antonio Bastardo in the rotation for another week or two, maybe a little longer. See if you can acquire a big-name guy who can not only help this team get by without Myers, but make their rotation dominate and give Cole Hamels another guy to take the pressure off of him (not that he can't handle it).
Go put together a package for Peavy, have the Padres accept the deal, and then have them go ask Peavy whether he'll accept the deal to Philadelphia. If not, go after Oswalt and see if he'll come to Philly. If not, go get Bedard or someone else on the market that we don't know about yet.
Want to shoot for the moon, call Toronto and offer them a package of your top-five prospect and J.A. Happ in exchange for Roy Halladay. Do something that will make a huge impact on the team instead of small one that won't help the team get back to the World Series.
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