PHILLIES: Surgery for Utley

And the news isn’t promising.

Early Thursday morning, MLB Network’s Peter Gammons reported that Utley’s thumb will require surgery, something that Phillies Beat Writer David Murphy repeated shortly after. Apparently, the ligaments in his thumb were torn to the extent that they could not heal naturally, and Todd Zolecki has confirmed that the procedure will take place today, likely derailing the all-star 2nd basemen for at least 8 weeks.

The outlook is clearly not good. As I stated in a previous post, the difference between losing Utley for 15 days and losing Utley for 60 days is HUGE. While the Phillies now have to deal with these injuries along with a depleted farm system, they do have some some options if Utley were to have surgery.

In reality, a lot has to do on the health of Placido Polanco. He is in New York right now seeking a second opinion on his chronic elbow condition to his non-throwing elbow, and if the prognosis is good and allows him to come back soon after his 15-day DL stint is complete, then Ruben Amaro, Charlie Manuel, and company have a choice to make.

Do you go out and get a 3rd baseman in FA or via trade, and spare  Polanco to the extent that you can and play him at 2nd?

Do you go out and get a 2nd basemen in FA or via trade, and let Polanco resume his normal duties as the everyday 3rd basemen?

With Castro and Valdez being middle-infielders by nature, I would say to the capacity that you can, keep in Polanco at third. Sure, Hank Blaylock and Garrett Atkins are both on the FA market and are naturals at the hot corner, but they are on the FA market for a reason. Neither are close to the level of Polanco, even at his present injured state, and with him semi-healthy at 3B along with the surprise-of-the-season Wilson Valdez at second for the next month or two to fill in for Utley, the Phillies may actually be able to survive this disaster.

That is IF Polanco can come back healthy. A Big IF.

And Utley of course..

Other Phillies News

: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported Thursday that the Phillies have Dan Haren on their “radar”. Arizona is looking to deal him, along with the 12+ million dollars that he is owed next season. If  this is true, then is shows that the Phillies are seriously interested in adding a pitcher, and that money isn’t as much of deal-breaker than we think. If that’s the case, my question is why don’t you bring back Cliff Lee instead?

: Along with Blaylock and Atkins, here are a couple other names to look at as potential replacements for Utley via trade. Seattle’s Jose Lopez and Baltimore’s Ty Wigginton and Miguel Tejada.

: Surely some Philadelphia  fans were a bit perplexed when the Phillies promoted SS Brian Bocock (.179 BA in 65 games)  from Triple-A Lehigh Valley instead of INF Cody Ransom (International League All-Star selection, 15 HR). Reportedly, Ransom has been dealing with a knee injury which is why he wasn’t called up.  So hitting .238 with a team-high 15 errors at Lehigh Valley, and not being on the 40-man roster at the time of the callup had nothing to do with it?

: Bring back PEDRO FELIZ!

PHILLIES: 2009 Winter Meetings Recap

For the first year in my young life, I was able to attend the baseball winter meetings.

Sure, I may not have had press credentials, but walking through the lobby of the Marriott Hotel in Indianapolis and seeing Peter Gammons, Ken Rosenthal, and Buster Olney huddled in a corner exchanging information while across the hall Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox, Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona, and Cleveland Indians manager Manny Acta were at a table eating breakfast together, you can imagine what a prospective sports journalist like myself was feeling.

In the three days I was there, while looking for jobs, I got to talk to some members of the Philadelphia media regarding the moves of the Phillies at the Winter Meetings. Thanks to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Paul Hagen and Andy Martino, and MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, I was able to find out that this was the most boring Winter Meetings for the Phillies in recent memory.

Great.

However, there is still some news regarding past, present, and possibly future members of the Phillies organization.

: Phillies have agreed to terms with Ross Gload, who led the MLB in pinch-hits in 2009 with the Kansas City Royals. In a strange coincidence, the Phillies also have Greg Dobbs on their roster, who led the league in pinch-hits in 2008.

: Former Philles 3B Pedro Feliz has agreed in principle to a 1 year, 4 million dollar deal with the Houston Astros.

: Soon-to-be former Phillies P Brett Myers has been in contact with both the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds. Both Martino and Zolecki hinted that Myers could find a job with couple NL teams that would at least give him the chance to compete for a spot in the starting rotation.

: After getting in touch with the agents of both RP Latroy Hawkins and RP Brandon Lyon, both players signed with different teams. With them off the market, look for the Phillies to contact Jose Contreras.

: Phillies, as expected,  have been in contact with the Toronto Blue Jays in regards to trading for SP Roy Halladay. However, the Angels have emerged as the front-runner to obtain the rights of the former Cy Young Award winner.

: Phillies have been in contact with agents of both RP Chan Ho Park and SP Pedro Martinez in talks to bring them back to Philadelphia next season.

: If the Phillies cannot reach a deal with Martinez, they will fill the role of 5th starter in the rotation internally (Jamie Moyer or Kyle Kendrick) or sign someone else to a 1-year deal, in which John Smoltz is the name that keeps on getting brought up.

: Nothing new to report on the statuses of RP Chad Durbin and RP Scott Eyre. Both are free agents and are seeking 1-year deals with exclusively the Phillies.

As people come and go, updates will be given on this blog.