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Big Big Game from Brett

Huge game for Brett Myers and the Phillies tonight.  Myers went the distance and shut out the Nationals while striking out nine and walking only one.

Besides getting the win, there is also the unofficial victory that comes with keeping the bullpen unused for a day.  There's a lot of miles adding up out there, so it's great to get them a night off.

Myers' temperament is as stable as a third world government, but right now his head seems to be on straight and he's getting results because of it.

Phillies Gradually Changing Their Tune On Myers

Several weeks ago, at the depth of [we hope] Brett Myers' troubles as a starting pitcher, he was sent to the minor leagues to straighten out his game.

At the time, speculation swirled that Myers would eventually end up in the bullpen, where he excelled last season after being converted in an emergency from a starter.  The Phillies though, were quick to put an end to such talk.  Assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. had this to say on the subject [July 7th, 2008 via Inquirer]:

"We've always viewed Brett as a starter.  We had a situation last year where our bullpen was in shambles and Brett was willing to become the closer. But he's a starter. He's a very important piece of this ball club. He may have felt more confident in the bullpen, but we believe he's a starter."

General manager Pat Gillick backed it up Amaro with this statement:

"We're kind of stubborn on this. We think Brett is a starter. It might be that he prefers to close, but we don't see a reason he can't start."

OK, we get it, Myers is a starter.  Period.  Case closed.  Done deal.  Until...

Today.  Here's Amaro on the topic now:

"We're trying to win our division, so we're going to try to put the best starters out there we can to win. We have to keep our minds open with what we're going to do. We're not locking ourselves in with anything. We believe he'll stay in the rotation, but we have to keep our options open, and we will."

It's my guess that if Myers struggles tonight against the Washington Nationals -- an anemic offense if there ever was one, averaging 3.7 runs/game -- the Phillies will throw in the towel with him and move him to the pen while inserting J.A. Happ into the rotation.

On the other hand, if he strings some serviceable starts together, and if the Phillies can't find some relief help via trade, Happ will likely work out of the pen, something he's never done before.

Ahhh...  Remember those idyllic days when we thought the Phillies had a chance to run away with the division?

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Thanks to Rob Neyer of ESPN.com for linking to yesterday's mob analogy.  His columns were very influential on me before starting this site, so it's a kick for me to have him take notice of what goes on around here.

B.A. Myers

Anyone who lived through the 80's remembers the television show the A-Team and B.A. Barracus, played by Mr. T.  "B.A." stood for "Bad Attitude" and right now, that's what Brett Myers is displaying.

Most people are showering him with praise for accepting his demotion to AAA Lehigh Valley, and to be fair, he does deserve some credit.  But after reading statements by him [via the Inqy's Jim Salisbury and Todd Zolecki] in which he says that he misses being a "rock-star" in the bullpen and hasn't gotten his head back into starting, he deserves a fair bit of criticism too.  On top of that, Phillies general manager Pat Gillick told Mike Radano of the Courier-Post about how Myers has failed to incorporate the suggestions he has received from pitching coach Rich Dubee about how to fix his game.

Between this most recent look inside his head and the previous ones, i.e. the night in Boston two years ago, you have to wonder if Myers ever will get it.

Brett Myers Cruising Up I-476

In case you haven't heard, our phaithful beat writers are reporting that Brett Myers has been sent down to the AAA IronPigs to get his career back on track.

I think it is safe to say that of all the options many of us considered for Myers, this one was probably considered the least likely.  What's interesting to me is that by accepting the demotion, which he had the right to decline, Myers is showing us all how little confidence he has in himself right now to straighten things out.

Good luck Brett, hurry back.

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Doc Manuel's Opening Day Starter [Going on 3 Updates]

Brett Myers acted as bookends for the Phillies 2007 season.  He started the first game of the year and closed out the final game of the year.

To the surprise of many, he'll start the 2008 season off as well.

Many assumed that the opening day nod would go to King Cole, but Charlie Manuel called the scribes into his office today and announced that no, contrary to convention wisdom, it'll be Myers on March [!] 31st.

Manuel's reasoning, publicly, is "matchups".  But I think it's more Dr. Manuel practicing some of his folksy brand of psychology.  He wants Myers knowing he has to start thinking like a starter again, and he doesn't want Myers wondering if he'll be drafted as closer again with Brad Lidge going under the knife.  Just in case there was any doubt, you're a starter, dern it.  It's not that he wants to label Myers the ace, he wants to perma-stamp him a starter for all the doubters, including Brett.  Myers will not serve as bookends two years in a row.

Some might see it as mind games, but when you consider how Manuel guided the Phillies through the chronic crisis that was last season, can you argue with this move?  No.

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Update:  Looks like I'm not the only one that sees it this way.

On-the-other-hand update:  Beerleaguer tends to think it really is for matchups' sake, but those are a lot of "ifs" that have to come together.

Third-time's-the-charm update:  Looks like there's a lot of psychology going on.  Pitching coach Rich Dubee, via T-Zo:

"We wanted to free Brett's mind up," pitching coach Rich Dubee said after last night's exhibition game against Florida State University was canceled because of rain. "He's talked about if [Brad] Lidge is down, he could be the closer. I don't want Brett looking forward to being a closer. We want Brett preparing for opening day. So that was part of it.

"And unselfishly, Brett went into the bullpen last year. He accepted it, and did a hell of a job for us. He showed he was a pretty good team player for doing so. So part of it was a reward for him: 'Hey, listen, we're glad you're in this with us for the long haul, so here's a little bit of a reward.' "

More on Lidge

Pat Gillick, on some of the logic behind trading for a relief pitcher rather than a starter:

"I don't want to downplay or knock the other guys, but with the quality of the starting pitching out there [on the trade and free-agent markets], we don't want to get ourselves in a situation where we tie ourselves up with maybe somebody that we really, honestly a year from now didn't want to be in bed with," general manager Pat Gillick said.

 

Especially since the Phillies and their fans are having the same reaction to being in bed with a member of last year's free agent class, Adam Eaton, for two more years as fictional movie producer Jack Woltz had in The Godfather.

Really, the essence of this trade wasn't about gaining a reliever, it was about improving the rotation without weakening any other area of the team significantly and it probably accomplishes that.  Replacing Brett Myers in the bullpen with Brad Lidge will probably cost the Phillies a few runs allowed (Lidge was good for 35 pitching runs created in 2007 while  Myers was good for 33, which includes his two poor starts in April), but they will more than make up for it by using Myers in the rotation (95 PRC as a starter in 2006), rather than, say, Carlos Silva (77 PRC in 2007).  And, you accomplish all this by adding only $6 or $7 million to the payroll, which saves money to re-sign Aaron Rowand and/or JC Romero or sign their replacements, plus give Ryan Howard a raise.

As long as Lidge isn't the 2008 version of Freddy Garcia, this deal has a chance to really help the Phillies.

Myers, Phils Avoid Arbitration and then Some

From Phillies.com comes the news that the team has avoided arbitration with Brett Myers and signed him to a three year, $25.75 million deal.  Says Myers:

"I've grown up in this organization, and this is where I want to stay.  I love pitching in Philadelphia, I love the ballpark, I love the fans, and having Charlie [Manuel] as the manager and guys like Chase Utley around for the next few years was a big part of my decision."

What went into the Phillies decision?  Myers was, as assistant general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. said, arguably one of the better pitchers in the National League last year, and relatively young, just 26 years old.  Despite missing several starts due to his well-documented and discussed personal issues, Myers still managed to rank among the league leaders in strikeouts (5th) and ERA (9th).  Since Joe Kerrigan stopped fooling around with Myers' delivery, his ERA has been 20% better than the league average.

Myers was set to make somewhere between $5 million and $5.9 million this season and perhaps a bit more in 2008.  But in 2009, when Myers is eligible to become a free agent, the first year of his salary would be what? $12 million? $15 million by that time?  In that light, it is probably a fair deal for both sides.

What's interesting to note is that the Phillies gave a seven-year deal to Chase Utley just a little over a week ago, but only a three year deal to Myers.  Is that because of Pat Gillick's distrust of the inconsistencies of starting pitchers in general or is it a distrust of Myers off-the-field indiscretions (to put it mildly)?

Another factor to consider in the length of the contract: in three years, the Phillies will have a much better idea of the types of pitchers their prospects in the low minors (i.e. Carlos Carrasco, Kyle Drabek, Edgar Garcia, Josh Outman) and the recoverying Scott Mathieson are going to grow up and become.  If the Phillies have a cadre of young cheap talent to take over, they may be willing to part with the expensive Myers.

Move Along, Nothing to See Here

Link: Comcast SportsNet: Giles Misread Montgomery's Explanation.

“I think Bill clearly misunderstood me,” [Phillies CEO David] Montgomery said.

How do these people find their way home every night?

Phillies Owner Contradicts Brett Myers Charges

Link: Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/10/2006 | One Phillies owner speaks out on team’s struggles.

Todd Zolecki of the Inquirer caught up with Bill Giles, a minority share owner of the Phillies.  In the interview, Giles disputes the accusations against Brett Myers.  No punching, no hair pulling.

So let me make sure I understand this...  If, and I say if, Giles is accurate about the events of that night in Boston, and if Myers really is innocent, then why did the Phillies eventually capitulate to pressure and sit Myers?

If Myers is guilty, the organization was wrong to let him pitch 36 hours after the incident.  If he is innocent, then the organization is weak for capitulating to pressure.

Which is it?  Inept or weak?

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More on Myers

Talk radio is often like a dog with a bone, and with the Brett Myers assault case, they are staying in character and not letting go [not that they should].

This morning, Sylvester Egidio, one of the witnesses and 911 callers, gave his account of the events to WPHT-1210 AM's Michael Smerconish.  It is quite a tale, and you can listen to it here in mp3 format, via thebigtalker1210.com.  It contains another brilliant quote from Myers, "hey, you don't know who I am!"  Well Brett, good job, a lot more people know who you are now.

Additionally, Fay Vincent, former commissioner of baseball had an interesting point on ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike in the Morning".  He suggested that the Phillies should not take action against Myers, because he knows of instances where judges have taken a ballclub's punishment into account when handing down their sentence to a convicted athlete.  In other words, a lesser sentence.

Vincent raises an interesting angle, but I still think if I owned the Phillies (a phrase I must contemplate at least 900 times a day), I would still send Myers home.

[Update: Both Brett Myers and David Montgomery issued statements.  Had they just done all of this on Friday, they would find themselves in a much better position.]