written by Phillies1
Will Offseason Moves Pay Off?
The Phillies have been making some interesting moves lately. Before we
touch this season, let’s go back to the last two seasons and see some of the
brilliant signings. In the 1996 offseason, the Phillies signed Rex Hudler, Mark
Parent, Mark Leiter, Mark Portugal, Danny Tartabull, and traded Toby Borland
and Ricardo Jordan to the Mets for Rico Brogna. And what happened with these
players? As we all remember, Tartabull fouled a pitch off his foot and broke it
on opening day against the Dodgers, blowing 2 million dollars to start off the s
eason. Parent, to say the least, was average. Portugal ended up with a 10-7
record as a Phillie and is now up for grabs in the free agent market. Mark
Leiter was made into a closer in 1998, because of Ricky Bottalico going down for
arm surgery. Mark Leiter went down for a 17-22 mark as a Phillie with a 4.61 ERA
. As for Hudler, he was released on June 24 of last season, was signed by the
Cleveland Indians to a minor league contract, and then retired. Not exactly a
stellar group, save Brogna.
Last year was a much better year in signings and trades. The two notables
were Kevin Stocker to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Bob Abreu, and Mickey Morandini
to the Chicago Cubs for Doug Glanville. Glanville had a solid year, ending up
with a .279 batting average with 28 doubles, 7 triples, and 8 homers in 678 at
bats and did a great job patroling center field. He also had 23 stolen bases.
His outfield counterpart, Abreu, had a great year, hitting .312 with 29 doubles,
6 triples, and 17 home runs in just 497 at-bats. One not-so-great signing was M
ark Lewis, who couldn’t have been much worse at second base.
This year is also looking up. Leiter was traded to the Blue Jays for
the lefty Paul Spoljaric. Chad Ogea was traded from the Indians for Jerry Spradlin.
But the big move this offseason has been the 5-player trade with the Cardinals,
getting Ron Gant, Jeff Brantley, and Cliff Politte for Ricky Bottalico and
Garrett Stephenson.
The biggest question is this: Will this years transactions work? If
Gant can bring his power to the Vet, Ogea can stay healthy, and Spojaric can
bolster the bullpen, yes, they most likely will. Let’s just hope that this year,
the Phillies can put the last half of ‘97 and the first half of 1998 together.
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