If it was common knowledge that the Phillies were willing to trade a 24 year-old outfield with a great glove, blazing speed and a major-league ready bat for a reliever with psychological problems and no intestinal fortitude, Brian Cashman should've been attached at the hip to Phillies' GM Pat Gillick.
If you missed
the news, the Astros traded Brad Lidge to the Phils for Bourn, some garbage was thrown in on both sides to make up the 5-player deal, but Lidge and Bourn were the main components.
Here's my question to you, Brian Cashman: How does this deal not get done for Kyle Farnsworth? You should be ashamed of yourself.
By the way, I guarantee this move sends at least two dozen Phillies fans into cardiac arrest when Lidge gives up long balls this season.
Get used to this sight, Phillies fans.
i've heard that cashman has a blind spot for farnsworth and with jaba in the rotatio, he will be the set-up man. hopefully, girardi will come up with an algorythm to kepp jaba in the bullpen.
I'm sure he will be the set up man, as awful as that sounds. I also heard they want to bring the Viz back.
This is yet another disastrous trade by Gilligan. Although one thing can be said about Bourne... he never did really return to play regularly from something as supposedly simple as a high ankle strain. Could the Phils know something about him that we don't?
Still, Lidge isn't going to be the answer. Bringing Lidge in means moving Myers back into the starting rotation. It also hopefully means they won't waste money trying to keep Kyle Lohse, who at 63-74 for a major league record has too high a price tag for sub-par performance. Other good news is we got rid of Geary in the trade too.
The bad news is, this deal could be as bad as the signings of Garcia, Lieber, Eaton, Gordon, etc., etc., etc...... And if someone is going to get the better of the Phillies in a deal, I'd rather it be the Yankees, where the player involved (Bourne) wouldn't be coming back to play us and hurt us.
Please, Mark Cuban, buy the Phillies instead of the Cubs. Buy them, and fire Gillick, give his job to Amaro. We might have a chance on making noise in the playoffs with some good ownership, management and a little vision.
Rolling the dice with Lidge is a completely crazy idea, and it does get Myers back into the rotation, where he's needed most. The problem I have with the move is that I think the Phils undervalued Bourn way too much. Plus, what are they going to do for an outfield if they can't sign Rowand? Move Victorino to center and start Werth in right? Just doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense to me, I'm pretty high on Bourn.
The high ankle sprain is a pretty serious injury for a guy whose game is completely based on speed, I'd bet the organization didn't want him to rush back to be the 5th outfielder and pinch-runner, rather let him fully heal.
I can look at that pic all day.
Lidge is just another deal that will bite them in the a$$. The Phils have a knack for being suckered with damaged goods, whether it was physical damage or psychological. (Do you remember a guy named Joe Cowley?)
Bourne had a lot of potential to be a leadoff man wherever he went. If he wasn't playing behind Rollins, he would have probably been put in the leadoff position. I agree that the Phillies seriously undervalued him.
This is what makes it so hard to be a Phillies fan sometimes. Bass-ackwards ownership and management hurt what could be a contender and shoot the team in the foot. The only good thing in this deal is getting rid of Geary and Myers returning to the starting rotation. Farnsworth would have been the lesser of two evils and at least he doesn't have any known psychological issues and for the most part was lights out after the All-Star break.