With pitchers and catchers set to report to Clearwater, Florida in a little over a
month for spring training, its time to start the baseball chatter here in Philadelphia.
This kicks off part one of a series called “Making Sense of the Phillies
Offseason Acquisitions” where we will look into each move the Phillies have made so far while baseball has not been in session.
The Phillies have not made any big splashes so far this
offseason, rare for General Manager, Ruben Amaro Jr, but the organization has made some quality acquisitions to
improve their ball club.
| Photo: CrossingBroad |
The corner outfield spots remain a vivid concern, though.
As
we sit here today, the Phillies project to have a double-platoon in left and
right field entering spring training, consisting of Darin Ruf, John Mayberry Jr., Domonic Brown and
Laynce Nix, which has all of us scratching our heads. ------->
That does not sound all that pleasing and currently, I still
do not see the Phillies as a playoff team in 2013, but I do believe they are a
better team then the squad that won 81 games a season ago.
Heading into the winter meetings in December, Amaro Jr. admitted that improving the teams outfield was
at the top of his to-do list.
With a free agent outfield class headlined by Josh Hamilton, Michael
Bourn, B.J. Upton, Nick Swisher, Cody Ross and Angel Pagan, there were
certainly highly valued players on the market that could improve a teams ball
club.
The only problem was the amount of dollars the respective
players and agents were/are demanding on the open market.
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| Photo:DallasNews |
Josh Hamilton was the biggest fish in the free agent pond and the Los Angeles Angeles reeled him in after the two parties agreed to a
five-year $125 million contract-A figure far too high for a player who has a shaky and injury prone past.
B.J. Upton, who the Phillies voiced interest in inked a
five-year deal worth $75 million. A hefty contract for a player who has a
career .255 BA and has never hit more than 30 homeruns in a season.
Nick Swisher and the Cleveland Indians agreed on a
four-year, $56 million deal. Now don’t get me wrong, Swisher is a good player
coming off a 24 homer, 93 RBI season and brings a positive personality to the
clubhouse, but the price tag for Swisher was a little much for the Phils’ liking.
Cody Ross tortured the Phillies in the 2010 NLCS and hit
.267 with 22 homeruns and 81 RBI’s last season for the Boston Red Sox, but is
he worth 3-years, $26 million? I say no, but you make the call.
Centerfielder Angel Pagan was said to be high on the
Phillies wish list, but at 4-years, $45 million, is he the guy you want to see
roaming center field with the aforementioned price tag? Pagan played a huge
role for the Giants in their World Series run, hitting .288 with 8 homeruns, 56
RBI’s, 15 triples and 29 stolen bases. Pagan also has a great speed in the
outfield with a nice arm and a good glove, but not a move I would have been crazy
about.
Michael Bourn is still on the market, but as a client of
mega agent Scott Boras, Bourn will get a contract similar to that of B.J.
Upton’s 5-year, $75 million deal.
Enter Phillies center fielder, Ben Revere.
The Phillies traded right handed starting pitcher Vance
Worley and minor league starting pitcher, Trevor May to the Twins in exchange
for Revere on December, 6th. Some claim that the Phillies overpaid
for Revere, who has never been a full time starter in his three year Major
League career by trading Worley and May, but I do not necessarily agree with that
sentiment.
As a rookie in 2011, Worley went 11-3 with a 3.01 ERA and
provided the Phightins with a solid back of the rotation starter, but last
season, Worley was 6-9 with a 4.20 ERA and was shut down early because of bone
chips in his elbow that required a surgical procedure.
Cole Hamels had the same procedure done following the 2011
season, so its not a serious injury, but Hamels pitched through it effectively,
while Worley struggled mightily.
The Phillies were a little worried about Worley’s elbow
injury and saw him as a solid trade chip
Worley is not a hard thrower, rarely exceeding 92-93 MPH on
the radar gun and relies heavily on hitting the corners of the plate with
movement and pinpoint location.
We have seen that the movement on his fastball and changeup
are very effective, but his stuff, nor his numbers are eye popping-A solid
pitcher? Yes, but I don’t see Worley ever being better than a number three
starter in MLB.
May on the other hand was a fourth round pick back in 2008
and at 6-5, 215 lbs. has a powerful arm with a solid curveball in his repertoire.
Heading into 2012, May was the 69th rated
prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America, but struggled to find success
at AA Reading.
May started 28 games for Reading, going 10-13 with a 4.87
Era and struck out 151 batters in 149.2 innings.
May owns a career 3.92 ERA in the minor leagues and has a
high ceiling, but I find it concerning that he struggled the way he did last
season at AA.
Revere is a former 2007 first round draft pick and has never
played a full season at the major league level, but is coming of a solid year
with the Twins in which he played in 124 games, starting 118 of them.
Revere can play all three-outfield positions and played in
84 games in right field, 39 games in center field and 5 games in left field. He
had 8 outfield assists, 6 coming from right field, 2 coming from center field
and had no errors in the field.
Revere made 553 plate appearances, with 511 official at bats,
striking out only 54 times and managed to hit .294, with 13 doubles, 6 triples,
32 RBI’s, 70 runs scored and a .333 on base percentage. (OBP)
Revere’s .333 OBS would have ranked fourth on the team with
players that recorded at least 300 at bats (Juan Pierre, Chase Utley and Carlos
Ruiz) but didn’t hit a single home run.
Revere did have a 21 game hit streak late in the season with
the Twins.
Revere has great speed in both the outfield and on the base
paths, swiping 40 bags in ’12 and his 40 stolen bases would have been the most
out of any Phillies player last season, but has a weak-throwing arm from the
outfield.
Another plus about the acquisition of Revere is that he is
young and affordable. At 24 years old, (turns 25 on May 3rd) Revere
made just $492,500 dollars in ’12.
Positives:
-Revere is coming off a good year at the plate (.294 BA)
-Gets on base
-Makes good contact
-Does not strike out often
-Can steal bases
-Has an above average glove
-Is young
-Comes at a cheap price
-Flexible in where you can put him in the lineup
Negatives:
-Revere has never played a full season in the Major Leagues
-Has a below average arm from the outfield
-Hits a lot of ground balls
-Has no power
-At 5-9, 170 lbs, is Revere durable to last 140+ games?
My thoughts:
I think this was a good move for Philadelphia. The Phillies
got a young player with a high ceiling, who is coming off a good year.
Obviously, the “small ball” oriented Phillies did not work out last season, but
Revere brings a patient presence to lineup club that has not been patient at
the dish in recent years.
Revere is a nice all around player with the exception of his
power and throwing arm and reminds me of a Juan Pierre, Michael Bourn type of
player. Now lets not blow that out of proportion, but Revere has very similar
numbers to Bourn through their first three years in the big leagues.
I think Revere has the chance to be good. Whether he can be
a full time starter is up in the air, but he will get that chance in 2013. If
that comes to fruition, it will be a great move for the Phillies given the
pieces they gave up and the money they owe Revere compared to some of the crazy
price tags other outfielders demanded this offseason.
Revere is not a guy who can lift the outfield production to
new heights, but he is a solid piece, especially if Brown, Ruf, Mayberry and
Nix can step up to have a big year, or if the Phillies can bring in a corner
outfielder that has some solid pop via trade.
Phillies fans have come to learn that you can’t put anything
past GM Ruben Amaro Jr.
Next up on “Making Sense of the Phillies Offseason
Acquisitions” we will look at the trade for Texas Rangers third baseman,
Michael Young.
Stay tuned!
What are your thoughts on Ben Revere?
Leave a comment or tweet me @BallSoHardPHI
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