The Zo Zone

Alright, we'll have two Durbins that can start and relieve. What are the odds?

I like the Jenkins move. I guess after these moves all the Phillies got left is another starting pitcher, maybe 3B if they can, and maybe another reliever?

Does Chad have a cool nickname like
his brother, the Durbinator?

Jenkins is a decent pickup but he does not make up for the loss of Rowand and Bourn in terms of speed, defense and overall production. Cameron would still look good out there so Jenkins could spell the erratic Burrell throughout the year.

There are Dubin's falling off trees out there. In fact we have another Durbin that fell off a tree.

These acquisitions are okay but insufficient to move significantly forward.

Jenkins is a better hitter than Rowand at half the money. Slight downgrade in OF defense, but a very good signing by the Phils.

another lefty to the lineup! I hope the phillies try to focus on hitting southpaws in spring training because they are gonna see alot of em in the regular season. just about all of our power comes from the left except when burrell actually realizes he's really playing and not dreaming out there

I agree anonymous, we really could have used a solid righty at the plate. I do like Jenkins though, he has pretty good stats and is a hard nose player. The only problem is that he strikes out a litle to much. We already have the King of whiffs, and Pat, and JW, and Helms,and Ruiz,and dare I say Jroll. I think Milt will have his work cut out for him when these guys get to camp. Thompson has got to get these guys to cut down on K's or else we will be stranding a TON of guys on base!!! And Durbin, at least they are loading up on arms, any arm under 38 yrs old will do after last year!

With Burrell and Werth already on board in the OF, they needed a lefty out there.

But a decent right handed bat for the bench, or to add to the 3B mix would be ideal.

Yes, there a lot of K's in the lineup, but that did not keep them from leading the NL in runs scored last year.

The only issues I have with the current Werth/Jenkins and Dobbs/Helms/Bruntlett platoons will be the weekly game where Charlie runs out of bench players by the eighth inning.

ok, i like the jenkins signing, but wouldn't it have made more sense to pursue a possible big right handed bat instead of another lefty in the already lefty heavy lineup?

Durbinator and Durbinator II. Hasta la vista, baby.

Jenkins is good pick.
Jenkins OBP-SLG-%LD-HR/F
.325-.473-19.3%-15% 2004
.375-.513-26.7%-18% 2005
.357-.434-22.3%-13.9% 2006
.319-.471-21.5%-18.2% 2007

Rowand OBP-SLG-%LD-HR/F
.361-.544-19.2%-15.0%
.329-.407-20.5%-8.8%
.321-.425-22.0%-10.5%
.374-.515-19.8%-13.1%

Jenkins is more constant and quite similar, his HR/F rate is very good in Citizen Bank park.
Jenkins is also a better hitter his %LineDrive is very good.
Jenkins is also a fantastic glove this year LF RZR 894 and 41 OOZ, 2006 RF RZR 903 and 43 OOZ he can play RF or LF without problem a perfect fit for Burrell/Werth

I was also wondering why get another lefty bat when we have so many, but if you look at the OF the Phils really only had 1 lefty bat and that was Vic (switch). I do not like his high K rate, but his numbers were at a larger park, so hopefully they will be nice here. I still think Werth is going to have a good year and the OF #'s will be better than last year on O and D. Durbin? I guess you need to fill the arsenal, with what though?

What are the details of the Durbin deal?

With a combo of Durbin and Durbin, I hope it doesn't drive me to the bourbon. Both brothers are at best mediocre. Jenkins can hit. Good signing. We need a third baseman an another potential starting pitcher.

I'm glad there isn't too much negativity about these deals. Jenkins will easily replace Rowand's production. In just 2 more years of MLB service, Jenkins has double the career HR's and RBI's of Rowand, which can only improve at CBP, and he is half as expensive.

Durbin will probably end up in the pen, where he had decent numbers last year. He can spot start if need be or possibly fill in the number 5 slot. I wouldn't mind adding Benson or another arm to compete for the rotation. But the pen is starting to look pretty good.

If they get Benson, then great. But even if not, the Phils should be fine going into next season with the team they have now. The next window to look at should be trade deadline time, when we may need to deal with injuries / out of form players or get someone to put us over the top. Pat's been good at the in-season deals -- and having saved Carasco / Outman / Savery, perhaps he deals one of them for a game-changing player at that time.

Depending on the price, the Durbin deal could easily be smart or stupid. If below 1.5 mil...good job Patty G.

Based on what was available, and the Phils needs, Geoff Jenkins was the correct choice to fill the outfielf void. Werth and Jenkins on paper make perfect platoon buddies. Vic is made for CF too, watch him thrive next season and win a Gold Glove.

The moves aren't all bad. I'd still love them to go out and get Benson & upgrade 3b. I doubt they'll continue to go after Cameron now that Jenkins signed. I think Cameron may be the better player, but you also have to consider he misses the first 25 games. If they can go out and land Benson, then I'd be pretty happy with the rotation. Both Durbins fit in well, and Chad's numbers should improve as he's coming from the AL. That'll provide a couple long relievers who can come in and start if anyone gets hurt.

I expect pat Burrell to have a hugh season because he should be facing alot of left handed pitchers if jenkins hits behind him, you think about it. the days jenkins start, late in the game all the other team needs to do is make the call to the bullpen for a lefty. if we're at the top of our line-up , jroll and vic are switch so they don't matter then you have utley, howard, burrell, jenkins, and possibly dobbs since he's the better hitter out of the 3rd basemen. Charlie is eventually gonna run out of bench players in the 8th inning having have to make alot of match-up moves. don't get me wrong i thing jenkins is a good signing and a good hitter but it just scares me late in the game to have too many lefties and no one is really a threat right-handed

Seems like a good signing to me. Charlie can go to Werth in late innings on days when Jenkins starts. That doesn't seem like a big deal. One thing that worries me is we had three plus fielding CFs on the roster for most of last year. Now we have one. An injury to Victorino could be a problem. I wouldn't mind seeing Durbin as a ong-reliever/spot starter; we're in for a long season if he wins the 5th spot in the rotation, though. If they sign Benson (or someone like him) and Otsuka, I can live with the Helms/Dobbs combo at third.

I am beginning to think that Benson will not happen. The Phils have been on a wait and see approach this offseason and they are not the only teams looking at Benson, someone will snag him before the Phils do.
I do not think it is a positive when you have 4-5 guys (Blackley, Eaton, Durbin, Durbin, Some minor league guy, ???) fighting for 1 spot in the rotation. 5 guys means you take the best performer out of a bunch of no names. If it were 2 guys, usually it is between 2 proven guys.
Jenkins is a good deal, but I too foresee a problem with a lot of lefties in the line-up and no righties to step up. Utley and Howard will never be Pinch hit for, so you are looking at Jenkins or Werth (I like that). then Dobbs, Helms or Bruntlett (Scary). I hope Coste is a big bat off the bench this year!!!