Thursday, December 07, 2006

Phillies Pull Off Deal

The Phillies have made another trade with the White Sox, obtaining starting pitcher Freddie Garcia in exchange for disappointing starter prospect Gavin Floyd and lefty prospect Gio Gonzalez. Gonzalez was, of course, part of last year's swap with the White Sox and was widely regarded as the best part of the deal.

What this means is that the Phillies now have a starting rotation of:

Brett Myers
John Lieber
Cole Hamels
Adam Eaton
Freddie Garcia
Jamie Moyer

Which, in case you were counting, makes six. Look for Leiber, the last free-agent holdover from the Ed Wade days on the pitching staff, to be gone shortly in a trade. The rumor mill says he's going to Milwaukee for Kevin Mench, who would bring the freakishly large head that the Phillies have been missing since Dave Hollins retired, but not much else. Right now. Pat Gillick seems intent on aggressively downgrading the outfield as quickly as possible - if Mench comes on board, look for Pat Burrell to get sent somewhere for a sack of magic beans shortly thereafter.

As for Garcia, he should get the normal AL-to-NL bump for a starter, but moving from the Cell to Citizen's Bank Park won't help, and his 17-9 record last year was more a result of a good offense bailing him out than anything else. Expect something closer to 14-13 in 2007, particularly if Gillick keeps on exiling any outfielders who can actually hit.

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