MLB Free Agents 2012: Phillies Need To Re-Sign Ryan Madson, Cole Hamels

Smart guy, Ruben Amaro is.

OK. So maybe this example pales when held against the deals he’s swung and calls he’s made.

But, however unglamorous and admittedly obvious, Amaro’s intentions have their merits too. Let’s be real: Who wouldn’t try to keep Ryan Madson from the sharks lurking in the free-agent surf?

“We’d love to keep (Madson and Jimmy Rollins) off the market if we can do it,” Amaro said, in advent of tonight’s midnight opening of free-agent waters.

“We’ve had discussions with the agents of both players.”

That quote alludes to a crowd that I can’t warm up to, being that it includes Rollins, both yesterday’s news and tomorrow’s letdown. They can’t bring J-Roll back, not for the five years he thinks he has left nor the $13 million per he thinks he’s worth.

But that’s a separate issue we’ll stew on later.

This is about Madson. Not the column.

Next season.

Madson is 31 years young, and went 32-for-34 in save attempts last season, which bodes well for his reliability and longevity. His production could dip—wouldn’t be the first time a closer’s fallen off—but there’s no reason to expect it.

They could poke around free agency for a replacement, say, Jonathan Papelbon or Heath Bell or Francisco Rodriguez and Co. But why bother? Given those options’ future price points and past production, the chase for any would be essentially the same, minus all the trust Madson’s built.

They need to spend money this winter, and it best be on Madson.

Why? They don’t have in-house alternatives. Sure Antonio Bastardo’s marks were comparable—Bastardo blew only one save in nine tries—but even a half-season-plus of consistency didn’t add up to comfort enough to pitch him in the postseason. Bastardo saw the mound only twice in October, for a whopping one inning of work.

If you couldn’t count on Bastardo then, you can’t lean on him throughout next season.

Ryan Madson must come back.

The conventional wisdom is that he’ll go to the highest bidder, being a Scott Boras client and all. Even in light of Jered Weaver bucking the money-hungry history of Boras clients and signing a five-year, $85 million extension somewhat shockingly—he did it during the middle of this past season, and against his agent’s wishes—you can’t expect that lightning to strike twice.

At least you can’t leave it to chance, especially not since, according to Amaro, sides have spoken between the end of the season and now—when the Phillies have had exclusive negotiating access—but haven’t yet struck a deal.

The Phillies have to pony up.

How badly? What’s the importance of a closer these days?

Chew on this: In 2011, no stat in baseball more closely correlated with winning than relief pitching. Of the eight teams to qualify for the postseason, six—the Phillies (No. 1), Tigers (No. 2), Diamondbacks (No. 3), Yankees (No. 6), Rays (No. 7) and Brewers (No. 8)—finished among baseball’s top eight in save percentage. 

That held up more than Moneyball numbers—only five playoff teams finished in the top eight in OPS and walks—and hallmarks of starting pitching, like ERA and strikeouts.

And that’s just what was. What will be in 2012? Tired arms from Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, who went No. 2 and 4 among National League pitchers in innings pitched and, with a combined $41.5 million scheduled earnings, are too pricey to ask of a similar load again.

Allow me to reiterate: They need Madson.

He has to be top priority. I’ve heard the rumblings about Vance Worley-and-Domonic Brown-for-David Wright deal with the Mets, which would fill a need and make a splash—two things sports fans everywhere love to love—but also jockeys for both dollars and attention.

They can’t afford to skimp on either.

Madson has to come first.

If negotiations slip, or if Madson walks, the 2012 season isn’t lost. I mean, the 2009 Phillies won more with less.

But Phillie teams were more prohibitively favored in the two years that followed, and rightly so.

They regressed. Twice.

Losing out on Madson would grease the slide.

But Amaro sees all that. He has to.

Smart guy, Ruben Amaro is.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Jered Weaver Deal Telling for Jayson Werth, Scott Boras

It wasn’t what Jered Weaver did, ink a five-year, $85 million extension with the Angels Tuesday.

It wasn’t even what he said.

“If $85 (million) is not enough to take care of my family and other generations of families then I’m pretty stupid,” he told ESPN L.A. “But how much money do you really need in life?”

It was what he didn’t do. What he refused to:

Submit to Scott Boras.

Save for position and geography, that’s the fundamental difference between Weaver and now-National Jayson Werth, and it resonates in the quote. That Weaver dictated how he decided. That he weighed money and opportunity and their inherent risk-reward, and made the No. 1 move for his “Star Player.”

The security factored in, for sure. A likely $30-50 million more waiting in 2012 free agency or not: How the Angels (two games behind the AL West-leading Rangers) will lean on him down the stretch, Weaver needed to cash in while his elbow’s stock was high. To cash in while he could.

But Weaver recognized that he was the one putting pen to paper. That the ultimate call, for both dollars and destination, was his.

 

Not Boras’.

That’s not the take-away from Werth’s southbound stumble. Maybe the question wasn’t asked—and shame on whomever didn’t—but Werth never addressed the white (or green) elephant. That his contract was outrageous, at least for a consensus complementary piece like himself. That it was prohibitive, assuming the NL East wouldn’t topple without support and a stash to pay them with.

That it was what Boras wanted, first and most and last.

That Werth wouldn’t captain his own choice. Or that he couldn’t.

Whichever it was, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter whether a hypothetical Werth-Boras shouting match over possibly staying with the Phillies matched Tyson-Douglas. Whether Werth would’ve flirted with a hometown discount, even if it meant dipping in Boras’ pocket. Whether he valued being part of something over being the beginning, end and in-between of nothing.

The fact is that he didn’t. And likely never will.

Who else will beckon? What other team will pony a $126 million temptation? Granted, Werth’s 2010 27-home run, 85-RBI season was somewhat underwhelming, at least to the extent that the 15th-biggest deal in baseball history became overpaying. But even that was head and shoulders and everything else above his output now.

 

All things considered: Between the deal’s seven-year shackles and how quickly Werth’s .230 BA/.330 OBP/.715 OPS season is hiking his value on this list, something’s telling me he’s not looping back to last winter’s crossroads.

Does it matter?

Not if you’re a Phillies fan, content beyond belief with Hunter Pence’s brand-name production for a Foreman Mills price—pennies of his $6.9 million 2011 salary, and prospects Jarred Cosart and Mike Singelton—something that never comes if Worth doesn’t go.

Not if you’re a free market economist and salary cap supporter, cozy to the principles that Werth’s signing exemplify: teams’ right to waste and players’ right to waste away for it.

Not unless you dabble in behavioral psychology (in which case I really need to know if you’re psychoanalyzing me).

But Weaver distinguished himself as the first of his kind. Never before had a Boras client clashed with his pursuit of haughtiness. Never before was it even thought an option.

Mark Teixeira famously fired Boras. But only after he landed in New York, and a mega contract.

In other words: Never before had defiance come before.

 

Not before Weaver.

Now, if you’re mulling Werth’s motives, this clears the picture.

Definitely money-drunk—and for that coin, who wouldn’t be?—Werth was figured to only be buzzed. Now, you know he was as blacked out as Nationals‘ local broadcasts.

Likely piqued by Stephen Strasburg, Drew Storen and Bryce Harper, Werth said that the Lerner family sold him.

“I think in a short time, we’re going to surprise a lot of people,” Werth told the Washington Post December 6. “…We’re going to go after some guys that are going to make a difference, that are going to put this team where it needs to be.”

Now, you know he sold himself.

Now, with Weaver’s wrinkle, comes closure.

Judgment aside, Phillies fans finally know how to class him: in with the rest of them. In with Adrian Beltre, who packed up for pennies more in Seattle over staying with the Dodgers in 2004. In with Johnny Damon, who followed Green Lantern’s light from Kansas City to Tampa Bay, a six-team trek that always put cash over community.

Judgment included, Phillies fans finally know how to remember him. Is this the stuff of Scott Rolen’s and Curt Schilling’s dishonorable discharge, stemming from contractual quibbling? Or does the bluest-collared town identify with a guy getting his when, and because, he can?

Either way, that’s no longer about what Werth controlled, his performance and popularity. Maybe that’s the lesson—not for the fans, but for their favorites:

Know what you’re giving up when you give in to Boras.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Is Vance Worley Lofty or Lucky? BABIP, FIP Raise Doubt

Kevin Negandhi was merely filling air.

Dressing up a highlight.

Teasing the Vance Worley story.

He wasn’t seeking to stoke a debate. But however accidentally, he did.

“And Vance Worley, the Phillies rabbit’s foot,” he quipped, and sparked, this morning on SportsCenter.

It just so happens that luck and Worley seem one in the same.

Consider:

Worley’s 2011 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) in 18 games is .258. As seamheads will tell you, stark discrepancies between a pitcher’s opponent batting average—Worley’s is .218—and BABIP imply good fortunate. They’ll tell you about strength (or stinginess) in numbers, that the guys behind the mound are as influential as the one towering atop it.

Not accidentally, the Phillies are the toast of big league fielding, with a MLB-high .989 fielding percentage and league-low 55 errors. Seems more coincidence than causation.

And if that doesn’t sell you, the blip between Worley’s ERA (2.65) and fielding independent of pitching ERA (3.15) could lure a dog off a meat truck.

So it seems, Worley’s numbers are Philly-deflated.

Why that matters?

It skews the numbers, and how you project his finish. That’s what got the stat geeks so spooked about Josh Beckett, whose BABIP sank to .217 this June—then running a 2.20 ERA—after posting a third-worst .338 and 5.78 ERA in 2010.

Keep in mind, his K/BB ratio was constant between the two years. All other things equal, like a telling metrics of isolated pitching performance, K/BB, the two years served a pretty conclusive sample for BABIP’s ominous implications.

For the record, Beckett posted a 4.13 ERA in August, including a five-run shellacking in Seattle.

It makes you wonder what’s in store for Worley. Jayson Stark did.

“I don’t want to sell Vance Worley short. He’s been tremendous. The numbers … the record … the confidence he’s pitching with tells you that,” he leveled with Mike Missanelli of 97.5 The Fanatic.

“Nevertheless … Vance Worley’s BABIP is only .230, which a lot of people would tell you means he’s been lucky.”

That streamed July 29. At the time, only six National Leaguers had a lower line, and the major league average lingered around .300.

Makes you wonder whether Worley’s luck will wane.

It seems sacrilege to even think it lately. Look at all he’s done:

Last night’s one-run win against the Mets was Worley’s ninth in 2011, and made his latest slew of decisions a perfect seven-for-seven. Over the span, he’s 7-0 with a 2.56 ERA.

The Phillies have won in his last 12 starts. That’s the club’s longest streak of upswing since Steve Carlton (15) and 1972.

Worley threw nine strikeouts, six looking—both career highs.

You’d expect that of a rookie. But he’s not sitting at the kids’ table.

Worley’s 34 called strikes are best in the bigs. The six backwards Ks are tied for the third-most among all starts this year.

Granted, it was the Mets (60-68). But they’re who rocked Worley in the worst of only two losses (he’s 9-2 on the season), Worley’s five-earned run outlier on May 29. They might even be better, last night propped by David Wright. (He was injured in May.)

We thought the streak snuffed two weeks ago (August 10), when the Dodgers dumped six runs on him in four innings (15.75 ERA). If there were ever a jolt to a youngster’s psyche, that was it.

But Worley hasn’t buckled, going 10 innings but letting only a lonely run in.

Figuring how is like yoga in 100x gravity.

You can point to velocity and say that Worley’s stuff hovering around 90 mph curiously helps him. That slower pitches mean more pop outs (check, given Worley’s 5.7 percent HR/FB) and home runs (and check, his HR/9 is .55, two-thirds of Cliff Lee‘s), a blessing in broad daylight. Or at least in Citizen’s Bank Closet (103 batting park factor; 101 pitching).

That bodes well for a fly-ball pitcher like Worley, who sends 1.31 balls sailing each time one skips along the infield dirt. With Jimmy Rollins (groin) hamstrung and Placido Polanco’s back teetering, the marriage seems made to last.

Still, you can’t help but waffle. As much as you want to warm to him, Worley gives as many reasons for a pick axe to be ready, in case he ices over.

What it all means for Worley and the immediate future of the Phillies? It’s tough to say.

Except that sports news anchors should be pickier with pontification from now on.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Decision to Leave Roy Halladay in Game Vintage Manuel

The Phillies needed two outs. Six pitches. More whiffs at the ball than cracks. More leather than grass.

And there Roy Halladay stood, the expressionless express to a win.

That’s who the fans saw. Who Charlie Manuel saw.

Or what came into focus behind his blurred lens.

Turns out, Halladay (15-5, 2.62 ERA) had no business in the game: He entered that frame with six ninth innings under his belt, one for each of his previous complete games. At the time—when Manuel could’ve consulted stat geeks—Halladay had a 7.94 ERA with a .444 opponent batting average.

In comparison, Halladay has a 1.63 ERA with a .131 opponent BA in 2011 eighth innings.

But Manuel played this one by his script, letting Halladay finish what he started, elbow his way out of his own hole—Justin Upton and Miguel Montero singles put runners on first and second. The call was vintage Manuel.

And you figured Lyle Overbay was all-but-over easy. Done like breakfast-for-dinner. You found assurance in Halladay’s confidence: He seemed fine. (After July 18, we know what it looks like when he’s not.) and Manuel didn’t blink.

Sometimes that works—it let slumping Raul Ibanez and Jimmy Rollins turn it around. Sometimes it burns—can you say “Ross Gload in NLCS Game 6”? Last night proved one of the latter. Overbay drove in the two go-ahead runs in an eventual 3-2 loss—only 1-of-48, but one that didn’t need to be.

I know: Second-guessing Manuel rings of Monday morning quarterbacking. But it’s a fair question.

Did Charlie’s trust betray him? Halladay? The Phillies?

Us?

Granted, the numbers push back too: That hitters go only .155 with two outs and runners in scoring position doesn’t technically apply, but speaks to Halladay’s presumed handle. If that’s not enough, his 52-0 record with leads going into ninth innings should be.

When the moment beams, Halladay buckles down.

But that’s assuming Manuel saw those pages. Stats like those probably go as unappreciated in Philly as Ryan Howard elsewhere. In all likelihood, the decision was premeditated, circumstances and consequences be damned.

“That’s my ace,” Manuel said of Halladay. “That’s kind of the way I looked at it. If I was going to make a change, how come I didn’t make one at the start of the inning?”

The question now is whether he should’ve.

Listen: I defer to World Series rings (Manuel won his in 2008), and despise when skippers over-manage.

But if Manuel’s approach is so laissez-faire you wonder if he has hands to keep off, you wonder whether a little intervention could help.

Whether Manuel should rely only on intuition.

Whether he should lean on innovation.

Maybe not. Maybe pushing the world of advanced sabermetrics would overwhelm him. Confuse him. Precipitate more bad decisions than they prevented.

Sure, he could outsource that analysis. Bring in a bespectacled assistant. Sensible as it sounds—at least have the advice; whether or not you take it—that doesn’t seem likely. (Or at all like Manuel.) But we can dream.

More likely is more of the same. Call it stubbornness or closed-mindedness, or genius, but Manuel’s not changing—that shifts responsibility to his players.

The Phillies have to adapt to Manuel.

Halladay should recognize when he’s vulnerable, throw up his hand, pull himself out. That goes for everyone: For Cole Hamels, whose arm died before he could wave himself off.

No one’s asking him to them the books on it. But Halladay needs to acknowledge his 24-out shelf life, the rest of them their deficiencies. They know it. They feel it—same as Brett Favre used to.

On Halladay: Whether he ignored it like Favre, muscling through and pulling his teams down, we’ll never know. And whether we can blast Doc Halladay like Mr. Hattiesburg is a separate conversation.

But he’s got to understand: these calls, on this team, aren’t the manager’s.

They’re theirs.

This isn’t double jeopardy. We’re past Halladay’s lashing.

But what if Manuel, Halladay or both cost the Phillies in the postseason? What if a decisive October game boils down to a predestined move?

What then?

You wonder whether there is a right move. Whether the end washed any preceding means.

You wonder whether it was Halladay. Talk about a highbrow. A near-perfect tandem of 31-for-33 saves or not, does that pass the “say it out loud” test? How do you swap a multiple Cy Young winner and perfect gamer for Ryan Madson or Antonio Bastardo?

The answer is simple: You deal. Live with it. With Manuel, and his flaws. Like sitcom humor from How I Met Your Mother. Accept Manuel, like you do Andy Reid and his game (mis)managing and Sunday (mis)adjustments.

But just how judgment knells for Reid, it has to with Manuel. Both bought mulligans with long-lived success, so long as the wins pile higher.

Should the headaches pound harder, though, if the Phillies prove an early out in October, wasting one year of a four-pane window of winning, you have to wonder:

Is Charlie being Charlie enough?

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Philadelphia Phillies: Roy Halladay Gets Standing O in Loss, Proves Untouchable

Roy Halladay is untouchable.

As if it wasn’t already, that’s done, decided and indelible after tonight.

Problematic for hitters and off-limits for flak, Halladay (15-5) transcends convention. Even in defeat, the Phillies‘ (78-42) 3-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks (69-53). Even when disconcerting, Halladay’s first troubling sign of mortality.

You defer to nine-deep length with his consistency. To domination like his, and as often.

And you normally blast someone who unravels like he did tonight.

But that’s the Halladay Paradox: There’s no Nintendo wall on his range; Halladay’s now-seven complete games are second-most in baseball to Jered Weaver’s eight. And his ceiling is comparably absurd; only six pitchers—Cliff Lee (16), Weaver (15), C.C. Sabathia (15), Justin Verlander (14), Tommy Hanson (14) and Halladay—have thrown games with 14-plus strikeouts; Halladay broached his career-high of 14 tonight for the second time this season.

Yet those aren’t his highlights.

What matters is that he blew the game.

And nobody cared. Instead, the Citizen’s Bank Park crowd found a way to appreciate.

Whether he fatigued or just got beat, no one else was culpable for the 2-1 lead that crumbled in the ninth. Halladay allowed Lyle Overbay‘s go-ahead double.

Halladay coughed up singles to Justin Upton and Miguel Montero—the two runs that put the Diamondbacks ahead—to start the frame. Halladay slipped in the second, giving Arizona the 1-0 lead on, coincidentally, an Overbay single that scored Chris Young.

That’s not on Charlie Manuel, who trusts Halladay’s judgment and reads his demeanor. It’s possible Halladay was gassed—he’s now thrown an NL-most 184.2 innings and third-most 2,646 pitches. But even if he was, that’s no excuse.

Halladay should’ve in that case signaled as much to Manuel, green-lighting the move everyone was mulling: bringing in Antonio Bastardo or Ryan Madson to put the fork in it. One word, waive or walk, and Manuel turns to the tandem that’s closed 30-of-31 games without incident.

He didn’t, leaving us to assume he wasn’t.

In that case: Overbay got one over on Halladay. Period.

Unimpressive but enough, Phillie hitters aren’t to blame either. Sure, you demand more from Jimmy Rollins than whiffing for a 1-of-5 night and a game-ending strikeout with Carlos Ruiz in scoring position.

Same goes for Shane Victorino’s 1-of-4, an off-night for the guy jockeying for unofficial team offensive MVP with Ryan Howard (who, for record, posted an o-fer in three at-bats with two strikeouts).

Still, what they pieced together—Rollins singled in the fifth, when Victorino shot a zip-liner over the right field wall for the lead—Halladay was expected to shield. Even if his 2-of-3 night topped everyone else’s but Chase Utley’s 3-of-4. Underwhelming or unacceptable in the grander scheme, it should’ve clinched a win tonight.

But it didn’t. Even if only for tonight, Halladay couldn’t ice it.

Still, seemingly and strangely, it didn’t matter. As the pitches hummed a full-count cadence—strike, ball, ball, ball, strike—fans joined the chorus. They rose for what would be Halladay’s 122nd, and last, toss.

A standing O for the guy who should’ve been sat, wasn’t and sunk the home crowd’s team.

That’s the beauty amid what would for anyone else be calamity. He’s just too good.

Vague words like “good” are usually faux pas. But you can use it for Halladay, because every meaning—single-game dominant, multi-game consistent, full-season longevity; powerful and finesse; unpredictable and unhittable—applies.

Even after tonight. You know it doesn’t matter.

You know he’ll crank it in the postseason. His arm might die like Cole Hamels’ did this week, and his mojo might fade like Cliff Lee’s did last year. But Halladay will endure.

Better: He’ll excel.

That goes for the Reds (3.86), Braves (3.00 ERA on season) and Cardinals (1.50), playoff-bound teams who’ve known, and now fear, him. Even anomalies like Milwaukee (0-1, 8.10 ERA in only start) and Colorado (1-0, 5.14 in only start) won’t haunt Halladay in October.

That’s the confidence he’s instilled. That’s how many passes he’s earned.

That’s untouchable, personified.

That’s shorthand for Halladay.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 10 Weakest Throwing Arms in Team History

I’m a positive guy.

I don’t dwell. I don’t nitpick. I don’t fume.

Not without good reason — or invaluable material, like flimsiest-armed throwers in Phillies history.

If you’re a Phillies fan, years of David Bell one-hopping put-out tries tests your patience. And your ears could power 18th-century engines after only months of Ben Francisco and Raul Ibanez.

It’s inexcusable–and mildly hilarious–that some baseball players can’t throw. Of all the sport’s five tools, only running seems more natural, more fundamental. You’d think guys might struggle with a stick or glove first, but throwing?

It’s the only thing mocked as girly. You’d figure that incentive enough for an 8-year-old to scribble notes. For those who skated by by compensating with everything else, you’d think six-figure salaries might trigger motivation.

In other words: If MLBers can’t throw by now, we seamheads have free rein to heckle.

Unless, of course, players simply don’t have it in them, in which case we should all share a laugh. Because “If you can’t laugh at yourself…” right?

So hats off–or hate on–to the proud few who’ve made the cut. Or whose elbows make you wonder if something was.

Begin Slideshow

Philadelphia Phillies: Minor Grades Show Minimal Improvement, Empty Cupboard

The good news first: What’s actually growing in the Phillies farm system is rich and healthy and improving. According to Keith Law‘s midseason Minor League Top 50, RHP Jarred Cosart and Jonathan Singleton have developed since May.

Cosart came in at No. 17, halving the field in front of him since the year began. Singleton measured at No .24, a marginal but notable three-spot jump.

Now for the bad news: That list has been hollowed since the beginning of the season, as players likely to expend their 2012 rookie eligibility (like Domonic Brown) were omitted. That undermines the seeming mass leapfrog that shot Cosart up 17 slots.

And for the obvious: That’s it for Philadelphia’s crop.

Other notable prospects like LHP Jesse Biddle, RHP Julio Rodriguez, C Sebastian Valle and OFs Aaron Altherr and Jiwan James, touted as the finest of the lower levels, did not make the cut.

Six teams had more farm system players on the list, with Toronto‘s four being the highest tally. The other five ahead of the Phils—Tampa, St. Louis, Minnesota, Kansas City and the Yankees—had three prospects apiece.

Division contenders weren’t among them, with the Braves having two, and Mets and Marlins one.

Milwaukee, Oakland and the Chicago’s have no Top 50 pipelining talent, according to Law.

That’s important to recognize: This is just one guy’s opinion.

Still, it is that of the most credible scout in baseball, and one who bases his opinions on copious amounts of film study and scout report reading/writing, and countless conversations with executives, coaches and scouts you haven’t access to.

In other words: Dude’s word matters.

As does this list.

Baseball men burn through stats and reports and opinions like Brian Wilson does patience. They’ll see this list, for sure.

The list doesn’t change much for the Phillies. They know the numbers. They’ve seen the talent. They have the plans.

But for the average, casual fan, this gleans a lot we didn’t know.

Listen: We’re more-than-versed in how thin the ranks are, and have been so long as Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt were brought in during deals that cleaned the farm system out. Save for the the other “Baby Aces” other suits, Brody Colvin and Trevor May, the team doesn’t have depth for reinforcement or dealing.

Singleton has been promising, but very Ryan Howard-esque, with a humble batting average (.280) and on-base percentage (.386) that you think his home runs (7) and RBIs (39) would compensate for.

Not sure they do. With 74, Singleton has already passed his 2010 total from Single-A Lakewood, and 35 games quicker. 

For those reaching for the “Clearwater presents tougher competition” card, note that the rest of his line is level. Almost the same average (-0.10), and OBP (-0.06), with slight dips from last year’s power numbers, 14 HR and 77 RBI.

For Singleton, the No. 1 first baseman, that’s fine—from a 19-year-old up-and-comer and possible Howard replacement, given that Singleton will crest at about the same time Howard’s deal finishes.

But for someone you might mull shopping in a Heath Bell and Ryan Ludwick deal, not so much. Not bad, just a little lacking.

As for Cosart, the No. 10 pitcher on the list (No. 9 righty), you can’t complain. He’s 7-7 with a 3.51 ERA and a 2-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 17 games. You’d like that WHIP down—1.211 is a little high—but it could be higher.

Other notes:

Many believed the “Year of the Pitcher” was bound to go generational already. Of the 50 on this list, 68 percent were pitchers (22 RHP, 5 LHP). That’s likely a self-perpetuating cycle, with the league’s recent emphasis on pitching changing Law’s valuation system.

Still, it reflects a transition from the Steroid to Slinger Eras. Hope you’re a fan of two-hour games with as many runs…

Infielders accounted for only 11 players, with base position players getting two nods each, and five short stops. Five outfielders and four catchers also made the cut.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Ibanez and Mayberry Win 7-2 at Mets, Earn Fan Approval

Raul Ibanez and John Mayberry want to win.

Against the Mets. Over your affections.

Whatever odds are stacked, wherever criticism falls.

And in last night’s 7-2 win in New York, they were more than game for challenges, however lowly or lofty.

New York’s less competitive, more comical team wasn’t as tall an order. The Mets’ plus-.500 run lasted all of a month, since they were 42-42 on June 3, but they were never within arm’s reach of the Braves or Phillies, now 58-34 and always No. 1 in the National League East.

But the scathing and scorn and skittishness about how Ibanez and Mayberry didn’t just linger. It smothered so much you figure they’d have drowned by now.

“Yeah, I’m aware of that,” Mayberry told the Associated Press, about chatter and rumors and right-handed hitting.

It’s unforgiving to Ibanez because of his wages, Mayberry for his inconsistency. The only thing more repelling to fans in this town than unearned $11 million contracts is unfulfilled promises, frustrations Ibanez and Mayberry were always good for.

Or at least they used to be. Ibanez proved heroic and Herculean and clutch in one 11th-inning sizzler and helped pour it on in a blowout in two games against Atlanta before the break. You’d think 5-for-15 with two home runs and seven RBI in the series would do it.

“I like big, tall, lanky guys,” Manuel said.

Philly fans apparently don’t.

At least not Mayberry, still rapped on like a speed bag for fast and sharp tongues. Even after a .313 July and four RBI the day before the season paused. Even though he’s slugged for .842 on the month.

Detractors slugged back. Hard.

Maybe that’s what made their performance Friday empowering. It may register as a lowly win (and one of 98 and change, at the Phillies’ pace) and have come against humble opposition. But the effort resonates like the confidence and defiance and reassurance you couldn’t find on this roster with a heat-seeking GPS on a metal detector.

You have to warm to Mayberry’s two-RBI single in the second, which scored Ibanez and Carlos Ruiz, and double in the eighth worth three more for insurance.

“It was great to be able to come up with runners on a couple of times and even better to come up with a couple of hits,” Mayberry told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

You can’t help but gush over Ibanez’ solo homer off R.A. Dickey (4-8) in the sixth, to jerk the crowd from the lull of staunch pitching. That and the old guy extending in the field like he’s not a year from 40.

Punctuating two three-run frames like that is something this roster could use more of—almost as much as manufacturing runs from nothing. That’s what you got from Mayberry and Ibanez tonight.

But for all the buoyancy in Mayberry and Ibanez’ second-half debuts—they went 2-for-4 each with 5 RBI from Mayberry, one from Ibanez—the stars just sank.

Tweeners like Vance Worley (5-1) met expectation, and in Worley’s case, a haunting May outing in Citi Field head-on. Save for a nicking in the sixth, when one of the bases he loaded before getting yanked scored, Worley gave you what you wanted from his return to the bigs.

And then some, if you count his RBI ground-out in the second that shuffled in Domonic Brown, on top of Worley’s 5.1 innings of four-strikeout-and-walk dealing.

“I definitely wanted to finish that inning off,” Worley said to the Inquirer, still not stretched out like you’d like.

And for those glistening foreheads from Ryan Madson’s first outing since being reactivated from the DL: He was alright. Like, getting two of his three outs on swings in the seventh, “alright.”

But heat up that Heath Bell trade-talk stove. Between Madson and Antonio Bastardo showing command and Michael Stutes feeding doubts—with bumps like Carlos Beltran’s solo homer and a single and a walk, Stutes had as rocky an eighth inning as his last outing against Atlanta—that possibility is pruning from all the intrigue.

As for Rollins, Howard and Utley, you wish the first of their second halves were forgettable.

Sure, Howard showed patience. Utley hustled. You think Rollins tried.

But they still combined for an unforgivable 1-for-13. That’s just not enough.

Still, it’s only a game. Consider this serendipitous break-pumping.

Except for Mayberry and Ibanez.

I mean, come on. Even if it’s hot air, let’s give them at least a little gas.

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MLB Trade Speculation: Phillies Could Find Value in Heath Bell’s Persona, Arm

In just 10.2 seconds, 100 yards, a comical slide and a few divots of Chase Field, and I was sold.

The Phillies need Heath Bell. 

The guy is a complete clown, evidenced no more than his All-Star Weekend antics. Dude perched along the first base fence pregame, doling out obscure mementos and soaking in kids’ awkward responses. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 14-year-old so horrified of Yoda.

Then he jetted from the bullpen in the eighth, puffing out his kidding chest to the FOX cameraman who raced him for as long as he could before keeling over. (They both did.)

Like watching Usain Bolt wearing a tire against a bionic Tyson Gay.

Priceless.

As could that presence be in the locker room, likely to be stuffy and tense as the second half rolls on.

I’m serious: Think of the pressure looming over this team.

They’re prohibitive favorites to win the pennant, up 3.5 games up on the Braves in the division, and head above the waters of a shallow National League field. Who’s catching them?

Who even thinks anyone can?

They’ve been leveraged as win-now, between the $40 million wrapped up in Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels (whose contract expires at year’s end, when he becomes arbitration eligible) and $20 million in Ryan Howard. Ruben Amaro is pressed up against the luxury tax glass, peering through it so hard it’s bound to break.

All those stressors are magnified if it does.

Either way, the Phils’ window doesn’t belong in a McMansion. It would more easily fit in an attic.

And it’s closing.

That pressure is going to go over like Seth Meyers at the ESPY’s: bearable for a while, but more bothersome than anything.

How refreshing would it be, then, to inject character? Not character, like, “company man,” reverent and reliable character. And not Brian Wilson.

More like a boardwalk caricature your Broad Street boppers can laugh with.

You know the team could use it. You don’t get that from cement-faced Halladay and Lee, so stern for so often, you wonder if stoicism triggers something in their contracts. And you don’t want that from Hamels, who’s finally realized ace potential, (even if it’s at No. 3) but whose focus is too tenuous to tamper with.

Howard might charm the pants off a Subway marketing exec, but not this locker room. And with the offense disappointing throughout the spring and early summer, that’s not where you want Howard’s effort. Same goes for Shane Victorino, the closest thing the Phillies have to a top performer who doubles as a jokesmith.

But this isn’t all grounded by some quirky social experiment.  With a 2.46 ERA, 27 strikeouts in 27 save opportunities, only one of which he’s blown, Bell is as sturdy on the mound as any.

He’s even likely to improve. Bell’s ERA tightened up on the road, where he’s thrown a 1.86 in a perfect 15-for-15 save opportunities, struck out 12 and allowed only three runs. And that was for the bottom-scraping Padres, 40-52 and fifth in the National League West.

Imagine what he’d do for a contender, let alone these front-running Phils.

Probably what Matt Holliday did after his 2009 trade from Oakland to St. Louis: Shake a career-worst lull and post the best 63-game stretch of his career in batting average (.353), slugging (.604), and OPS (1.023), the renaissance you expect from guys playing games that mercifully matter.

And I get that there doesn’t seem a vacancy, let alone need, given the crowded bullpen. But there are as many shreds of doubt as suffocating promise, given the youth and fragility.

Nobody trusts or wants Brad Lidge, but have Antonio Bastardo’s 33 first-half innings shown you enough to let Ryan Madson walk in free agency? Has Madson even plead a strong enough case, even after 15-of-16 saves in the first half?

Does Michael Stutes preclude you from stocking yourself with options?

That’s what Bell the player offers: Flexibility. Why not load up on relief pitching if you can, prolonging tough and pricey decisions ’till December?

Like what you see, offer Bell a deal this winter, when his contract expires. Can’t decide between Bell, Madson and Hamels, throw all three in the cart (my suggestion) and check out.

If it doesn’t work, at least you tried.

And tried hard, having acquired a right-handed bat, too. Ryan Ludwick is must-have throw-in to any Heath Bell deal, like shopping at Costco over a few retail outlets. It’s easier, and cheaper, cutting out paperwork and last-second tack-ons you’d find at multiple stops.

At worst, there would be only one.

That might mean Vance Worley, who I’d shield over “Baby Aces” Jared Cosart, Trevor May or Brodie Colvin. But this deal needs to happen, even if it’s expensive.

That’s a price you eat, given Amaro’s prevailing corporate strategy. Major League Baseball Network could feature Ruben Amaro in the Hoarders: Front-Office Edition premier, this team is so now-loaded.

I’ve lobbied for tempering short- and long-term strategies closer toward the middle, fortifying the 2011 roster but leaving plenty left for later.

But that’s not how this team has been built. And Amaro, according to Jayson Stark on 97.5 The Fanatic yesterday, is already more-than-flirting with bringing in Bell, who’s already warm to the city and compatible with the locker room.

And the fans long had their minds made, wanting what they want, right-handed batting and relief pitching, and now.

As for the punchline, personified, with a 95 m.p.h. follow-up?

Something’s telling me they’ll live with that, too.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Raul Ibanez Now a Consideration at MLB Trade Deadline

We’re used to Raul Ibanez being problematic. Disappointing at the plate. Liable in the field. A hummer-sized guzzler of green.

We’re used to Raul Ibanez being problematic.

But never like this.

Never like his six RBI in a 14-1 win over the Braves yesterday—his and everyone’s closing arguments before the All-Star Break, the line of demarcation for trading deadline considerations. GMs have to squeeze all dealing in before July 31, but now serves an opportune down time for self-inventorying:

What do we need? And what do we have?

From Ibanez, that’s never been something.

Never like this series, where at the least, he met minimum standards. At best, he vaulted the Phils in their 3-2 win with a 10th inning, walk-off homer that bore semblance to the clutch you’ve wanted from greater Phils all year.

For one half of baseball’s worst corner outfielding tandem to inch toward reputability, it would take spectacularily. You got that this weekend, with a garnish of hustle plays and contagious gamesmanship you can’t slap value on.

Now, strangely and near-sacrilegiously, he matters.

He’s only hit .241 on the year, hamstrung by a .161 April. It’s only been a week and a half, but July is looking more like May—he hit .315 in his second month—than June, when he gimped along at .211. In a “what have you done for me lately?” sport grounded in stats, his .286 satisfies.

Doesn’t stuff your gut, but doesn’t leave you hungry, either.

Isn’t that the allure to Michael Cuddyer? The object of Philly fans’ obsession of late has hit .298 on the year with only two more home runs (13) and four fewer RBI (43). He’s not a franchise-changer, but a serviceable stopgap to plug an apparent need.

If Ibanez can maintain his of-late production, they’re comparable.

The difference, though, is you have Ibanez. You’d have to get Cuddyer, the take that’s not worth the give of Vance Worley, Antonio Bastardo, Dom Brown, a handful of prospects, some permutation therein—all of which Minnesota could use or would want.

That’s what you mull in times like these. Is what I’ve seen worth what I think I will? In other words: Does Raul Ibanez ease worry enough to justify holding off on a right-handed outfielder?

For the price, sure. But anybody worth having would pluck talent from the depleted farm system or oft-used bench.

And for Cuddyer, take on another $10.5 million.

That’s not worth it for Cuddyer, the only one implicated in trade rumors and a free agent at year’s end. Or for a guy who’d stay—for a lot more coin than the hundreds of thousands the others make.

There’s legitimate credence in the pro-Ibanez argument. Take his .247 average with runners in scoring position. Not much to write home or on B/R about, except for that there’s no drop-off between that and his batting average.

That says Ibanez is somewhat reliable. He can’t transcend, but he doesn’t wilt, either.

You’ll take that, like you took Jayson Werth last year. The season that milked a seven-year, $126 million deal from Washington stacked up to a .296 average with 27 home runs and 85 RBI (Ibanez is on pace for 22 home runs and 84 RBI).

Leveling with you this: Raul Ibanez isn’t worth any offseason’s fattest wad of contractual cash. He’s hardly earned the three-year, $31 million deal he inked in 2008.

That’s part of the problem. Fuzzy as this mid-year wrinkle feels, it doesn’t tempt anyone to take on Ibanez’s $11 million. At least not without the Phillies wolfing down sunk money like Joey Chestnut at Coney Island.

You can’t move him. So live with him.

Continue to bat Ibanez fifth and hope Dom Brown’s trajectory offers a threat enough to polish the pitches Ibanez sees. It should be noted: He’s hit .274 in 2011 from the five hole, left unprotected by and proven inconsequential because of hitters who can’t at No. 6 and beyond.

Makes you wonder what you can get from Ibanez, no lesser a player than Pat Burrell or Cody Ross before they conjured greatness in last year’s World Series. Is that gleaning my forecast for Ibanez’s October?

No, but it cautions against ruling out the possibility, how the Giants exploited Florida and Tampa Bay (and their own) dumping.

The other facets of Ibanez’s game aren’t as questionable. Say what you want about his noodle arm, as sturdy as spaghetti on the witness stand and worth only three assists this year.

But save for one error, he’s been perfect.

That gets lost in snowballing frustration that’s mounted in his time in Philly. I get that.

But he’s as reliable an outfielder as any right fielder in baseball, only separated by one-hundredth of a point from No. 3 in the National League.

Is Raul Ibanez the answer? Probably not.

But he’s at least a consideration—far more than he’s been in a while.

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