The Zo Zone

Nunez leaving has me optimistic they have plans for a nice upgrade at third.

Rockies are tough...

POSTED LAST NIGHT:
The Rockies fans throw bottles at the Phillies, no one hears about it.

The D-Backs fans throw bottles at the Rockies, no one makes a big deal out of it.

If that happened in Philadelphia, it'd be on the front page of every newspaper's sports section in the country, saying how disgraceful was. Give me a break.

Agree with both posts above. PLEASE let this mean that the Phillies management actually has a plan and will go after Lowell. (Although letting your best 3rd baseman go doesn't exactly bolster your position at the bargaining table.)

And I immediately thought the same about the Arizona fans throwing bottles last night. Somehow this is seen as a legitimate 'protest of a bad call', when here this would be just another example of those classless Philly fans. It would have lead all sports broadcasts and we'd see it for years to come.

Of course, in Philly they would have been beer bottles and batteries, but so what??

Cheers

Can't say I'm sorry to see Barajas go (I know it's petty, but that play at the plate in Miami still sticks in my craw) but I think Nunez will be a good pickup for another team with a lot of offense who can make up for his lack thereof.

Of course it'd be a huge story if Philly fans had thrown things on the field to complain about a bad call, but at least Philly fans are there to support their teams and don't let 8,000 NLCS tickets go unsold.

Anyone think Abe comes back for less money? We will need him for at least 20 starts if Moyer returns.

Besides, Helms isn't any better at the plate. I would take Abe over him.

But I hope John is right about upgrading.

i do not think it was smart at all to let nunez go. as anybody who meticulously watched the last month of the season can tell you, his defense saved two-dozen runs. easily. he bunts the ball well. he just needs to cut down his strike outs and up his walks. his defense will be missed, and, depending on who we pick up this off season at third, his absense could have dire consequences.

just a hypothesis. it was nice knowin' you, abraham.

Don't be so sure we won't be seeing Nunez here again. All the Phillies did was to opt out of his existing contract by paying him a buyout. Now they, or any other team can sign him at a lower number. I'd like to think the organization is smart enough to do that and spend the savings on pitching or a starting 3rd baseman who can hit.

Unless we unload Helms (hello, Ed Wade?), I just don't see Nunez coming back. We get Lowell that makes Helms the 2M backup for a year. He wasn't even a decent bat off the bench so we are really screwed. Can't see paying Nunez on top of that.
Todd, any news on anything that Eaton might do, or the team ask/require him to do, to not repeat his lousy year? MRI, head examined, working with Dali Lama?
Eaton was a millstone around their neck and really needs to get straight and contribute at a different level next year or they are back in rotation hell, even if they pick up a Shilling. Just writing it off as a "bad year" would be a serious lack of due diligence on the Phillies part and he was so screwed up that I don't think he can just expect to fix it spring training.

i like nunez, but as alot of people have said he couldn't hit a lick. it was like having 2 pitchers in the lineup when he started- a real drag on the offense. i'm surprised some people are scared about the possibility of replacing him. there are lots of players who can play defense/can't hit in the league, and they're pretty cheap. maybe the fear is that this front office will drop nunez and then not replace him- that's a fear i can get on board with, with this ownership group. please, no schilling!

also, glad to hear lopes is coming back. he paid for his salary a few times over with his base-stealing work with the guys on the roster. if rowand leaves and bourn becomes a starter, i wonder how many bases him, rollins, and victorino can steal. they'll look like the 1980's cardinals with mcgee, smith, coleman, etc. lopes will be all the more important in that scenario.

No more Dubee! Get me Mazzone!

Leo 'The Rocker' Mazzone is not welcome in the Phillies' dugout. Being that he was the reason for the Fightins' demise year in and year out in the 90s, that's just bad karma.

No one HEARS about bottles in Arizona because no one KNOWS or CARES there was a baseball game. I read the tv rating was the lowest in history, down like 50% from the worst ever. Of course that record won't last long....I can just imagine the Friday nite late game numbers. What a joke this is gonna be....frostbite and snow into November, it's the Denver and Boston "World Freezeries"

Andrew, Nunez saved 24 runs in one month? That's almost one run per game. Wow. How many innings did he play in September?

Also, he only had 4 sacrifices all year. Hardly worth keeping him around for. Let's not forget that he hit into 10 double plays in only 252 ABs. Just for the sake of comparison, Rollins grounded into 11 in 716 ABs.

Several comments: Remember Placido Polanco? Thanks to our GM he is having a great career in the AL, and we are desperate for a quality third baseman....I hope the Phillies can persuade Jimmie Williams to stay on as bench coach, or hire someone who can help Charlie with game decisions (although it's obvious that Williams was not always able to do so)....Please Phillies,don't go after Curt Schilling. They need to spend money on a younger pitcher, and Curt's big mouth could upset the chemistry that made this year's team a winner....

SHILLING=NO THANKS. YES, YOUNG PITCHERS IS THE WAY TO GO. LEO MAZZONE IS AVAILABLE- I CAN'T THINK OF A BETTER PERSON TO OVERHAUL THE WORST ERA IN BASEBALL.
IF LOWELL BECOMES AVAILABE, DEFINATLY GO AFTER HIM, OR THAT GUY IN TORONTO.
THE BEST THING THIS TEAM HAS GOING FOR IT IS IT'S CHEMISTRY. THAT'S WHY SHILLING WOULD BE BAD.
IT IS BETTER TO DO NOTHING THAN TO DESTROY THE CHEMISTRY BY BRING IN BAD INFLEUENCES.

CHARACTER AND HEART ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN TALENT ALONE.