Phillippe Aumont is adjusting nicely to minor league camp as he had an impressive outing yesterday against the double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Aumont pitched 3 perfect innings while striking out 4 and allowed only 1 flyball out. Aumont has seemed to recover nicely from his outing in which he went 2/3 of an inning against FSU and allowed 5 runs.
It has been reported that the Phillies are tinkering with his delivery in hopes to improve his control. The Phillies scouted Aumont when he was in high school and believe that his delivery has significantly changed since then. The Phillies have sat down with Aumont in recent weeks to show him the difference and see if he can get back to what he was doing in high school, which was throwing at more of a 3/4 angle instead of an over the top motion. This occurred because the Mariners organization viewed him as a reliever and wanted to utilize his 4-seam fastball over his sinker. An over the top motion will increase velocity, but will take away from a pitcher's ability to add movement to a pitch, it also increases the chance of injury as it adds pressure on the elbow.
Aumont has an incredible amount of potential as he has 3 pitches (4-seamer, sinker, curveball) that can potentially be viewed as plus pitches. Aumont also throws a changeup but it is a work in progress at this point. The issue with Aumont, similar to almost all young pitchers, is whether or not he can control those pitches. If Aumont can find comfort in his new delivery and control his pitches, the Phillies may have gotten more for Cliff Lee than originally thought. 2010 will be a big year for Aumont's development so it's good news that he's in Reading where they have been known to succeed in developing pitchers.
Showing posts with label Phillippe Aumont. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phillippe Aumont. Show all posts
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Phillies Move Aumont to Starter
The Phillies officially announced on Tuesday that they have plans to convert Phillipe Aumont back to a starter. Aumont was the main prospect involved in the Cliff Lee deal, and has almost unlimited potential. Aumont was drafted by Seattle in 2007, 11th overall, where he started his career as a starting pitcher but was moved to a relief role due to injury concerns. Aumont has pitched very well to date, as he has posted a 3.2 era in 106 innings, while striking out 109 compared to only 91 hits.
Moving Aumont to a starting role makes the Cliff Lee deal look significantly better as starting pitching prospects are much more valuable than relief pitching prospects. Originally it appeared that the Phillies replaced their best pitching prospect in Kyle Drabek, with a good relief pitching prospect. Even though Aumont doesn't appear to be a significant drop off in talent, he represented significantly lesser value as a prospect since he was situated in the bullpen.
2010 is a big year for Aumont because he has the ability to ease the Phillies concerns for losing Drabek. When comparing Aumont to Drabek, they both appear very similar based on pitching ability. Both throw a mid-90s fastball with a 12-6 power curveball and an improving changeup. It seems that in Philadelphia, fans are seriously overrating Drabek's abilities, and underrating Aumont's abilities. Across the board, Aumont has much better statistics, albeit mostly as a reliever, but he has still outperformed Drabek to this point in their minor league careers.
Aumont will start the season in the Reading rotation which should be an exhilarating rotation as the mound will see legitimate prospects every day. I expect the rotation to appear as this in no particular order, Worley, Cisco, Flande, Aumont, and Ramirez. Worley and Flande could start in triple-A but due to the Phillies history of being conservative in player development, I expect them to start in double-A and then be promoted to triple-A. The organization will eventually have to make room in Reading for top pitching prospect, Trevor May. That is assuming that May continues to embarass batters at his current rate, 2.72 era and 10.7 SO/9.
One last thing to note, Aumont is 6'7" and 220 lbs. He is officially the second tallest player in Phillies history, only behind 6'8" Gene Conley who played in the 1960s. That should be fun to watch. The Reading Phillies should be ready to welcome Mount Aumont.
Moving Aumont to a starting role makes the Cliff Lee deal look significantly better as starting pitching prospects are much more valuable than relief pitching prospects. Originally it appeared that the Phillies replaced their best pitching prospect in Kyle Drabek, with a good relief pitching prospect. Even though Aumont doesn't appear to be a significant drop off in talent, he represented significantly lesser value as a prospect since he was situated in the bullpen.
2010 is a big year for Aumont because he has the ability to ease the Phillies concerns for losing Drabek. When comparing Aumont to Drabek, they both appear very similar based on pitching ability. Both throw a mid-90s fastball with a 12-6 power curveball and an improving changeup. It seems that in Philadelphia, fans are seriously overrating Drabek's abilities, and underrating Aumont's abilities. Across the board, Aumont has much better statistics, albeit mostly as a reliever, but he has still outperformed Drabek to this point in their minor league careers.
Aumont will start the season in the Reading rotation which should be an exhilarating rotation as the mound will see legitimate prospects every day. I expect the rotation to appear as this in no particular order, Worley, Cisco, Flande, Aumont, and Ramirez. Worley and Flande could start in triple-A but due to the Phillies history of being conservative in player development, I expect them to start in double-A and then be promoted to triple-A. The organization will eventually have to make room in Reading for top pitching prospect, Trevor May. That is assuming that May continues to embarass batters at his current rate, 2.72 era and 10.7 SO/9.
One last thing to note, Aumont is 6'7" and 220 lbs. He is officially the second tallest player in Phillies history, only behind 6'8" Gene Conley who played in the 1960s. That should be fun to watch. The Reading Phillies should be ready to welcome Mount Aumont.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Newly Added Prospects from Halladay Trade
As I said on my previous post I am now going to go in depth on the prospects that the Phillies received in the Roy Halladay/Cliff Lee trade. The Phillies received three of the top 10 prospects in the Seattle Mariners farm system which is a fair return for Cliff Lee. It is important to note that the Mariners farm system is one of the top farm systems in the league as they have many prospects that project as successful to all-star caliber major league players. The players that the Phillies received in return are centerfielder Tyson Gillies, and pitchers Phillippe Aumont and Juan Ramirez.
In this trade the Phillies were amazingly able to acquire Jimmy McGinty, the deaf tight end from the Replacements. OK, really I am talking about Tyson Gillies, as Gillies is legally deaf, he is 30% deaf in one ear and 60% in the other. Gillies appears to be by far the most impressive of the prospects that the Phillies received. He is a 20 year old centerfielder who was drafted in the 25th round in the 2006 draft out of a Vancouver high school. At first glance he appears to be an elite top of the lineup prospect with an incredibly high ceiling. In 2009 he played in the advanced A-ball league where he absolutely dominated. In 124 games he hit .341 with a .430 on-base percentage while hitting 9 homeruns and 14 triples. Gillies also stole 44 bases and had a .916 OPS. A .916 OPS is incredible for a batter at the top of the order and shows that he has the potential to be a leadoff hitter with some serious pop. Gillies has shown the ability to play great defense in centerfield as he only committed 2 errors compared to an amazing 18 outfield assists in 2009. It is important to note that at the single-A level, most leagues are considered pitcher friendly leagues. Posting the numbers that Gillies had in 2009 is extremely rare and very promising. It is very difficult to not get excited with the possibility of Gillies in the future Phillies lineup. At this point in his minor league career, Gillies appears to be an amazing leadoff hitter as he has incredible speed and a good knowledge of the strikezone as he has posted a .420 obp in his 3 years in the minors. Based on what I have seen thus far, Gillies could potentially become a 5-tool player if he develops a little more power. This isn’t a major need as he is a leadoff hitter, but it’s always nice to have homerun hitting ability. Gillies does not seem to vary too much compared to top Phillies prospect, Domonic Brown. The only difference is that Brown projects to have more power down the line. I guess we’ll see in due time. As Gillies is added to the Phillies farm system, he immediately becomes the Phillies best centerfield prospect, and as I see it, the second best position player prospect only behind Brown. Gillies will start the 2010 season in Reading and could be expected to see Philadelphia by 2012 depending on the needs of the major league squad.
Phillippe Aumont was the most highly touted prospect that the Phillies received as he was the Mariners first round draft pick in 2007 and the 11th overall pick in that draft. He is currently a 6’7” 20 year old righthanded relief pitcher who projects as a potential closer. He throws a mid-90s fastball and has been very impressive in his two years in the minors. He has posted a 3.29 ERA through 2 full seasons since being drafted and has pitched 102 innings while only giving up 91 hits compared to 109 strikeouts. Aumont finished the 2009 season at advanced-A ball as well and should start the season at Reading along with Gillies. Aumont appears to be very polished for his very young age and could be promoted very quickly. The only thing that may hold Aumont back from a quick promotion is that the Phillies’ system boasts multiple quality relief pitching prospects at the AAA and AA level. I can’t see that as an issue from the Phillies perspective, just for Aumont as he could get bored pitching to lesser talent. An interesting situation could occur in the development of Aumont as he did start his minorleague career as a starter but was converted to a reliever half way through the 2008 season. It is very possible that the Phillies have thoughts on converting him back to a starter. It will be interesting to see what happens with Aumont.
The third prospect that the Phillies received in the Halladay trade is 20 year old righthanded pitcher, Juan Ramirez, who was signed out of Nicaragua. Ramirez is the pure definition of a power arm as he throws a hard fastball that sits around 97 mph, a hard slider, and an improving changeup. Ramirez can be erratic at times, but he is 20 years old, most 20 year old pitchers are erratic. He hasn’t quite put it all together as a pitcher because he is still very raw. In his 4 years in the minors, Ramirez has posted a 4.12 era in 406 innings. Even though Ramirez is a bit erratic, batters still have a difficult time hitting him as he has only given up 369 hits in those 406 innings. Ramirez is currently a starter in advanced single-A, but with his power fastball he projects as a good reliever down the road. Ramirez is likely to start in Clearwater and could see a promotion to Reading if he develops his pitches well, especially his slider and changeup.
I was fairly distraught when I became aware that Michael Taylor, Kyle Drabek, and Travis D’Arnaud were traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, but after carefully researching the prospects that the Phillies received in return, I am not quite as devastated. As much as I loved Taylor, Gillies appears to be just as good of an outfield prospect even though he is a different type of prospect as his game is more concentrated on speed than power. Between the loss of Taylor and the addition of Gillies, it appears to be a wash and has no real affect on the farm system in terms of value of prospects. When comparing Drabek to Aumont, both seem to have produced about the same in terms of era, hits per 9 innings, and strikeouts per 9 innings. Drabek possesses much better off speed pitches as he might have the best curveball in the minors, but Aumont has a great fastball and is an intimidating presence on the mound as a 6’7” closer. Both have great abilities but Drabek probably holds slightly more value as he is starting pitcher. Comparing Ramirez to D’Arnaud is pretty pointless as one is a pitcher while the other one being a catcher. Anyways, both have not quite produced to their capabilities but both also have high ceilings and are very raw. Overall, the Phillies lost a marginal amount of value in their farm system, but it was equivalent to the difference in quality between Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay. So all in all, the Phillies stayed about the same but get to keep their ace pitcher for a much longer period.
In this trade the Phillies were amazingly able to acquire Jimmy McGinty, the deaf tight end from the Replacements. OK, really I am talking about Tyson Gillies, as Gillies is legally deaf, he is 30% deaf in one ear and 60% in the other. Gillies appears to be by far the most impressive of the prospects that the Phillies received. He is a 20 year old centerfielder who was drafted in the 25th round in the 2006 draft out of a Vancouver high school. At first glance he appears to be an elite top of the lineup prospect with an incredibly high ceiling. In 2009 he played in the advanced A-ball league where he absolutely dominated. In 124 games he hit .341 with a .430 on-base percentage while hitting 9 homeruns and 14 triples. Gillies also stole 44 bases and had a .916 OPS. A .916 OPS is incredible for a batter at the top of the order and shows that he has the potential to be a leadoff hitter with some serious pop. Gillies has shown the ability to play great defense in centerfield as he only committed 2 errors compared to an amazing 18 outfield assists in 2009. It is important to note that at the single-A level, most leagues are considered pitcher friendly leagues. Posting the numbers that Gillies had in 2009 is extremely rare and very promising. It is very difficult to not get excited with the possibility of Gillies in the future Phillies lineup. At this point in his minor league career, Gillies appears to be an amazing leadoff hitter as he has incredible speed and a good knowledge of the strikezone as he has posted a .420 obp in his 3 years in the minors. Based on what I have seen thus far, Gillies could potentially become a 5-tool player if he develops a little more power. This isn’t a major need as he is a leadoff hitter, but it’s always nice to have homerun hitting ability. Gillies does not seem to vary too much compared to top Phillies prospect, Domonic Brown. The only difference is that Brown projects to have more power down the line. I guess we’ll see in due time. As Gillies is added to the Phillies farm system, he immediately becomes the Phillies best centerfield prospect, and as I see it, the second best position player prospect only behind Brown. Gillies will start the 2010 season in Reading and could be expected to see Philadelphia by 2012 depending on the needs of the major league squad.
Phillippe Aumont was the most highly touted prospect that the Phillies received as he was the Mariners first round draft pick in 2007 and the 11th overall pick in that draft. He is currently a 6’7” 20 year old righthanded relief pitcher who projects as a potential closer. He throws a mid-90s fastball and has been very impressive in his two years in the minors. He has posted a 3.29 ERA through 2 full seasons since being drafted and has pitched 102 innings while only giving up 91 hits compared to 109 strikeouts. Aumont finished the 2009 season at advanced-A ball as well and should start the season at Reading along with Gillies. Aumont appears to be very polished for his very young age and could be promoted very quickly. The only thing that may hold Aumont back from a quick promotion is that the Phillies’ system boasts multiple quality relief pitching prospects at the AAA and AA level. I can’t see that as an issue from the Phillies perspective, just for Aumont as he could get bored pitching to lesser talent. An interesting situation could occur in the development of Aumont as he did start his minorleague career as a starter but was converted to a reliever half way through the 2008 season. It is very possible that the Phillies have thoughts on converting him back to a starter. It will be interesting to see what happens with Aumont.
The third prospect that the Phillies received in the Halladay trade is 20 year old righthanded pitcher, Juan Ramirez, who was signed out of Nicaragua. Ramirez is the pure definition of a power arm as he throws a hard fastball that sits around 97 mph, a hard slider, and an improving changeup. Ramirez can be erratic at times, but he is 20 years old, most 20 year old pitchers are erratic. He hasn’t quite put it all together as a pitcher because he is still very raw. In his 4 years in the minors, Ramirez has posted a 4.12 era in 406 innings. Even though Ramirez is a bit erratic, batters still have a difficult time hitting him as he has only given up 369 hits in those 406 innings. Ramirez is currently a starter in advanced single-A, but with his power fastball he projects as a good reliever down the road. Ramirez is likely to start in Clearwater and could see a promotion to Reading if he develops his pitches well, especially his slider and changeup.
I was fairly distraught when I became aware that Michael Taylor, Kyle Drabek, and Travis D’Arnaud were traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, but after carefully researching the prospects that the Phillies received in return, I am not quite as devastated. As much as I loved Taylor, Gillies appears to be just as good of an outfield prospect even though he is a different type of prospect as his game is more concentrated on speed than power. Between the loss of Taylor and the addition of Gillies, it appears to be a wash and has no real affect on the farm system in terms of value of prospects. When comparing Drabek to Aumont, both seem to have produced about the same in terms of era, hits per 9 innings, and strikeouts per 9 innings. Drabek possesses much better off speed pitches as he might have the best curveball in the minors, but Aumont has a great fastball and is an intimidating presence on the mound as a 6’7” closer. Both have great abilities but Drabek probably holds slightly more value as he is starting pitcher. Comparing Ramirez to D’Arnaud is pretty pointless as one is a pitcher while the other one being a catcher. Anyways, both have not quite produced to their capabilities but both also have high ceilings and are very raw. Overall, the Phillies lost a marginal amount of value in their farm system, but it was equivalent to the difference in quality between Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay. So all in all, the Phillies stayed about the same but get to keep their ace pitcher for a much longer period.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Halladay Trade Complete. Finally
THE PHILLIES ACQUIRE GILLIES. I just wanted to be the only person to not start their trade article with the introduction of “Happy Halladays.” The trade cannot be made official until all players pass their physicals, but the trade in principal has been agreed upon and all players that are involved are finally known. This was an incredibly weird trade as it was incorrectly reported as a three team trade. In fact this is not a three team trade; it is the Phillies making two separate trades. When it is all said and done the outcome will appear like this.
Phillies Get:
Harry Halladay. Oh you didn’t know that was his name huh
Tyson Gillies. Centerfield prospect from the Mariners
Phillippe Aumont. Pitching prospect from the Mariners
Juan Ramirez. Pitching prospect from the Mariners
$6 million from Blue Jays to pay Roy Halladay’s contract
Mariners Get:
Cliff Lee
Blue Jays Get:
Kyle Drabek. Pitching prospect from the Phillies
Michael Taylor. Outfield prospect from the Phillies
Travis D’Arnaud. Catching prospect from the Phillies.
This trade started off so simple and it grew right in front of our eyes almost as quickly as Robin Williams in the movie Jack. Originally, the Phillies were giving up only Cliff Lee and receiving only Roy Halladay. This seemed fair and benefitted the Phillies because as great as Lee is, Halladay does represent a marginal improvement. On the other end of the table, the Jays would receive whatever prospects the Phillies were given for Cliff Lee. That all seemed simple enough but the Jays felt that they were not receiving enough in return for Halladay, and I can’t disagree with that at all. The trade really took off from there as the Jays were not satisfied on the collection of prospects the Mariners were delivering. From here, the Jays started to demand certain prospects from the Phillies organization. The Phillies were originally hesitant to release some of their elite prospects but were committed to complete this deal, so they eventually let their top pitching and catching prospects go in Drabek and D’Arnaud. The Phillies were also asked to give up outfielder Domonic Brown as well, who is their top overall prospect. The Phillies were never willing to allow Brown to leave so they decided to trade outfielder Michael Taylor instead. This truly hurts and it took a lot of time for me to get over the loss of Michael Taylor, but I held it together and did not cry. I eventually accepted this, it helps that the Phillies still have Brown and many other good outfield prospects. At this point in the trade it was apparent that the Jays were more than satisfied in their return but the Phillies were giving up way too much for only one player. This then led to the Phillies renegotiating with the Mariners for more prospects just as the Jays were doing before. The Phillies ended up receiving 3 of the Mariners’ top 10 prospects in Tyson Gillies, Phillippe Aumont, and Juan Ramirez.
In the end, these seemed to be fair trades for all teams involved. The Jays received a good amount of the Phillies’ elite prospects for Roy Halladay, the Phillies received Roy Halladay, the Mariners received Cliff Lee, and the Phillies received a good amount of the Mariners’ elite prospects.
It is funny because none of this insanity would have ever been created if Cliff Lee was willing to resign with the Phillies without going into free agency. Halladay, on the other hand, has already agreed to a 3 year extension worth $60 million which is much less than he would receive on the open market. Lee was an amazing pitcher for the Phillies, especially during the postseason. There are only a few pitchers in this league that are better than Lee, fortunately Halladay is one of those few and there are absolutely no questions that come with Halladay. I feel no need to validate that comment with statistics as I feel my readers are intelligent enough to know this. You’re welcome.
Once I became aware that this was not a three team trade and the Phillies were trading away Lee because of salary restrictions, I became infuriated with Phillies ownership. I understand the purpose of a budget and that it needs to be obeyed but it’s just not nice to acknowledge as a fan. After seeing how this trade finally ended up, I understand that trading away Lee was imperative. If the Lee trade did not occur, the Phillies would have lost too much of their farm system and the Phillies’ window of success would be seriously limited. It could have been possible that the Desi Relaford days would be revisited. Just kidding, the Phillies farm system is incredibly deep and the future remains strong.
All in all, this trade is about as fair as can be in terms of value given up and value received. It is obvious that swapping Lee with Halladay is a marginal increase. Lee has been incredible but Halladay has proven to be a cy young candidate every year. In terms of the minorleague players that were turned over throughout this trade, the Phillies gave some great prospects to the Jays but received some great prospects from the Mariners. It appears at initial glance that the Phillies farm system declined marginally. Actually, the difference that the Phillies farm system declined, seems to be the exact difference between Halladay and Lee. With almost no difference in the value received compared to value lost, the Phillies still come out significantly better because they have Halladay under control for at least three more years than they would have had Lee.
I would like to state that after a little over one season of Ruben Amaro Jr. as general manager, he has done an immaculate job. Very little was known about him and the expectations weren’t necessarily too high as he didn’t have any previous general managing experience. I can say that after being hired after the 2008 season, Amaro is questionably the best general manager in all of baseball. Yes, I did just make that claim and don’t believe it to be sensationalistic at all. Some moves that he has made were questioned but ever single move that he has made has worked out. He resigned Werth, Howard, Hamels, Eyre, Madsen, and Lidge to very reasonable contracts. Yes, even though Lidge and Hamels had subpar 2009 seasons, their contracts are still reasonable based on their career numbers. The Ibanez signing was immediately put into question but he clearly outperformed his contract, at least through the first year of it. The addition of Park and Pedro proved to be extremely valuable come the end of 2009. No words can even describe how great the original Lee deal was. This current deal cannot truly be evaluated for sometime but I can’t forecast a realistic situation where the Phillies end up losing. I feel that based on Amaro’s very brief career as the Phillies general manager, he has made great decisions and Phillies fans should be overjoyed that he is taking the Phillies far past their inferior competitors.
In my next post I will go in depth with the minor league players that the Phillies received.
Phillies Get:
Harry Halladay. Oh you didn’t know that was his name huh
Tyson Gillies. Centerfield prospect from the Mariners
Phillippe Aumont. Pitching prospect from the Mariners
Juan Ramirez. Pitching prospect from the Mariners
$6 million from Blue Jays to pay Roy Halladay’s contract
Mariners Get:
Cliff Lee
Blue Jays Get:
Kyle Drabek. Pitching prospect from the Phillies
Michael Taylor. Outfield prospect from the Phillies
Travis D’Arnaud. Catching prospect from the Phillies.
This trade started off so simple and it grew right in front of our eyes almost as quickly as Robin Williams in the movie Jack. Originally, the Phillies were giving up only Cliff Lee and receiving only Roy Halladay. This seemed fair and benefitted the Phillies because as great as Lee is, Halladay does represent a marginal improvement. On the other end of the table, the Jays would receive whatever prospects the Phillies were given for Cliff Lee. That all seemed simple enough but the Jays felt that they were not receiving enough in return for Halladay, and I can’t disagree with that at all. The trade really took off from there as the Jays were not satisfied on the collection of prospects the Mariners were delivering. From here, the Jays started to demand certain prospects from the Phillies organization. The Phillies were originally hesitant to release some of their elite prospects but were committed to complete this deal, so they eventually let their top pitching and catching prospects go in Drabek and D’Arnaud. The Phillies were also asked to give up outfielder Domonic Brown as well, who is their top overall prospect. The Phillies were never willing to allow Brown to leave so they decided to trade outfielder Michael Taylor instead. This truly hurts and it took a lot of time for me to get over the loss of Michael Taylor, but I held it together and did not cry. I eventually accepted this, it helps that the Phillies still have Brown and many other good outfield prospects. At this point in the trade it was apparent that the Jays were more than satisfied in their return but the Phillies were giving up way too much for only one player. This then led to the Phillies renegotiating with the Mariners for more prospects just as the Jays were doing before. The Phillies ended up receiving 3 of the Mariners’ top 10 prospects in Tyson Gillies, Phillippe Aumont, and Juan Ramirez.
In the end, these seemed to be fair trades for all teams involved. The Jays received a good amount of the Phillies’ elite prospects for Roy Halladay, the Phillies received Roy Halladay, the Mariners received Cliff Lee, and the Phillies received a good amount of the Mariners’ elite prospects.
It is funny because none of this insanity would have ever been created if Cliff Lee was willing to resign with the Phillies without going into free agency. Halladay, on the other hand, has already agreed to a 3 year extension worth $60 million which is much less than he would receive on the open market. Lee was an amazing pitcher for the Phillies, especially during the postseason. There are only a few pitchers in this league that are better than Lee, fortunately Halladay is one of those few and there are absolutely no questions that come with Halladay. I feel no need to validate that comment with statistics as I feel my readers are intelligent enough to know this. You’re welcome.
Once I became aware that this was not a three team trade and the Phillies were trading away Lee because of salary restrictions, I became infuriated with Phillies ownership. I understand the purpose of a budget and that it needs to be obeyed but it’s just not nice to acknowledge as a fan. After seeing how this trade finally ended up, I understand that trading away Lee was imperative. If the Lee trade did not occur, the Phillies would have lost too much of their farm system and the Phillies’ window of success would be seriously limited. It could have been possible that the Desi Relaford days would be revisited. Just kidding, the Phillies farm system is incredibly deep and the future remains strong.
All in all, this trade is about as fair as can be in terms of value given up and value received. It is obvious that swapping Lee with Halladay is a marginal increase. Lee has been incredible but Halladay has proven to be a cy young candidate every year. In terms of the minorleague players that were turned over throughout this trade, the Phillies gave some great prospects to the Jays but received some great prospects from the Mariners. It appears at initial glance that the Phillies farm system declined marginally. Actually, the difference that the Phillies farm system declined, seems to be the exact difference between Halladay and Lee. With almost no difference in the value received compared to value lost, the Phillies still come out significantly better because they have Halladay under control for at least three more years than they would have had Lee.
I would like to state that after a little over one season of Ruben Amaro Jr. as general manager, he has done an immaculate job. Very little was known about him and the expectations weren’t necessarily too high as he didn’t have any previous general managing experience. I can say that after being hired after the 2008 season, Amaro is questionably the best general manager in all of baseball. Yes, I did just make that claim and don’t believe it to be sensationalistic at all. Some moves that he has made were questioned but ever single move that he has made has worked out. He resigned Werth, Howard, Hamels, Eyre, Madsen, and Lidge to very reasonable contracts. Yes, even though Lidge and Hamels had subpar 2009 seasons, their contracts are still reasonable based on their career numbers. The Ibanez signing was immediately put into question but he clearly outperformed his contract, at least through the first year of it. The addition of Park and Pedro proved to be extremely valuable come the end of 2009. No words can even describe how great the original Lee deal was. This current deal cannot truly be evaluated for sometime but I can’t forecast a realistic situation where the Phillies end up losing. I feel that based on Amaro’s very brief career as the Phillies general manager, he has made great decisions and Phillies fans should be overjoyed that he is taking the Phillies far past their inferior competitors.
In my next post I will go in depth with the minor league players that the Phillies received.
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