The search for a set up man

aThe Phillies have made many improvements this off-season. The 2006 rotation of Jon Lieber, Brett Myers, Cory Lidle, Ryan Madson, and Gavin Floyd has been overhauled. This year only Myers remains; Freddy Garcia, Cole Hamels, Adam Eaton, and Jamie Moyer join him. That rotation combined with an offense that led the National League in runs will make the Phillies in the words of Pat Gillick, “probably a better club than it was a year ago”.

The Phillies bullpen has not been a big part of that change. Struggling relievers Aaron Fultz, Arthur Rhodes, and Rick White won’t return. No one will miss these pitchers who often had a pension for allowing big numbers to make it onto the scoreboard. Despite this addition by subtraction the Phillies bullpen still has a big hole.

For the most part the shape of Phillies bullpen is set. Assuming the Phillies carry 12 pitchers with five starters they have seven roster spots for relievers. Tom Gordon will pitch the ninth inning closing out games for the Phillies. Geoff Geary could pitch in the eighth inning, but is better suited for a role pitching in the seventh. Ryan Madson who pitched poorly as a starter will return to pitching in sixth and seventh innings where he has had much greater success. Left-handed Matt Smith has a nasty slider and will serve as a good left handed specialist. Rule five draft picks Alfredo Simon and James Warden will be given a shot to pitch in blowouts. That leaves one spot for a set up man. The Phillies would like to find a dependable reliever with closing experience. When Tom Gordon went down last year with an elbow injury the Phils bullpen struggled without a clearly defined closer. Given Gordon’s age its reasonable to expect he could spend time on the DL in 2007. It's not a luxury for the Phillies to get another reliever it's a necessity.

There free agent pool has not free agents that peak the interest of the Phillies. The Phils do have a major trade chip in Jon Lieber. Trade talks have dried up with Texas, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee. Fortunately for the Phils dependable pitchers like Lieber are always in demand. Possible trade partners include the Cardinals, Twins, and Astros. All of those teams need starting pitching and have relievers to trade. The most likely trade partner is the St. Louis Cardinals. Out of all the Cardinal pitchers they have only three definite starters Chris Carpenter, Kip Wells, and Anthony Reyes. Adam Wainwright who closed at the end of the season could step into the rotation if Jason Isringhausen is healthy enough to be the closer. They have nowhere to go for starting pitching after Wainwright.

Despite their lack of starting pitch the Cardinals do have many healthy relievers including Braden Looper. Looper was pursued by the Phillies last off-season when he was a free agent. He has closing experience with the Marlins and Mets compiling 103 saves in his career. Looper pitched very well in a set up role for the World Series Champion Cardinals. Last year he had 9 wins and 3 losses with 3.56 ERA in 73 and a third innings. Looper would serve as an excellent set up man.

Sources:
Phillies Trade Conine to Reds
By Todd Zolecki / Philadelphia Inquirer