Several of the beat writers that cover the Phillies for the local papers had an interesting exchange with general manager Pat Gillick. Not so much in regards to the non-waiver trade deadline that passed yesterday, but more on the future role of LHP J.A. Happ.
From Scott Lauber of the News-Journal:
After failing to acquire a lefty reliever by the non-waiver trade deadline yesterday, Gillick was asked if Happ could fill that role as a second lefty in the bullpen. He wavered on that idea, then said the Phillies would "possibly make an adjustment" to their pitching staff. Asked if that would involve Happ returning to the minors, Gillick said the move would "maybe be an alternative in what we're able to do."
Well, that's vague.
You can listen to Gillick's comments by clicking here: R09_0070.mp3
What in the world could that "alternative" be?
After repeated head-scratching, my best guess is one of two things:
- Joe Blanton may be headed to the bullpen rather than Brett Myers [yes, I know, several days ago I said that Myers could head to the bullpen, but he pitched well, and the number of quotes from the Phillies that say he is going to be a starter are overwhelming compared to the number that waver on that subject].
- The Phillies could be considering a six-man rotation. This scenario seems even more unlikely than the first, but it seems as if the Phillies biggest fear is an injury to a starting pitcher and a six-man rotation would cut down on innings pitched.
- There's another trade in the works, despite the fact that passing the involved players through waivers is now necessary.
As you can see, my ideas for what Gillick can be referring to are slim, what are your thoughts?
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Not to take anything away from the Phillies performance in Washington over the last three nights, because sweeping any big league team is tough, but by the same token, the Nationals are one baaad baseball team. While the Phillies consistently scored more runs than they have been over the last two months, they got a lot of help from the Nationals defense too.
A better test for the club will be this weekend in St. Louis against the Cardinals.
