Raul Ibanez: A Top Ranking Offensive Tool But A Subject Of Unjustified Criticism

When people take a look at the roster of the Philadelphia Phillies, there are certain players that are often targeted with criticism. I find that much of this criticism is unfounded against most of the players. Right now the Phillies are perhaps the strongest, or at least almost the strongest, that they have ever been.

Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Brad Lidge have often been the target of criticism, especially after last season. Utley and Rollins both spent a large amount of time on the disabled list, which caused them to have down years. Some of the critics claim that this trend will continue, but I would not count them out. 

One down year does not mean that the following years will be of the same caliber. I would expect both Utley and Rollins to have bounce-back years for this coming season. Lidge had a down year early in 2010 but showed strength and great improvement in the second half of the season. Lidge should be on form again come spring time.

Another subject of criticism has often been Raul Ibanez for whatever reason. Early last year, Ibanez was showing the signs of a down year, but he recovered during the second half of the season. In fact, following the All-Star break, Ibanez was second on the Phillies in on-base percentage. 

So how does Ibanez rank when compared to the rest of the Phillies?

Offense is needed in Philadelphia, although perhaps less so now that the Phillies have the best rotation, which was strengthened by the addition of Cliff Lee. That being said, Ibanez did hold his weight at the plate in 2010 to help support the seventh-best offense in the majors. 

Besides his on-base percentage for the second half of the year, Ibanez was fourth in the number of home runs on the Phillies, and third if you remove Jayson Werth, who will be playing for the Washington Nationals for the next seven years.

Ibanez was also third with the number of runs batted in, which would be second without Werth. Ibanez also was second in doubles for the Phillies, lagging only behind Werth again. Overall, offensively, Ibanez had 16 home runs and 83 RBIs with a batting average of .275, an on-base percentage of .349 and a slugging percentage of .444.

Ibanez was also fourth in total bags, second in walks, third in hits, second in triples and fifth in runs, and he followed Werth in each of these categories except triples. 

Although analyzing these numbers shows how much production will be missed by Werth, it also shows that Ibanez produced numbers very comparable to the production of the departed outfielder.

With what the Phillies will be missing from Werth, I predict that Ben Francisco will be able to almost entirely make up for Werth’s offensive production once he wins the full-time starting position this spring (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/561129-cliff-was-werth-it-francisco-can-fill-the-hole-in-the-lineup-and-outfield).

Besides performing better than Werth with the number of triples, Ibanez was also better than Werth with the number of strikeouts, having about 40 less. Although those are impressive numbers, Ibanez also performed much better than Werth when it often counts, batting with runners in scoring position. 

Ibanez’s batting average with runners in scoring position was .304, whereas Werth’s batting average with runners in scoring position was .186.

This is partially why I think that Francisco is the perfect fill for Werth. Francisco will not be able to compare to Werth’s home run production, but everything will be nearly the same production that was seen from Werth. 

Francisco had a third of the at-bats of Werth and produced exactly a third of the numbers that Werth did, excepting home runs. However, Francisco will make up for Werth’s homeruns by the fact that Francisco’s batting average with runners in scoring position was .306 (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/564556-risp-a-key-factor-in-determining-philadelphia-phillies-wins-or-losses).

This article is not about Francisco filling in for Werth. It is about Ibanez and what production he brings to the Phillies. 

In the second half of the season, Ibanez improved his batting average by .066, his on-base percentage by .049, his slugging percentage by .097, and his OPS by .146.  Although his yearly numbers for these respective categories were .275, .349, .444, and .793, those numbers were .309, .375, .494 and .869 after the All-Star break.

If Ibanez can continue to produce the numbers that he did in 2010, particularly the numbers produced in the second half of the season, he will be well worth the $11.5 million he is due by the Phillies this season. 

Ibanez is going to be turning 39-years-old in June, and this is the last year of his current contract with the Phillies. Overall, he ranks towards the top of all of the Phillies in offensive production, and any criticism that he receives is unjustified when he is compared to the rest of the team. 

His future is unknown, but if his production continues to rank towards the top of the Phillies’ team overall, I would like to see him stay with the organization.

Ibanez’s numbers have consistently ranked him towards the top of the list for the Phillies’ offensive production, but critics still have negative things to say. However, there seems to really be only one number that stands against Ibanez: his age.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies: Top Possible Trades to Acquire Michael Young to Play RF

Michael Young of the Texas Rangers made it clear that he is not happy with his current situation in Texas, where Young’s role will be reduced to designated hitter, with the signing of Adrian Beltre.

Young has long been a good sport to the Rangers.  Young came up as a second baseman, working on the other side of second base to his natural position of shortstop, because the Rangers had Alex Rodriguez.

Then, Young moved to shortstop after Alex Rodriguez was traded to the New York Yankees to play third base there.

Then, Elvis Andrus was acquired in a trade for Mark Teixeira. Once again, Young changed positions, this time to third base.

It sounds as if enough is enough for Young, Yahoo’s Tim Brown writes.

“They will attempt to trade him in the coming days, according to a source familiar with those conversations, in part because Young has grown disillusioned with his diminished role on the team.”

While Young has been linked to the Angels and Rockies, the Phillies would make perfect sense as a landing spot for Young to fill the hole left by Jayson Werth signing with the Nationals.  

Here are the top trade scenarios to land him for the Phillies.

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Philadelphia Phillies: The Best Player In Team History, Position By Position

Over the course of the past few seasons and offseasons, you’ve probably heard it said quite a few times: “It’s a great time to be a Phillies fan.”

While that indeed is the case, it got me to thinking—where do some of today’s Phillies’ stars rank among the greatest Phillies of all-time? How many Phillies could be called the greatest at their position in the history of this franchise? Are there any who could be called the greatest?

With so many options to consider, a few factors weighed heavily on these rankings. The overall success of a player’s career was taken into consideration, but his career with the Phillies played an enormous part in these rankings. For example. if a player played three tremendous seasons in Philadelphia but excelled with another team for the majority of his career, he will be taken into consideration, but he will have a tough time overcoming a player who had a long, productive career in Philadelphia.

So who are the greatest Phillies, position by position, of all-time? Without further adieu, here are the greatest players to ever put on a Phillies’ uniform at their respective positions.

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MLB Rumors: Free Agents Available Who Could Fit the Phillies in 2012

I hate to try to look into the future, but it’s looking like the 2012 free agency period may be an important one for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Many of the main cogs of the franchise will be over the age of 35 or close to it.  The window of opportunity isn’t exactly opened all the way.

Not only do some of the Phillies prospects have to prosper down the line, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is going to have to make some tough decisions.  Who does he want to re-sign or sign during this time frame?  Philadelphia’s farm system is ranked in the top five, by the way.

I think there’s two focal points that Amaro will target: a power hitting right-handed outfielder, and arms in the back of the bullpen.

Here are 10 guys I can see Amaro targeting after the 2011 season….

 

ALSO CHECK OUT

Power Ranking the Starting First Basemen

Power Ranking the Starting Second Basemen

Power Ranking the Starting Shortstops

Power Ranking the Starting Third Basemen

Power Ranking the Starting Left Fielders

Power Ranking the Starting Center Fielders

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Philadelphia Phillies: Cliff Lee & Top 17 Questions Heading Into Spring Training

Heading into the 2011 season, the Philadelphia Phillies are widely believed to be the favorite in the National League East, and maybe even the National League. 

However, to say that a team is without holes is unreasonable; in the case of the 2011 Phillies, there are indeed many questions that remain as they head to Clearwater to begin Spring Training.  On Friday, the Phillies packed up their trucks and sent the team’s gear down I-95 to Florida.

Here are the top 17 questions that remain going into Spring Training.

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5 Big Questions: 2011 Philadelphia Phillies Preview

We here at Baseball Professor think about our readers first and ourselves second—albeit a close second. That’s why we decided to reach out to other bloggers (who follow their respective teams more closely than we do) to give you a deeper look into the important issues every fantasy owner has to come to grips with this season. Our third installment is with the Philadelphia Phillies and comes courtesy of Bill Baer from Crashburn Alley.

For a complete trip around the Majors, check out the other 2011 team previews in this series.

1) Let’s start with the question everyone is asking. When will Domonic Brown have the full-time gig in right field for the Phillies and how good will he be in 2011 and beyond?

Brown was Keith Law’s No. 3 prospect in his top-100 list, so quite a lot is expected of him. From what has come out of the Phillies organization, the plan is to platoon Brown with a right-hander (Ben Francisco) to break him into a full-time Major League role. Unless he has an incredible spring training and brings that into the start of the regular season (or Francisco is injured), Brown should be splitting time throughout the entire 2011 season. Expect him to get a full-time role starting in 2012. As to how good he will be, I think Law’s ranking of Brown speaks volumes, but for this season, I would expect a triple-slash line around .280/.330/.450 but would not be surprised to see him exceed that.

2) I’ll make this one simple: Do we freak out over Ryan Howard’s sudden dip in home runs and RBI?

It’s a tough question. Howard is well-known for struggling against lefties, but last year, he actually struggled more (relatively) against right-handed pitchers, and he lost a ton of power even before his foot injury. His isolated power had been in the .290-.350 range over the previous four years, but dropped all the way to .229 last year. He has had plenty of time to rest and will have plenty of time to work on his mechanics so I would expect power numbers more in line with 2006-09.

3) Jimmy Rollins used to be the bastion of health, but only managed to play in 88 games last year. Couple that with his bad luck (.249 BABIP) over the last two seasons and you have a player who is on the verge of fading into fantasy oblivion. Can owners expect any sign of life from the 32-year-old shortstop in his 11th pro season?

I think the doomsday scenarios surrounding Rollins are based on overreactions. Consider that, in an injury-plagued year, Rollins put up a .243/.320/.374 line. The average National League shortstop had a .266/.325/.388 line. That’s right: as bad as Rollins was last year, he was as good offensively as an average NL SS. Assuming even a mild bounce-back year, Rollins is a top-five SS in the NL.

4) Last year, Shane Victorino traded four percent of his line drives for fly balls in an effort to hit more home runs. Well, it worked as he hit 18 home runs, but his batting average (.259) suffered quite a bit. I think I speak for all fantasy owners out there when I say that we want to see the old Victorino back. What do you see happenin’ with the Flyin’ Hawaiian?

I don’t know that he consciously sought to hit more fly balls. After all, his FB% was only 2.5% higher than his career average, and since we know that batted ball data isn’t close to 100% reliable (thanks to Colin Wyers of Baseball Prospectus), that is well within our error range. However, as players age, they do tend to improve their power numbers, so I think you can still expect 15-ish HR and a .160 ISO from Victorino.

5) With four All-Star starting pitchers heading the rotation, will the Phillies have to employ a personal therapist for Joe Blanton?

Maybe if he sticks around past the July 31 trading deadline. The Phillies did try and move Blanton and his contract during the off-season, but GM Ruben Amaro decided not to dump him for nothing and keep him as insurance in case any of the big four succumbs to an injury. However, I think he will be moved by July 31. Whoever he lands with will be getting an underrated pitcher whose performance is similar to that of Andy Pettitte and Carl Pavano.

 

Make Baseball Professor, the most personable fantasy baseball outlet on the web, part of your daily fantasy baseball routine for updated fantasy news and analysis. Follow us on Facebook and   Twitter to stay updated throughout the season. 

For more fantasy baseball content, check out our 2011 fantasy rankings:

Top 30 Catchers

Top 30 First Basemen

Top 30 Second Basemen

Top 30 Third Basemen

Top 30 Shortstops 

Top 60 Outfielders

Top 60 Starting Pitchers

Top 30 Relief Pitchers

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies Preview: Sizing Up the Team as Spring Approaches

Fans are starting to notice a subtle decline in the Phillies’ overall success ever since their big banner year of 2008.

In 2009, they lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series. In 2010, they lost to the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series. Their only big hot-stove move was surprisingly signing star pitcher Cliff Lee.

They now have a starting rotation of historic caliber, but are they set for another World Series run?

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Too Soon To “Raul” Him Out: Raul Ibanez Poised for Improved 2011 with Phillies

The injury bug was biting in Philadelphia in 2010 and the fallout was dramatic. Over the course of the regular season, three quarters of the Philadelphia Phillies’ everyday regulars spent time on the disabled list for extended periods of time. With injuries to players like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Shane Victorino and Carlos Ruiz severely limiting manager Charlie Manuel’s ability to put his best lineup on the field daily, two regular players deserve credit for staying off of the disabled list in 2010—outfielders Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez.

However, with Werth having moved on to sign his mega-deal with the division rival Washington Nationals, the Phillies’ bill of health is looking fairly uncertain. Assuming that top prospect Domonic Brown emerges as the everyday right fielder for the 2011 season, he and Ibanez will be the only two Phillies that did not serve time on the disabled list last year, and even that could be a bit misleading.

All things considered, Ibanez had a good season in 2010, despite an unsettling decrease in his power totals. He posted an average slash line of .275/.349/.444, with 16 home runs and 83 RBI. For all of you stat buffs out there, that’s good enough for an OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) of .793—eighth among qualifying left fielders in all of baseball.

As for his defense? Also relatively average. Taking a glance at standard defensive metrics, Ibanez played left field with relative ease. He made just two errors, helping him to a fielding percentage of .991—fourth among qualifying left fielders in 2010.

However, some advanced defensive metrics aren’t as fond of Ibanez’s play in the field. His ultimate zone rating (UZR) of minus-6.9 in left field for the Phillies was sixth among qualifying left fielders. Seeing as how the first five players on that list all posted positive ratings, being ranked sixth isn’t all too impressive.

Even still, the numbers Ibanez posted in 2010 were considered a down year to Phillies fans who expected him to replicate the highlights of his 2009 season—power and defense. With that in mind, he didn’t come close to matching the 34 home runs or 3.9 UZR from the year prior.

However, that isn’t the same as saying that the Phillies haven’t received their fair share of value out of the left fielder. According to the popular baseball statistics site, FanGraphs, the Phillies are actually getting what they paid for, and then some. By taking all stats—standard and advanced—into account, FanGraphs is able to calculate a player’s wins above replacement (WAR), and turn that into a player’s suggested value. Over the past two seasons, the Phillies have paid Ibanez $18 million. His suggested value over those two seasons? FanGraphs believes he was worth right around $24.7 million.

Despite that, fans were calling for Ibanez’s head by May after the left fielder got off to one of the slowest starts of his career. In the month of April, Ibanez posted an ugly slash line of .229/.341/.348, with just one home run.

While most people credited his slow start as being just that—a slow start—there was actually much more to it than that. Despite not spending time on the disabled list last season, Ibanez was far from healthy. Following the 2009 season, Ibanez underwent surgery to repair several abdominal tears, and was forced to train differently in the offseason as he recovered. He entered spring training before the 2010 season looking less than healthy, and his performance suffered.

By July, he was back on track. He posted a much better slash line of .337/.419/.533, with four home runs, before a wrist injury in August added yet another bothersome hitch to his swing. After a down month in the heat of the summer, he returned to being one of the Phillies’ most productive outfielders in September.

While some people were ready to write his 2010 season off as Ibanez being a streaky hitter, a couple of untimely injuries may have interrupted the flow of his game. In a recent interview with Comcast Sports Net in Philadelphia, he set out to put the 2010 season behind him, and prove that his new training regimen was going to put him back on the map in Philadelphia for the 2011 season.

When asked if he felt the pressure to perform in a contract year, the city of Philadelphia and with championship expectations, the bearded Ibanez told CSNphilly.com that he wasn’t feeling any pressure at all. “To me, pressure is a single mom trying to work two jobs trying to feed a family. I think that that’s pressure. I think that this is fun. Being in the situation that we’re in, it’s an amazing time to be a Phillie. It’s an amazing time to be a Phillies fan.”

He makes a few interesting points there. It certainly is a great time to be a Phillies fan. Having added Cliff Lee to a rotation that was already considered one of the best in baseball, high expectations are numerous. With those expectations come a certain amount of pressure, but like Ibanez said, the Phillies are handling that pressure in different ways.

As filmed by CSNphilly.com, Ibanez has taken to a rigorous training regiment to prove that he’s worth the $11.5 million the Phillies are set to pay him for his services in 2011. A healthy Ibanez could go a long way in helping the Phillies offense to rebound in 2011. Replacing Werth is not going to be a simple task, but a productive, bearded Ibanez is certainly a start.

Is he going to replicate his 2009 season? Probably not. That is a best-case scenario that the Phillies aren’t expecting. However, Ibanez is no longer an aging corner outfielder coming off of offseason surgery either. He’s training like he has something to prove this season, and like many members of the Phillies offense, he does.

While there’s certainly nothing he can do about that whole aging thing, Ibanez’s impressive offseason regiment has fans looking forward to the 2011 season, if they hadn’t been already. He’s positioned himself to put his 2010 woes behind him, and return to being one of the National League’s top left fielders in 2011.

The Phillies could certainly use that production, and Ibanez is ready to provide.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies Greatest Catchers: Andy Seminick, Darren Daulton and…Jack Clements?

Who was the greatest catcher in Philadelphia Phillies history, at least based on their contributions while they played for the Phillies? If we limit our discussion to those backstops who played for the Phillies in a minimum of five major league seasons, it’s a position that has nine receivers worth mentioning, and one that has some quality depth.

How deep? The one-time major league career leader in games played behind the plate, and a fine defensive catcher, Bob Boone, doesn’t even make the first cut.

You see, the awful truth is that Boonie wasn’t much of a hitter; his Adjusted OPS for the Phillies was just 90.

A better hitter, in fact a better hitter than many people thought he would be, was Mike Lieberthal. A skinny kid out of high school when the Phillies drafted him with the third pick of the 1990 draft, Lieberthal was often dismissed as an inadequate hitter, right up until he took over the regular catching job and hit 20 home runs in 1997. Although injuries sometimes derailed his play, he spent most of the next 10 years as the Phillies regular backstop, eventually hitting 150 home runs and topping .300 twice.

Still, his OPS+ with the Phillies was just 102, and there were several other catchers who were demonstrably better hitters than Lieberthal. Quite oddly, two of them played in Philadelphia at basically the same time.

Phillies fans of a certain age will recall the catcher for the Whiz Kids, Andy Seminick, who, it might be noted, had the highest OPS+ for the team in 1950. Seminick, the first of the Whiz Kids to join the team, played for the Phillies from 1943 to 1951, and from 1955 to 1957. However, almost at the same time (1948 to 1958), Stan Lopata also caught for the Phillies, and, hitting out of his distinctive crouch, he had both a higher OPS+ overall for the Phillies (117 to 110) and his Wins Above Replacement (WAR) came in two higher (17.7 to 15.7) than Seminick’s. Not surprisingly, his slash line was better as well, .257/.355/.459 to .244/.351/.419 for Seminick.

So, it looks like Stash was the better hitter, but, the more important question is, who was the regular? One opinion comes from Bill James, in the “New Historical Baseball Abstract.” James rates Seminick the 57th best catcher of all time, but he also notes that Seminick never batted more than 406 times in a season, and concludes by saying, “He never was a true regular.”

That’s an interesting take, but what exactly is a “true regular?” There are a lot of ways you can define that concept, but it seems like the simplest might be to give the tag “regular” to anyone who played more games at that position than anyone else on his team for a specific year. At the very least, that person would be more regular at the position than anyone else.

Seminick was the Phillies “regular” catcher for eight of the 14 seasons he spent with the Phillies: 1945-1951 and 1955. Here are the top three Phillies catchers, in terms of games played, for each of Grandpa Whiz’ 14 years in Philadelphia.

 

1943

• Mickey Livingston 84
• Bob Finley 24
• Andy Seminick 22

1944

• Bob Finley 74
• Johnny Peacock 73
• Andy Seminick 11

1945

• Andy Seminick 70
• Gus Mancuso 70
• Hal Spindel 31

1946

• Andy Seminick 118
• Rollie Hemsley 45
• Dee Moore 6

1947

• Andy Seminick 109
• Don Padgett 39
• Al Lakeman 23

1948

• Andy Seminick 124
• Al Lakeman 22
• Don Padgett 19

1949

• Andy Seminick 98
• Stan Lopata 58
• Ken Silvestri 1
• Hal Wagner 1

1950

• Andy Seminick 124
• Stan Lopata 51
• Ken Silvestri 9

1951

• Andy Seminick 91
• Del Wilbur 73
• Ken Silvestri 3

1955

• Andy Seminick 88
• Stan Lopata 66
• Gus Niarhos 7

Once Seminick was an established major leaguer, he was the Phillies No. 1 catcher. It wasn’t until after he came back from the Reds (the Redlegs in those post-Joe McCarthy days) that Lopata really challenged him for playing time, finally taking the regular job in 1956 when he caught 102 games to Seminick’s 54.

So, yes, Seminick was a regular for eight seasons, it’s just that he never caught a huge number of games, nor did he get a lot of at-bats.

The following chart shows where Seminick ranked in terms of games caught among National League catchers during those eight seasons, as well as the number of games caught by the league leader each year. Seminick never led the NL in games caught, in fact he was only a close second twice.

Year Andy Rank Leader 1945 70 8 (T) 96 1946 118 2 124 1947 109 4 (T) 132 1948 124 2 125 1949 98 2 127 1950 124 3 139 1951 91 4 140 1955 88 7 131

While the league leader was catching an average of 127 games during those eight seasons, Seminick was catching an average of just 103 games per year. Plus, he only had more than 300 at bats in a season five times (1946-1950) for the Phillies in 14 years. And, he only had a quality backup—Lopata—in three of those years (1949, 1950 and 1955). So why didn’t Seminick catch more? Maybe it was injuries, he was a ferocious blocker of the plate—Robin Roberts described him as being tougher than an old boot.

Or maybe it was because his defensive WAR for the Phillies was -2.1, meaning he was sub-par defensively. It’s also worth noting that he led NL catchers in errors five times (despite never leading the league in games played), and in fielding percentage once. His caught stealing and steals allowed numbers weren’t great, but that could as well be blamed on the Phillies pitchers.

Balance it all out, and Seminick is a viable candidate for the greatest. Still, he only comes in third.

Among the others who don’t make the cut are Tim McCarver, a similar story to Lopata. Although he played in parts of nine seasons with the Phillies (OPS+ of 109), he only actually caught in 367 games in Philadelphia, an average of just about 40 per year (and no, those weren’t the 40 games a year Steve Carlton used to start), so he wasn’t a regular catcher, either.

One other candidate, Virgil “Spud” Davis, put up a pretty good slash line in Philadelphia over nine seasons (only four as a regular): .321/.374/.449, but that was in the 1930s, when everyone hit that well, especially if they played half their games in Baker Bowl. His career OPS+ with the Phillies was 111; pretty good, but he never played in the postseason, and except for a high average, he wasn’t really exceptional—his WAR with the Phillies was an unexciting 12.6 for 814 games.

Davis was essentially the same player (didn’t walk much, not much power) as Ed McFarland, who posted a 112 OPS+ over five years with the Phillies at the turn of the 19th Century. He only played a lot in one season (1898) and played in just 423 games in a Phillies uniform, posting a WAR of 10.8.

If you’ve been keeping count, you’ll know there are just two candidates left: one of whom you’ve heard of, and one of whom you may not have heard of. Different players, in more ways then one, they nonetheless proved to be very difficult to choose between. Years ago, before fears of left-handedness (or something like that) took over, a species known as Sinister Backstoppius, or the left-handed catcher, roamed the ballparks of America. And that’s not the cameo appearances of your Dale Longs or Mike Squires.

There were real left-handed catchers back in the 19th Century, and the best (and the last) of them was Jack Clements, the pride of Norristown and the Philadelphia Phillies. Clements played for the Phillies from 1884 to 1897, most of the time as their regular catcher, although in that era catchers didn’t typically play every game, since the pounding they took on their poorly protected anatomies tended to pile up during a season.

Still, Clements played 1000 games for the Phillies, and he could hit, topping out at a .394 batting average in 1895 (still the major league record for a catcher), and a 171 OPS+ that same season. His Phillies career produced a .289/.352/.426 slash line, an OPS+ of 118 and a WAR of 29.5. His defensive part of his WAR was 6.2, so statistically he was a better than average catcher, although logic would also dictate that he must have been pretty good behind the plate to have stayed there for as long as he did, when all the other left-handed catchers were being turned in to first basemen or farmers.

The counterpoint to Clements is one Darren Daulton, also known as Dutch, the leader of, as John Kruk called them, a bunch of gypsies, tramps and thieves also known as the 1993 Phillies that went from worst to first to the World Series. Although his early years (1985 to 1989) with the Phillies were pretty worthless except for 138 at bats in 1986, when he showed both power and the ability to take a walk, Daulton (to the surprise of many, including Bill James) eventually became a superb offensive player, with peripheral stats to die for.

As it turned out, his eight home runs and 38 walks in 1986 were indicative of the type of offensive contributions he could, and did, make later in his career. Although typically he didn’t hit for a high average (outside of a .300 mark for 69 games in 1994), his slash line for his 1109 Phillies games was .245/.357/.427, which shows how good his Isolated Discipline and Isolated Power were.

Leaving out the five games he played in 1996 (when one of his knee injuries kept him out almost the entire year), Daulton’s last five OPS+ figures for the Phillies were 156, 135, 137, 101 and 124. And, he also became a very rare catcher to lead his league in major statistical category, topping the NL in RBIs (109) in 1992. For his Phillies career, his OPS+ was 114, with a WAR of 21.9. He was also a slightly sub-par defensive catcher (based on a negative defensive WAR).

However, to judge Darren Daulton fairly, you have to go beyond the obvious. He was the de facto captain of a team that went to the World Series (his on base percentage for the 1993 postseason was just under .400). He had some power and got a LOT of walks (his on base percentage for the 1993 season was .392).

But there were some other things he could do. His career stolen base totals were 50 steals and only 10 caught stealing—a percentage in the top 10 all-time for those individuals with 50 or more steals. And, he only hit into 34 double plays as a Phillie, an average of less than three a season. Richie Ashburn, for goodness sakes, hit into more double plays per year than Darren Daulton.

It’s a difficult choice, but, even though Clements had a better OPS+, a better WAR and was a better receiver, Darren Daulton, based on his leadership, his peripherals, his postseason performance and his slightly longer Phillies career, gets this vote as the Phillies all-time greatest catcher.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies: Trading Cliff Lee and Other Ways To Replenish Farm System

 

The Phillies have pulled off some trades for some top pitching talent over the past few seasons. 

In 2008, the Phillies traded Josh Outman, Adrian Cardenas and one other to acquire Joe Blanton. 

In 2009, the Phillies traded Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and Jason Knapp to acquire Cliff Lee. Then, in the offseason that year, the Phillies traded Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor and Travis D’Arnaud for Roy Halladay.  

During the 2010 season, the Phillies traded J.A. Happ, Anthony Gose and another player for Roy Oswalt.

As you can tell, the Phillies system has been decimated by trades and therefore there is very little talent at the AA and AAA levels that can come up to the major league club and help fill specific needs.

Here are some ways the Phillies can strategically replenish the farm system.

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