Monthly Archive for June, 2009

Chris Pronger - Born to be a Flyer

The Flyers made a major move on Thursday night, acquiring Chris Pronger and Ryan Dingle from the Ducks for Joffrey Lupul (Hey, Gary Bettman, it’s Joffrey, not Jeffrey), Luca Sbisa, two first rounders and a third. I absolutely love the deal.

Pronger brings a dimension of size, skill and nastiness to the Flyers’ blueline that they’ve been lacking for decades. He’s 34-years old and has one year remaining on his deal, I understand that. But one thing I’ve always loved about the Flyers is that they are never afraid to go for it. Remember the battles Derian Hatcher had with Sidney Crosby during the first two years of Sid’s career? Pronger will take that to a whole new level. Between Ray Emery and Prongs, I’m willing to bet Crosby won’t be scoring too many goals from inside the blue paint in the crease this season.

I understand that some people are upset that the Flyers gave up a lot for the big man. Honestly, the only piece I’m sorry to see go is Sbisa. Lupul is a nice player but very streaky. The Flyers also had six 20-goal scorers last season so he was expendable. Dumping his contract is also a plus ($4.25M for each of the next four seasons).

Sbisa will become a quality NHL player but I’d trade him for Pronger at any point in either ones career. The Flyers have traded away first round picks for veterans before and not regretted it. Dainius Zubrus for Mark Recchi, Mike Ricci for Eric Lindros, Maxime Ouellet for Adam Oates to name a few. The first round picks I can live without, especially since they are somewhere in the 20s.

And who remembers what the Oilers or Ducks traded away in order to acquire Pronger? The only thing people remember is that he played like a beast and took his teams to new heights.

In fact, in his only season in Edmonton, he led the Oilers to Game 7 of the Finals. And then in his first year in Anaheim, the Ducks won the Cup…I can’t wait to see how his first year in Philly plays out.

Besides Mike Richards, there was one guy I always thought was meant to be a Flyer and that was Chris Pronger….and now he’s in orange and black.

Here’s a description of Dingle from Philadelphiaflyers.com

Philadelphia also acquired young forward and prospect Ryan Dingle in the deal. Dingle, 25, posted 18 points (11G,7A) in 70 regular season games with the Iowa Chops of the AHL in 2008-09. He has a total of 25 points (12G, 13A) in 93 regular season games in the AHL with the Portland Pirates (2006-07 to 2007-08) and Iowa (2008-09).

“He’s a little spark plug,” said Pronger of Dingle. “He’s a skilled guy, very fast, competitive guy. In training camp last year he had a great camp with us and opened a lot of eyes.”

A native of Steamboat Springs, CO, Dingle was a member of the University of Denver Pioneers’ 2005 NCAA National Championship team with current Flyers defenseman Matt Carle.

“We had our choice of a couple different guys, and I like Ryan,” said Holmgren. “He’s a good young player. Certainly he’s not a throw-in per se, because he’s a guy that we do have some time for.”

Notes

  • Pronger was a teammate of John Stevens on the 1993-94 Hartford Whalers where his first pro head coach was….Paul Holmgren.
  • This is the second time Lupul and Pronger have been traded for each other.
  • Matt Carle will switch from #25 to #20, and Pronger will get to wear 25.
  • It will be interesting to see how the Flyers handle the salary cap (Danny Briere, Mike Knuble, Andrew Alberts, backup goalie, etc) with future moves this summer.
Published
by
Bill
on June 27, 2009
in Flyers
. 0 Comments

Amaro’s mound moves ain’t panning out

When Ruben Amaro was appointed general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies shortly after the team’s 2008 World Series victory, he knew the only way his inaugural season would be considered a success was if the Phillies managed to make it back to the World Series. Not an enviable position to be in considering the difficulties involved in repeating, let alone making it back to the World Series two consecutive years in a row.

So far, the only successful move Amaro has made is the signing of Raul Ibanez to replace Pat Burrell. But given former GM and current Senior Advisor to the GM Pat Gillick’s ties with the Seattle Mariners, you would have to be fooling yourself if you didn’t think Gillick played a key role in the Phillies decision to sign Ibanez to, at the time a very questionable, a 3-year, $30 million deal.

When analyzing Amaro’s three off-season moves made to bolster the pitching staff, you would need to give him a big fat F. Amaro never should have resigned Jamie Moyer as he passed over established top of the rotation starters like Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez and Brad Penny in order to resign the 46-year-old lefty. The Ronnie Paulino for Jack Taschner trade is looking worse by the minute as Taschner continues to struggle, while Paulino is successfully platooning with John Baker down in Florida. And Chan Ho Park has been a colossal bust as a starter and the jury is still out on him as a relief pitcher.

Let’s take a closer look at the players involved.

Jack Taschner has given up 25 hits and 17 walks in just 23 innings. His ERA is a deceiving 4.56 since many of the runs he has surrendered get charged to other pitchers. Other than Brad Lidge, he is the only regular relief pitcher on the team without a hold… and it’s not for a lack of opportunities. During Friday’s loss the Orioles, there was no hold on the line. Instead, he was just plain awful to start the 9th inning surrendering three more runs essentially eliminating any chance of a 9th inning comeback.

Ronnie Paulino was traded for Jack Taschner at the end of spring training after he failed to beat out Chris Coste for the back up catcher position. So far he has been great for the Marlins in a L-R platoon with John Baker.

Paulino - .290, 4 HR, 14 RBIs in 100 at-bats

Coste - .250, 2 HR 7 RBIs in 84 at-bats

Defensively, it’s not even close, as Coste is well below average with three passed balls already, not to mention his penchant for calling the wrong pitch in key late inning situations.

The Chan Ho Park experiment as a starting pitcher ended quickly as he was replaced by J.A Happ in the rotation following a string of ineffective starts. Overall he has given up 57 hits and 24 walks in 48.1 innings with a 6.14 ERA. Despite the struggles in the rotation, the South Korean righty has shown signs of life during his few appearances out of the bullpen.

Last but not least, we have Jamie Moyer. He has given up 93 hits and 18 walks in 72.1 innings with a 6.35 ERA in 13 starts. His WHIP (walks and hits per inning) is 1.53, highest among the starters. Perhaps what hurts the most is his inability to pitch past the 6th inning.

The Phillies are 36-29 and two games up on the New York Mets. However, the team has lost four in a row at home, and 6 of their last 7 to post a horrific 13-20 home record. The starting rotation statistically is dead last in ERA and next to last in innings pitched. With Brett Myers out for the season and the bullpen on the verge of imploding from overuse, it’s time for Amaro to be proactive and not wait until the trade deadline to make a move for pitching.

The starting pitching market has been analyzed to death so we don’t need to rehash it, but how about another late inning reliever with electric stuff such as San Diego’s Heath Bell. He’s cheap, reliable and can certainly be pried away from the Padres for a top prospect or two. Even a work horse like Arizona’s John Rausch would provide a huge boost to the depleted and overworked bullpen. Despite the surprising start by Clay Condrey (now on the DL), he has shown in his past two outings that he is in way over his head pitching in crucial situations that both Bell and Rausch are better suited for. Condrey needs to return to his role from last season as a long relief and/or 6th inning guy.

So far, Amaro has not shown the ability to make the right moves. Let’s be honest, Ibanez has turned out to be better than anyone could have imagined, but offense has never been this teams problem.  The Phillies’ chance at making it back to the World Series to try to defend the crown now lies in the hands of Amaro. Will he be as successful as his predessesor Pat Gillick, whose mid-season acquisitions of Joe Blanton, Matt Stairs and Scott Eyre all played key roles in winning the championship last season. Or will his moves turn out to backfire like his off-season moves of Moyer, Taschner and Park?

Published
by
Chris
on June 23, 2009
in Phillies
. 0 Comments

Rod Barajas? Really?

Unlike the Eagles who never seem to get f’d by the players they dump, the Phillies sure are getting it up the rear lately.

Former Philadelphia pariahs, Rod “Block that plate” Barajas and Scott “P*ssy” Rolen came into town this week and wreaked havoc on the Phillies now tenuous hold on first place in the NL East.

Rolen had the game winning hit against the Phils on Tuesday, and Barajas hit the game-winning home run this afternoon on an 0-2 Ryan Madson fastball.

The two combined to go 10-for-23, with 2 doubles, 3 homers, and 8 RBI’s.

Rod freakin’ Barajas!

This is certainly the low point of the 2009 season, and I can only hope we look back at this at September and are able to say “Hey, remember when Barajas killed us in June? Man I thought they were done. Boy was I wrong.”

Published
by
Jared
on June 18, 2009
in Phillies
. 0 Comments

The Pros and Cons of Bringing on Ray Emery

The Flyers reportedly will sign goalie Ray Emery to a one-year contract as soon as the free-agent period opens on July 1. No financial terms were available as of yet.

Playing for Atlant Mytischi of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) last season, Emery posted a 2.12 goals against average and .920 save percentage with a record of 22-8.

Talks with Marty Biron continue, but it is believed he is asking for too much money and a long-term deal that the Flyers are not willing to accommodate.

Emery, a Hamilton, Ont. native, is 71-40-14 lifetime with a 2.71 GAA and eight shutouts in 134 NHL games. The Senators waived him after a rocky 2007-08 season despite having two years left on his deal.

Emery helped lead the Sens to the Stanley Cup final in 2007, but then a wrist injury and a series of issues led to dissension within the dressing room. His goals-against average ballooned to 3.13, with a lowly .890 save percentage in 31 games in ‘07-08.

There are two ways to look at this….

The Positive
Philly is his kind of town, and he’s our type of player. He fights and battles like Ron Hextall. Maybe Biron took the Flyers as far as he could go….it could be time to move on. The current Flyers team is lacking in personality and Emery certainly could provide some.

He once ate a cockroach in the locker room to win a $500 bet from Daniel Alfredsson. He is covered in tattoos, has a pet python, drives fast cars and once had Mike Tyson painted on his mask.

The Negative
He’s been pulled over 30 times by his count during a two-year span…Had a road rage incident with a 65-year old motorist. He’s been a notorious night owl who has been late for practices and missed team planes. Depending on who you ask, he is either a good teammate or a clubhouse cancer.

Biron was one of the most popular players in the room. Ottawa is a franchise similar to the Flyers in that goaltending has been their achilles heel over the last ten years, and aside from the ‘07 playoff run, Emery was not the answer there.

But the big question is…Can he play?

Fans in Philadelphia seem to be far less enthusiastic about this than when the Sixers hired Eddie Jordan to a chorus of crickets and tumbleweeds blowing through South Philly.

The fact remains that the franchise has not had a consistent stud goalie since Hextall. Biron may not have been the reason the Flyers lost in each of the last two playoff years, but he certainly didn’t carry the team on his back.

Interestingly, Emery may be best remembered for his fight with Biron a few years back…and this year he went after a trainer…

The Flyers are strapped by the cap. Mike Knuble is a free agent that the club wants to re-sign. Rumors remain that Jay Bouwmeester is still on their wishlist. Where will the cap space come from?

Biron and Antero Niittymaki are both UFAs this summer. Biron made $3.5 million last season, while Niittymaki earned $1.225 million. Emery is a cheaper alternative which would free up space to concentrate on the blueline and/or adding a faceoff man.

If Emery does become a Flyer, one thing is for certain…it will be interesting to see how it plays out, one way or another.

Just for fun, here are the contracts of some other goalies rumored to be on the move or free agents this summer…

JS Giguere
Making 6.0M next season and 7.0 the year after

Kari Lehtonen
Restricted free agent after making $3.0 Million in 08-09

Nik Khabibulin
UFA after making $6.75 this season

Josh Harding
Restricted free agent after making $750K this season

Craig Anderson
UFA after making $575K this season

Roberto Luongo
1 year remaining on deal at $7.5 million

Scott Clemmensen
UFA after making $500K this season

Jaroslav Halak
Will make $800K in 09-10 before becoming RFA

Carey Price
Will make $850K in 09-10 before becoming RFA

Source: NHLNumbers.com

Published
by
Bill
on June 8, 2009
in Flyers
. 0 Comments

For once, Phillies’ post-World Series future is bright

The Philadelphia Phillies future is brighter than ever. With one championship already under their belt, Cole Hamels wasn’t kidding when he said he expects to be able to have a parade year after year after year.

With the bulk of the current core of stars all signed through the 2011 season this team is a legitimate threat to make another run at a World Series for years to come.

But that’s not what makes the Phillies future so bright necessarily. Just as they did with the current team of homegrown talent that includes everyday players Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Carlos Ruiz as well as pitchers Cole Hamels, JA Happ and Ryan Madson, the team looks like they have a second wave of core players emerging in the minor leagues.

With the team being involved in just about every trade rumor involving a top flight pitcher the Phillies minor league system is being analyzed as much as it’s ever been  lately. Out of nowhere, the Phillies have rapidly developed a group of top tier, blue chip prospects that scouts are labeling as potential stars at the major league level.

Outfielder Dominic Brown, 21, is currently the Phillies top prospect, followed by starting pitcher Kyle Drabek, 21, outfielder Michael Taylor, 23, catcher Travis D’Arnaud, 20, and recently promoted starter Antonio Bastardo, 22. All five have been described as having the potential to make an impact at the major league level.

That none of these players were widely known at this time last year to but only the most die-hard Phillies fans says a lot about how far the minor league system has come in such a short time. It wasn’t too long ago when the team had virtually nothing of interest for potential trading partners when it came time to discuss possible mid-season trades. Hence the Jamie Moyer’s, Kyle Lohse’s, and Joe Blanton’s of the world (although they all seemed to work out).

Infielder Jason Donald, 24, catcher Lou Marson, 22, and pitcher Carlos Carrasco, 22, once the Phillies most prized minor league prospects, have all become expendable.

Last season’s emergence of D’Arnaud has given the Phils hope that Marson’s talent could be replaced. Carrasco, who is struggling mightily at Triple-A, has been surpassed by both Bastardo and Drabek.

Donald unfortunately is caught up in a numbers game. He certainly isn’t going to replace Utley or Rollins anytime soon, and with Pedro Feliz playing at such a high level this season, it seems more and more likely the team will pick up his club option for 2010.

The fact that we haven’t even mentioned outfielders John Mayberry Jr., 25, Anthony Gose, 18, Zach Collier, 18, infielder Anthony Hewitt, 20, or pitchers Joe Savery, 23, Tyler Cloyd, 22, Vance Worley, 21, and Jason Knapp, 19, is a testament to how strong the Phillies minor league system has become.

In a perfect world, the Phillies hope they can acquire a top flight pitcher with some sort of combination of Donald, Marson and Carrasco, but in reality, the team may have to part with one or more of the organization’s “new” top five prospects.

The timing of the future Phillies expected arrival in the majors also seems fortuitous.

Taylor is on schedule to be major league ready at the time Jayson Werth’s two year deal expires in 2010. Brown is on schedule when Raul Ibanez’s three year deal ends in 2011. Bastardo is already getting a chance to show what he can do, and Drabek was just promoted to Double-A Reading where he pitched 7 shutout innings in his debut. Their impending arrivals coincide with Brett Myers potentially leaving as a free agent after this season.

No Phils World Series team has been positioned so well to continue their success than this iteration.

The 1980 team was the culmination of years of strong minor league development - Mike Schmidt, Bob Boone, Larry Bowa, Greg Luzinski, Lonnie Smith, and Keith Moreland - but the coffers were dry by 1981.

The 1983 team was a over-the-hill gang with little help coming from the farm. The early 80’s drafts were rife with Henry Powell, Johnny Abrego, and John Russell-type talent.

The ‘93 surprise was built on toughness, career years, and, lets face it, steroids. Youngsters like Tyler Green, Mike Williams, Mike Lieberthal, and Kevin Stocker were rising to the majors, but even at the time none were really considered future cornerstones.

While baseball history is replete with stories of bright prospects never panning out, the fact the Phillies are even in the position to be disappointed by bright prospects is a phenomenom we haven’t seen in this town for decades. And it gives Phils fans hope that last year’s magical season won’t our last for another 28 years.

Published
by
Chris
on June 4, 2009
in Phillies and Phillies Prospects
. 0 Comments

Eagles and McNabb working out a new deal

According to Derrick Gunn of Comcastsportsnet.com rumors are swirling that Donovan McNabb and the Eagles are working on a contract extension.

McNabb, signed through 2010, will make $9.2 million in 2009 and $10 million in 2010.

If this is true the Birds have finally come to their senses. McNabb is the best quarterback this franchise has ever seen and is coming off one of his top seasons despite not having the weapons other top QB’s usually have at their disposal.

If this deal finally goes down I hope it puts to rest any Kevin Kolb speculation. Whether the kid can play or not I don’t know, but McNabb is heads and tails better, and like it or not haters, the Birds’ best chance to win a Super Bowl.

Published
by
Jared
on June 3, 2009
in Eagles
. 0 Comments