A commentary about sports, media, and interpersonal relationships encountered throughout everyday life.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

The Joe Blanton Affair

Baseball really knows how to kick off the second half.  For those who are not aware...  Joe Blanton has been traded from the Oakland A's to the Philadelphia Phillies for a plethora of minor leaguers.

Obviously, Blanton's going to find his way into the Phillies' starting rotation...  which begs the question: Who's Out?  There are three options for this one (keeping in mind the Cole Hamels and Jamie Moyer are, obviously, safe from being 'voted off the island'): Brett Myers, Kyle Kendrick, and Adam Eaton.

Looking at the numbers, Kendrick has been serviceable of late, winning two of his last four before the break.  One of those wins was an 8 Inning, 4 Hit shout-out against the Athletics, where Kendrick really showed the Phils what the 23 year-old is capable of when he puts it all together.  To me, I can't see the Phillies messing with Kendrick's standing as a starter.  He's been improving throughout the course of the season and it would be dumb to mess with his head at such a young age.

Todd Zolecki, of Philly.com, seems to think it's going to be Adam Eaton who gets the boot from the rotation (and the fans seem to agree wholeheartedly).  Over Eaton's last five starts, he allowed 6 earned runs twice and 8 earned runs one time... so... I may have to agree with the Phillies' faithful.  He's already a useless fantasy pitcher... check that... he's a useless starting pitcher, period.  His ERA at home is nearly 7 and this former Mets-killer, is not even useful for that anymore (ERA approaching 8 v. the Amazin's).

The guys at Rotoworld, however, suggest that Brett Myers may be the odd-man-out.  At first, I (a Brett Myers owner) nearly vomited on my keyboard.  He was so close to coming back and now Pat Gillick had to go and screw it all up!  Then, after regaining my composure and taking some Mylanta, I decided to take a look at Adam Eaton and Kyle Kendrick's numbers... in hopes that one of the two were godawful.  As you can see, from the above paragraph, Eaton is definitely worse than Myers (even if it is the HR-happy version of Myers) and should be demoted to the 'pen or placed on waivers (which is definitely a possibility).

So, for all Brett Myers owners out there... I hope you see this before you head over to Rotoworld so your body doesn't undergo the physical reaction that mine just did.  Brett Myers will be back next Monday to start against the New York Mets.  Far from a bold prediction, but I think that now is the time for stating what should be "the obvious."

3 comments:

J.R. Granger said...

I think it has to be Eaton that's the odd man out. While Myers has struggled, he's not that far removed from being a top of the rotation guy. Eaton has not only been terrible this year, but he's never lived up to the hype of being a top of the rotation guy. Myers is better now and has higher potential, too.

Anonymous said...

Blanton should provide stability, if nothing else for the Phils' rotation.

If he can find any of the stuff that he had his first few seasons and continue to be a guy that you can pretty much take seven innings to the bank with, he should be an excellent grab for the Phils.

The long-term team control is a key in his case, I think.

Brian McFadden said...

roarke -- Def. agree (as you can tell). I don't think closing last year messed Myers up that much. I think this minor league stint will help, but I am kind of worried about his first start back being against the hot Mets...

pitchers hit 8th -- the stability will be there. He's going to help the bullpen stay rested for days he pitches. He's already a proven innings eater, but you're right: short-term deal. In the long term, Phillies fans think too much has been given up.