Phillies Rumblings

When he's right, you have to give him credit.

"Our problem is not money. Our problem is talent," Gillick said yesterday.

"I think if we indicate that there is talent there, we will spend the money. But this talent pool is not the greatest right now. It's tough to get in bed with someone for 4 years when you know it's not the right thing to do. It's easy to spend the money right now and then a year from now, wish you hadn't spent it."

You cannot argue with that. This free agent class is very thin, though there are has been a lot of talk involving the Phillies. The off-season will pick up shortly however with the Winter Meetings soon to start.

"When you don't have the quality starters . . . somebody has to keep you in the games," Arbuckle said. "So when the number of starters aren't available and you can't get your hands on one, you have to get it in the bullpen and those guys become hotter commodities.

"That's why you see a lot of these middle-of-the-road-type relievers getting more money and longer contracts. If it was a better starting-pitching [pool], those guys would be less valuable."

Shouldn't they be adding more quality reliever then instead of guys like Shane Youman, a left-handed reliever who gives up a lot of walks and hits? I mean what is the difference between Youman and Matt Smith (the gem from the Abreu trade).

Scott Matieson will likely be up at some point next year if he stays healthy. After two surgeries, he is finally returning to form.

Apparently, the Phillies have an interest in Melvin Mora. Three problems: He's 35, owed $17 million over the next two years, and he will have to be obtained in a trade. He should be able to put up decent enough offensive numbers in our line-up to warrant the move, but his defense is well, not much of an upgrade over Dobbs and Helms. If they can make the move without giving up much, I say try it. $8.5 million annually is not too bad for an every-day third baseman, as long as he's playing everyday. His 162 game seasonal averages are as follows:

.279 avg, .357 OBP, .438 SLG, .795 OPS, 19 HR, 77 RBI, 89 R, 12 SB, 106 Ks, 59 Walks

Not too bad, and you might assume he'd fair a little better in our ballpark and the National League.

Update: Todd Zolecki has come out to say there is "no chance" that Mora will end up in a Phillies uniform and it was more just wishful thinking on the Orioles part.

MLBTradeRumors.com is also reporting that the Phillies are in the mix for Geoff Jenkings.