Lannan will be remembered more by Phillies fans for breaking Chase Utley's hand in July 2007 than he will for going 3-6 in 14 starts for the 2013 club. He earned one standard sized baseball card as a member of the Phillies, which can be found within the 2013 Topps Update set. He also appeared in both team issued sets last year.
As pointed out in his comment to the Michael Martinez "tribute" post, Jim from Downingtown noted that there is an inordinate number of former 2013 Phillies who could only land minor league deals this offseason. That's definitely a testament to the lack of actual Major League depth on last year's team. Of the 13 players to depart the team since October, only two are currently on their new teams' 40-man rosters - catcher Erik Kratz (Blue Jays) and reliever Raul Valdes (Astros). Roy Halladay retired, Zach Miner and Mauricio Robles have yet to find employment, and the other eight guys, including Lannan, have minor league deals.
2 comments:
Although this Mets fan hesitates - if just for a second - to defend the Phillies, I think if you looked at the free agents who have moved on from ANY team, you'll find an inordinate number of minor league contracts. It seems to me that there's been a shift towards keeping the roster spot for young, inexpensive guys until one knows for sure that this just-signed veteran will make the team. A lot of these minor league contracts have opt-out clauses should the player not be in the Majors by a certain date.
You're probably right . . . but the Phils still fielded a lot of AAAA players last season. Sadly, something tells me it will be another long summer in South Philly.
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