Game 121 - Thursday Night, August 20th in Miami
Record - 47-74, 5th Place, 17 1/2 games behind the Mets
One Sentence Summary: The Phillies attempted a comeback, but Jerome Williams' horrendous start was too much to overcome and the Marlins won, 9-7.
What It Means: Williams now earns an ERA of 6.10. I have to imagine there are prospects in Triple-A who could take his spot in the rotation in September.
What Happened: Williams allowed 8 runs on 8 hits in 1 2/3 innings pitched. Cesar Jimenez came in for the next 2 1/3 innings and shut the Marlins down.
Featured Card: Following the game, Jimenez was designated for assignment to make room on the roster for Friday night's starting pitcher, Jered Eickhoff. On Friday afternoon, Jimenez was claimed off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers and he'll join their bullpen. He becomes the ninth member of the 2015 Phillies squad now no longer with the organization. His sole Phillies baseball card can be found within the first team issued photo card set from the beginning of this season.
Departed During Season
- Grady Sizemore (6/1/15) - Released and signed with the Tampa Bay Rays organization on 6/15/15.
- Phillippe Aumont (6/24/15) - Designated for assignment and elected free agency. Signed with the Toronto Blue Jays organization on 7/24/15.
- Jonathan Papelbon (7/28/15) - Traded with cash considerations to the Washington Nationals for Nick Pivetta.
- Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman (7/31/15) - Traded with cash considerations to the Texas Rangers for Matt Harrison, Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro, Jake Thompson, Jerad Eickhoff and Alec Asher.
- Ben Revere (7/31/15) - Traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for Jimmy Cordero and Alberto Tirado.
- Chase Utley (8/19/15) - Traded with cash considerations to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Darnell Sweeney and John Richy.
- Cesar Jimenez (8/21/15) - Claimed off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Arrived During Season
- Kevin Correia (6/8/15) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the San Francisco Giants organization.
- Dalier Hinojosa (7/15/15) - Selected off waivers from the Boston Red Sox.
- Jerad Eickhoff (7/31/15) - Acquired with Matt Harrison, Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro, Jake Thompson and Alec Asher from the Texas Rangers for Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman and cash considerations.
- Darnell Sweeney (8/19/15) - Acquired with John Richy from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Chase Utley and cash considerations.
I had missed the news that Phillippe Aumont had left the organization about a month ago. The "minor league re-stocking" received in the Cliff Lee trade is now gone, and the trade will go down as one of the worst 5 trades in Phillies history--maybe lower (after only the trades for Ryne Sandberg, for Fergie Jenkins, and combined for and then of Hunter Pence--RAJ made 3 of those 5 trades). Lee, who had just thrown 2 masterpieces in the World Series and had a 1.56 ERA and 4 wins (2 complete games) in the postseason, was traded for:
ReplyDelete- a guy who had been previously arrested for cocaine possession and would be suspended three times in the minors for insubordination and/or general acts of rage against a team bus driver and against a bat rack, plus one unspecified (Tyson Gillies) and never make the majors--and with his last OPS over .700 coming back in 2012, it's not likely to ever happen now. (Googling <> yields 22,800 results)
- a guy who would pitch all of 24 innings in Philadelphia with a 7.50 ERA, giving up 16 walks to go with his 16 Ks (J.C. Ramirez)
- a guy who would pitch 43 2/3 innings in Philadelphia over 4 seasons, with a 6.83 ERA, giving up 2 walks and hits per inning pitched (Aumont--whose WHIP of 1.992 is perhaps about the highest I have ever seen for someone throwing as many as 43 innings)
After being traded away, Lee went 12-9 with a 3.18 ERA in 212 innings, while leading the league in WHIP.
Had the Phils had Lee in 2010, they wouldn't have had to pitch Joe Blanton and his 4.82 ERA in the NLCS, they probably would have beaten the Giants in Game 4 and instead of going down 3 games to 1 they would have tied the NLCS and then taken a 3-2 game lead going into the final two games at home and quite possibly have won in 7 instead of losing in 6. They would have gone on to face the very beatable Texas Rangers in the World Series; instead, Texas lost 4 games to 1 to the Giants.
And in re-signing Lee, the Phillies had to give up their first round draft pick in 2011, which they wouldn't have had to do had they held onto him.