One: Jim Thome

Two: David Bell

Thome I understand, but Bell? And a three-year contract? Wouldn't that block the development of a couple of very good prospects in the Phils minor league system?

Bell's perfectly OK as a major league third baseman (better, apparently, than Jeff Cirillo, Mariner fans) and the Phillie minor leaguers might be a year away, but that doesn't explain why the Phils would waste a three-year contract on the guy.

(There may be places he's worth a three-year deal, but Philadelphia - with a loaded minor league system - isn't the place.)

For Joe's sake, I hope The Anaconda isn't using his Phil's as leverage in his quest to get a license to print money from Indians.

The romantic in me hopes he stays with the Indians. It was always weird to see, say, Willie Mays in a Mets uniform or Pete Rose in a Phillie's uni, especially those ghastly pale blue road uni's. Frankly, I wish Thome would quit wearing those tents of his and go to a so-tight-it-looks-painted-on deal.

My lust aside, I'd be wary of Thome if I were the Phillies. There's a lot of precedence for guys who switch leagues having a tough go at it and he IS 32; it might not be far off that he slows down or starts becoming injury prone. A long term deal might not be in the Phillie's best long-term interests, attractive as the short term might be.

As Charlie wrote, the David Bell linkage seems kind of odd. And he's had a good post-season for the Giants, so I'm sure his price is higher than what it was in August, say.

I don't think they're sold on their third base prospects just yet, but they'd love to move Polanco to second. They're tired of Marlon Anderson. And while Thome may be a risk with being 32 and moving to a new league, he can just show up and be an improvement on Travis Lee.

I read a little while back that the Indians were going to make a "take it or leave it" offer to Thome, that they wouldn't negotiate further if he turned it down.

Now that I think about it, this should be at the top of the Phillies' wish list for 2003:

Glavine and Maddux wearing uniforms other than the Braves. Preferably in the American League.


You're not going to like this Joe in Philly, but I'm having trouble seeing (1) how the Phillies won't be the team to beat next year in the NL East, with or without Thome, (note use of the double negative to mean a positive) and (2) how any team other than the Phillies and Dodgers are going to be serious contenders for winning the NL pennant. The Phillies have more high quality young talent than all of the other serious NL contenders (i.e., teams that are not, nor ever have been, owned by Jeff Loria), combined.

Hey, it's not too early to be thinking about 2003. Cubs fans started on this back in April.

[ October 27, 2002: Message edited by: Charlie in the Trees ]

I need to see if they get Thome, or somehow find someone else (other than Jeff Kent) to send Travis Lee packing. Travis Lee has reached Kevin Jordan status now in my mind.

I'm sure I've explained this before, but a review is in order. Kevin Jordan was Terry Francona's favorite. He was constantly given a lot of playing time under the excuse of "we need to keep our bench players ready" despite the fact that he was an extremely mediocre player. Imagine not playing Scott Rolen in front of a rare large crowd on "Scott Rolen T-shirt day" in order to keep Kevin Jordan sharp.

Thus, Kevin Jordan became the epitome of everything that was wrong with the team during the Frankotite era. And for me, Travis Lee is the epitome of everything that was wrong in 2002. If nothing else happens in the offseason, Lee must go.

The hiring of Joe Kerrigan as pitching coach is getting positive reviews, including this one today from Mike Lieberthal.