Archive for March 20th, 2011

Flashing the Bling! UPDATE

March 20th, 2011 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Flashing the Bling! UPDATE | Filed in General

Jiwan James got his SAL Championship Ring and is showing it off to the world. It’s a well deserved ring as the BlueClaws had one heck of year. Hopefully, some of those BlueClaws alumni will be in Philly sporting a different ring within the next year or two.

Proof that hardwork pays off at every level.

 The Gulf Coast League Phillies received their championship rings yesterday, just one day after the Lakewood BlueClaws got theirs. I actually think that GCL championship rings are nicer, but hey a ring is a ring, right?

Not to be outdone!

Utley’s Insurance *Update*

March 20th, 2011 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Utley’s Insurance *Update* | Filed in Baseball, Phillies

It appears that the Phillies are very concerned and don’t think that Utley will be able to play at his normal level in the near future. That is being made clear by the fact that it looks like the Phillies are set to sign their second Mets cast off in consecutive years. Yes, the Phillies are in negotiations to sign Luis Castillo. MLBTR and CSNPhilly.com both are stating that the Phillies are looking to sign Castillo to a minor league contract. Castillo’s defense haven’t been what it was when he started, but offensively, when healthy, Castillo is for the most part a .290 hitter. If it goes thru, it’s a low risk, high reward opportunity for both sides. Castillo will be paid roughly 5.5 million by the Mets to play for a division rival and the Phillies have security if Utley cannot play a good portion of the season. Updates to follow.

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Castillo has agreed to a minor league deal. It will probably be made official in the next day or so. Castillo should be in Phillies camp by midweek if all goes well.

Countdown to Opening Day: 12 Days

March 20th, 2011 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Countdown to Opening Day: 12 Days | Filed in General

The Phillies won again despite a rough outing from their starter. You have to wonder if  Hamels and the rest of the starters are just going thru the motions or if they just trying to fine tune certain things. Miraculously, Danys Baez is having another stellar spring for the Phillies. After a 2009 spring where he went 1-0 with a 0.77 ERA, Baez is 2-0 with a 0.93 ERA. While the ERA is slightly up, the batting average of the opposition has gone down from .222 to .156. Maybe he needs to save some of his stuff for the regular season. (more…)

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