The Zo Zone

I like the fact that the Phillies are making a run at Rand Wolf. Yes, he is coming off an injury last year, but if he can rehab well and stay healthy I think it will be a nice addition to the roation in the 3 or 4 spot. (Anything is better than Eaton at this point.) Wolf did relatively well here in town and I think coming back will do well for him.
On the OF/3B front...hopefully, the Phillies will make a play for someone. Bringing Rowand back would be ideal, but how likely is it at this point? As for 3B...I'm stumped. They missed out on Lowell and I don't see them bringin in Atkins from Colorado....
Things seem slow now in terms of offseason moves, and hopefully they will pick up steam in teh near future. I think the Phillies and this town could use a nice Christmas present to help put them in a good position to make a run at the World Series.

Affected, not effected. Thanks!

Affect vs effect alwasy get me.

The best part of a possable return of Randy Wolf is the return of the Wolfpac.

Wolf is not a Class A or B agent, so I have no problem with that.

Randy Wolf? What have his stats been since leaving Philly? Sounds like a consolation prize to me. If both are coming off an injury, who's to say one will be better than the other?

Fill me in oh wise ones

I would say think less consolation prize, and more the devil you know.

The pitching market if a crap shoot right now and I’m guessing the Phillies feel a lot more comfortable with a guy know very well and can get at a reasonable commitment both years and money wise.

Yes, but what are they doing with Eaton? What I would like to see is Eaton traded to some team for a majr league third baseman who can field. I don't care what he hits. Some team out there has to be enough of a sucker to want Eaton. Hell, maybe we can package him with a couple of the "prospects" for someone.

Randy is healthy, and LA has moved on. I would tend to doubt that Randy would go to another team. His 1st choice was LA, because it is where he's from. His other choice is Philly. He gives us an excellent 3-slot starter. Eaton must have real physical problems for us to need another starter.

Wolf would be a nice fit. Lefty's have been proven to have long careers, in this league. I'm sure that Moyers presence, will have a positive effect on Wolf. As I remember it , Wolf's maturity was always a concern. Besides, how much longer can Moyer go on pitching at a major league level. Great fit for Phils..A big plus, he has pitched at CBP..

By all means, bring Wolfie back. When he's healthy he can be a quality starter.

As for anyone taking Eaton, forget about it! No body is that stupid! We're stuck with him like we are stuck with Burrell. After next year (assuming Burrell doesn't hit .320, drive in 120 runs and hit 50 hrs) we'll finally be rid of Mr. 'Mile long swing'. We're stuck with Eaton for two more years. Stick him in long relief and hope for the best. Don't count on him for anymore than that and an occasional spot start.

Scott Boras is representing Lohse. Lohse wants five years, and this apparently is the sticking point for the Phillies (according to mlb.com). Can't blame the Phils on that one. That's risky business for a guy whose numbers don't exactly say number one or two or maybe even three starter. Good guy to have - healthy, not 30 yet - but can the Phils possibly commit five years to another career-almost-5-ERA fellow?

Are the Phils still paying Jim Thome? If so, another twist on possibly losing Rowand is that not only is Thome still being paid by the Phils but we won't even have the guy we traded him for. Adding to that irony is that Chicago is a possible place for Rowand to end up, teammates with Thome.

I heard on NY radio that the Mets might be interested in Freddy Garcia.

To paraphrase myself, stars are worth it--it's mediocrity that's expensive.

The Phils need to sign gold-glove caliber third baseman PEDRO FELIZ, as he has home run power and a stellar glove despite being a free swinger. ALso, sign relief pitcher David Riske and free agent Randy Wolf, whose contract should be laden with incentives. Forget Lohse, as his agent is impossible and focus on signing Aaron Rowand. We would be bolstering the pen and starting pitching with Wolf and Riske. Also, if Wolf is ready, move EATON to the pen as a long reliever to start the season. Make him prove himself. He really stunk in the second half last year and possibly could be damaged goods. Carlos Silva may be worth looking into as well as Paul Prior if the Cubs do not offer him a contract.

Anyone up for bringing Scott Graham back to the announcers line-up? I know they just brought back Tom McCarthy but Chris Wheeler is absolutely horrible. He contributes nothing to the broadcasts. Scott Graham was great to listen to. I say dump Wheeler and bring back Scott Graham.

Why not sign Livan Hernandez? He's no shut-down pitcher any more but he's more durable that Wolfie.

Does anyone like Bartolo? I know he was not very good last year, but before that he was great.

Chris Wheeler, gets a bad rap . He can be annoying at times, an apoligists for Phils front office.I find his knowledge of the game, is very good. We lose him,who replaces him? Matthews is the only other anylists,or maybe Larry Anderson. The others in the booth, are play by play announcers. Like Wheels, or not, we've all grown up with him, and that has to count for something..Scott Grahams replacement last year, Franske, did a great job.

I like J Gill's offseason plan of Wolf, Feliz and Riske. If the Phils made those moves they would be in great shape. They could probably even stay within their "budget" Hernandez wouldn't be bad either but I wouldn't want Colon. He just isn't anywhere close to the Cy Young pitcher he was. He's had a 5+ era in 3 out of the last 4 years and last year his era was higher than Eaton's. He is 34, has a lot of mileage on his arm, and is going downhill even when healthy.
For the announcers, I really liked Franske and have always loved Larry's color commentary. Mathews struggled at first but was very good by season's end.

The Mariners must really want Kuroda. Reports are they flew to Japan to talk to him. I think the Phils are out of the running there.

I liked Wolf when he was good but he's been hurt every year since his last really good year (2003). Two of those years were Tommy John related, but he had shoulder and tendinitis issues the other two. If he gets back anywhere near 2003 form, the Phils will look like geniuses. Wolf probably has no other choices given his injuries, or at least he'd be thinking Philly as his top choice since LA is out. So he probably ends up here. Let's hope he's injury free. I like having another lefty and they can probably get him without a long term contract given his injury history.

So what do we do with Eaton? They're stuck with his contract for 2 more years, right?

I was also a Graham fan but I also liked the job Franske did last year. I finally started to get used to Wheels last year and found him less annoying than I used to. Maybe he made some subtle efforts to be less annoying or something.

Ditto on Feliz - that would be a good move if they can swing it. Maybe with Wolf they can. Also ditto on Colon. He's going nowhere but down. We need one more bullpen move in my opinion but I'm not sure if Riske is it or not.

I agree with John Gill. Let's get Graham back in the booth. He is a Phillie through and through and has a great voice and delivery. He is even used on NFL films just like Harry the K and should be the eventual replacement for him as well. Wheels had him run out of town just for his own benefit, because he thought they would choose Graham over him and he wouldnt get to do play by play and get to the Hall as a broadcaster. Wheels is the one who needs to be run out of town. Its amazing that more reporters and media have not followed through on this story more. The Phils upper management must have put a gag order out on that one. Franzke does good, but he is no Scott Graham.

Pedro Feliz will be 33 in April 2008 and he is seeking a three year deal.

I’m on board with the Pedro Feliz love. Terrible OBP guy, but he’ll give the same power numbers as Lowell, plays the best 3rd in the league and will cost less in years and money. Has David Bell potential though if he starts to lose his power, but he’d probably hit in the 7 or 8 spot anyway.

I'm not down on Colon at all. I think he'd be a great gamble at the right price. Can't go more then 2 years on a deal though.

The Broadcaster discussion is interesting, because it is such a matter of taste. I love the Franzke / LA team. Them and Harry are all I want to listen to now.

I think the plans are moving Eaton to the Pen in long relief which is actually a good move. I'd like to see them add Hernandez before Wolf due to the health aspect of it but then again you know what you're getting in both of them. There are a ton of relievers out there that would fit in great and be a huge upgrade Affeldt, Riske, Dotel for example

i alreday like the back end of our bullpen with madson coming back, gordon and romero setting up lidge...maybe add a middle reliever and another lefty to the bullpen and that area will be cool. I think it's more important to get a starter to last seven innings to get us to our back-end. Randy Wolf is a great pitcher but with his recent injuries i think he's a 6 inning an outing pitcher, would love to see wolf come back but the question is how deep can he take us into games.. we don't want antoher Eaton or Garcia. I probably would have kept Alfonseca or middle relief.

I don't know about Eaton in the bullpen. That sounds more like a move to try and justify his salary than a move that makes sense. You have to figure Condrey will be back as a middle reliever and some of the others we saw, like Zagurski or Rosario will figure in. And Madson will be back. Also, what about Mateo? They kind of buried him last year, probably due to all his off field PR issues. Ignoring his personal history, he seems to have a lot of potential to help. With all those names I don't see a place for Eaton in the pen.

I think the Phils will give Eaton the chance to start in spring training, if healthy. I thought Eaton sucked soooooo bad last year, but that was last year. It sounds crazy, but I think he could rebound to be an average 4 or 5 starter, maybe even better than average. He just needs to refocus and maybe the new year will do him good. It better, cause we're stuck with him!!! And the Phils have to get another lefty in the bullpen. JC can't be counted on as much as he was last year for a whole season, he will break down by seasons end. Internally we got Matt Smith, Zagurski, and Fabio Castro atleast, and of cousre the possibility to sign a FA. But we have to have another lefty along side JC!