MLB Trade Rumors: Should the Phillies Sign Aramis Ramirez?
by Ray Guilfoyle on Oct 15, 2011 8:01 AM EDT
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It is no secret that the Phillies offense struggled this season and in the postseason, and they were shut out at home in the decisive 5th game of the NLDS by Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter. Not only did they get shut out, they lost their first baseman, Ryan Howard to a torn achilles, that will result in him starting the 2012 season on the DL. He could miss the first month of the season, and possibly longer.
Before the 2011 season started, many questioned the impact of the loss of Jayson Werth to the big money in Washington, as he was one of the few right handed hitters in the lineup, and maybe they missed him more than we all know. Some wanted the Phillies to trade for a right handed hitter at the trade deadline and they went out and traded for Hunter Pence, but even he could not help the Phillies get past the hot Cardinals in the NLDS.
More on the Phillies possibly targeting Aramis Ramirez after the jump:
The Phillies did win a team record 102 games in 2011, even after dealing with injuries to Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco and Howard. I have previously written about Utley's decline here and Howard's decline here, so it might behoove the Phillies to upgrade their lineup this offseason. With the drop in power for Utley, Howard, and even newly acquired Hunter Pence this season, could the Phillies look to sign a power hitter in the offseason? Phillies manager Charlie Manuel certainly hopes so, and he is targeting a third baseman. This from from Nate Link over at MLB.com:
After the Phillies struggled to keep their everyday third baseman on the field the last two seasons, manager Charlie Manuel voiced his support of an upgrade on Wednesday.
"If we need to upgrade and we can, we should do it," Manuel said on Wednesday.
Placido Polanco is guaranteed $6.25 million next season, but that shouldn't handcuff the Phillies from exploring other options. Manuel doesn't think the Phillies necessarily need a power-hitting third baseman, but age and durability are factors they will consider when assessing the offseason shopping list.
Phillies GM Ruben Amaro will deny the idea of upgrading at third base a few times and then he will go out and sign Aramis Ramirez. Ramirez has had a solid career in Chicago and will turn 34 next June, but he has never hit less than 25 home runs or driven in less than 83 runs when healthy. Here are his yearly HR/RBI/BA stats since joining the Cubs back in 2004:
2004- 36/103/.318
2005- 31/92/.302
2006- 38/119/.291
2007- 26/101/.310
2008- 27/111/.289
2009- 15/65/.317- played only 82 games
2010- 25/83/.241
2011- 26/93/.306
Ramirez has averaged 28 HRs, 96 RBI and around a .290 BA while in his 8 seasons in Chicago, and could improve upon those numbers hitting in Citizen's Bank Park in 2012. He isn't great in the infield, but the Phillies have Placido Polanco as a late inning replacement, and utility player, should they sign Ramirez.
Signing Ramirez gives Manuel his upgrade at third base, and improves the middle of the Phillies lineup that will need a cleanup hitter until Howard is healthy in 2012. The Phillies lineup could look like this, assuming they resign Jimmy Rollins:
Jimmy Rollins
Chase Utley
Hunter Pence
Ryan Howard
Aramis Ramirez
John Mayberry Jr.
Rollins returning to Philadelphia is a story for another day, as there will be plenty of teams looking to sign him, but maybe not for 5 years.
Should the Phillies sign Aramis Ramirez this offseason?
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Phillies have to resign Rollins and Madson before they can even consider signing a luxury player like Ramirez. It wouldn’t be a bad fit, but if he wants anything more than a 2 year deal with a club option for a 3rd. Knowing Ruben Amaro he’ll probably sign him for 3 years 35 mil like a fool.
The Jruth shall be told.
Yes
I agree, he should not get more than a 2 year deal due to his age and he’s a liability in the field. It will be interesting to see what other teams target him.
Ray Guilfoyle
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by Ray Guilfoyle on Oct 15, 2011 12:48 PM EDT up reply actions
The Phillies should be working on
unsigning Ryan Howard
Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field? ~Jim Bouton
+1
that is Amaro’s worst move to date…..and will probably result in his firing one day. He also did not get much for Cliff Lee from Seattle. His handling of Domonic Brown isn’t looking great either.
Ray Guilfoyle
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by Ray Guilfoyle on Oct 15, 2011 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Amaro's not a good GM
- There’s the Howard deal, arguably the worst contract in the game at the moment.
- He overpaid Ibanez, Baez and Jamie Moyer
- He got a great deal in acquiring Cliff Lee, but managed to trade him for even less than he gave up. A positively awful deal.
- He’s frequently forced his team to depend on players like Juan Castro, Wilson Valdez, Eric Bruntlett and Michael Martinez.
- He acquired Halladay but it’s not like he didn’t give up a ton to get him
- Extending Joe Blanton
- He gave up a ton for Hunter Pence
- Screwing with Dom Brown
He’s just not a guy that’s done a lot of really positive things in that role. For the most part, he’s simply spent a bunch of money and traded his very best prospects. Yeah, the development of many prospects under Amaro has gone quite well, but for the most part he’s been winning without making any particularly savvy moves.
Yes, my real name is actually Satchel.
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by Satchel Price on Oct 17, 2011 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions
There's an argument to be made for
1. spending lots of money
2. developing prospects
3. trading them
I mean, I’m not sure how important being savvy at the low-end of the spending pole will be when we’re talking about teams that spend that much. Perhaps he’ll fizzle out by trading out his future for big names now, but there’s definitely something to trading unknowns for knowns, even if they’re expensive.
I don’t know, I guess I’m saying “particularly savvy” doesn’t strike me as that important unless we’re talking about extremely lucky trades early in a HOFer’s career, or trading away a guy that is about to collapse for a guy that is about to break out — and even then we’re probably talking about something largely based on luck rather than hard analysis. I could be wrong.
Managing Editor at Beyond the Box Score and MLB Daily Dish. Follow me @justinbopp
by Justin Bopp on Oct 17, 2011 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, you're right
His trades have been fine, even if the Lee-to-Seattle one is awful. I think his aggression on the trade market has been somewhat appropriate.
I just think he could do a better job of filling out his roster with role players, although he’s done well in the outfield. And the contracts have mostly been bad. I’m just worried that he’ll get himself in a bind with bad contracts, and it’s not always easy to keep churning out quality prospects from the generally-raw guys that they acquire as amateurs.
Yes, my real name is actually Satchel.
I'm a columnist for Beyond the Box Score and a writer for MLB Daily Dish.
Oh, I'm on Twitter, too.
by Satchel Price on Oct 17, 2011 3:04 PM EDT up reply actions
That's fair, and I agree.
Managing Editor at Beyond the Box Score and MLB Daily Dish. Follow me @justinbopp
Halladay deal
he gave up a pitcher who right now has underperformed, a catcher who could be an all star, and an outfielder who will probably be a 4th OFer at best……for the best pitcher in the game. Halladay was a steal in my opinion.
I think any team that hands out LT contracts like Amero has will have a few Valdez type players to fill out the roster.
He did mess up Brown, I agree. I am not sure he gave up a ton for Pence, but Pence is an all star OFer and he is cheap.
Ray Guilfoyle
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by Ray Guilfoyle on Oct 17, 2011 7:03 PM EDT up reply actions
Not at the time
At the time he gave up an elite SP prospect, an elite OF prospect and a top-100 catcher prospect. It was a lot to give up.
Yes, my real name is actually Satchel.
I'm a columnist for Beyond the Box Score and a writer for MLB Daily Dish.
Oh, I'm on Twitter, too.
by Satchel Price on Oct 18, 2011 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions
elite?
Michael Taylor elite? I disagree. He had just changed his swing and there were questions about his power.
Elite is a bit strong for Drabek as well.
I thought it was a fair deal at the time…..
Ray Guilfoyle
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by Ray Guilfoyle on Oct 20, 2011 10:47 PM EDT up reply actions
I would like this move, but of course for selfish reasons.
This would stop the talk of the Angels signing him. As stated above, he is a defensive liability and thus, I don’t think a good fit for the defensive minded Angels. That isn’t to say that a few more HRs from the 3B position wouldn’t be welcome. Don’t know if Callaspo is the answer, but the Angels have other problems too, imo.
In the long run men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high.
Walden
by matthiasstephan on Oct 16, 2011 8:23 AM EDT reply actions
I think if the Phillies can somehow get him to sign with them for less, because they can give him close to a championship.
But i wouldnt overpay for him and i think there will be other teams going at him hard.
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