Send Pitching, No Matter What!

Did they just play an All-Star game? Darn, I missed it again. I sure would have loved to hear Boomer and Joe gush about the home run derby but I forgot they were on. Jeez, it would have been swell to listen to the soporific voice of Joe Buck and the pedantic platitudes of Tim McCarver but I guess I'll have to wait until next year. Whatever.

There are more important fish to fry, especially in Miami this coming weekend. In the meantime, just remember, you don't have to be a model citizen or especially forthcoming about your health to pitch for a major league baseball team.

Otherwise, how could the Phils still be interested in Erik Bedard, who apparently rubs his teammates and management the wrong way wherever he goes? On top of that, he's always hurt these days. Erik is currently on the DL again. What a great pickup he'd make! The Phillies do seem to attract their share of head cases, don't they?!

And how do you explain the Phillies' alleged interest in Freddy Garcia of all people, the very same guy who took them to the cleaners last year and departed with about as much good will toward the City of Brotherly Love as, say, Todd Jones did. The Phils certainly didn't benefit from his brief tenure in red pinstripes; for his part, Garcia left making it quite clear the feeling was mutual. Now he's "recovering" from major arm surgery. Would the alleged brain trust deep within Citizens Bank Park really consider Garcia now that rumors he was damaged goods when they last acquired him have proven to be true? More to the point, would he seriously consider them? The guess here: he's more likely to answer yes if the Phils are the only club to make him an offer, but in this era, even pitchers who haven't thrown a ball for more than a year are highly prized. Freddy ain't coming back to Philly 'cause he's gonna get other offers he likes better. Whew, that was close.

And how can you explain the Phils' desperate ongoing efforts to reclaim the former unfilled promises of Brett Myers, whose work habits not to mention personal ones are a perennial problem? Well, for one thing the Phillies remain convinced Myers' "stuff" will help him overcome all of his limitations. In addition, he's always been just enough of a second-half kind of guy to keep the brain trust guessing. But when you send your opening day starter (a choice that many including this observer thought was a thinly-veiled message to let him know he was no longer a closer) down to AAA in this his sixth big league season, you have reached the point of desperation. Work it out, they told him, but not on our time. Frankly, if they can just get him back to throwing 90 mph they'll probably try to move him in the off-season for a guy with less baggage.