Wes Helms heading to San Francisco?

The San Francisco Giants are looking for a 3rd baseman, could that guy be Phillies' Wes Helms?

According to the Philadelphia Daily News, the Giants and Phillies are apparently talking trade. The deal would send Wes Helms to the Giants in return for reliever Steve Kline.

Kline wanted to sign with the Phillies during the offseason, and the Phils did offer him a 1-year deal, but when the Giants offered him 2-years, he took it.

The Dodgers are also looking for a 3rd baseman, mostly because they don't trust the health or glove for that matter, of Nomar Garciappara, so the Dodgers could also get into the mix for Helms or even the Tigers' Brandon Inge.

Phillies' Eaton has herniated disk

Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Adam Eaton had complained of back pain after his start on Thursday afternoon against Tampa Bay, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits in 2 innings.

On Saturday, Eaton had an MRI and CT, the team received the results earlier today. The diagnosis was a herniated disk and slight arthritis.

Even with his back problem, Eaton says he should be ready for the opening of the 2008 season.

"I don't see why not. We're just kind of taking precautions now to not aggravate it," said Eaton. "I've been doing stuff the last couple of weeks to be ready. I don't have any thoughts on why I shouldn't be ready."

Lidge will undergo surgery, out 3-6 weeks

On Saturday, Brad Lidge felt something while throwing a pitching during batting practice. He was checked out by team doctors who determined his injury to be a torn miniscus.

Lidge will undergo athroscopic surgery and will miss 3-6 weeks, which means he still should be ready for Opening Day.

Angels win arbitration case with Rodriguez

Angels' closer Francisco Rodriguez got his name on the list of players defeated in arbitration this year. KRod was seeking $12.5M, while the Angels offered and won at $10M.

The only player to win his arbitration case, to no surprise, was Phillies' 1st baseman Ryan Howard.

Ryan Howard makes arbitration history

I'm not sure what the Phillies were thinking with this decision, but they decided to go to arbitration with 1st baseman Ryan Howard on Thursday.

Howard made $900k last year, but after hitting .268 with 47 HR's and 136 RBI's last year, he tied Alfonso Soriano for the highest amount ever given to a victorious player after being awared $10M.

The Phillies tried to get something done prior to the hearing, even negotiating right before the start of the hearing. Phillies assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said, “We negotiated right up to the courthouse steps with Ryan in a variety of ways and unfortunately we couldn’t get it done.”

Prank on Phillies' pitcher Kyle Kendrick

If you haven't seen this, it's hilarious. Orchastrated by Brett Myers, it included manager Charlie Manual, assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr, Kendrick's agent and even the media to pull this off. It's hilarious...

Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick was lead to believe they had traded him to Japan, little did he know, everyone was in on the joke except for him.

Beltran: "We're the team to beat"

Let the trash talk and the player predictions begin. When the Phillies reported to camp prior to the 2007 season, Phillies' SS Jimmy Rollins predicted that his team would be the team to beat, turns out he was right.

Now, with players reporting to camp, the trash talk and the player predictions have started. This time, it came from Mets' outfielder Carlos Beltran. Without being asked a single question, Beltran sat in the team dugout and, again, without being prompted said "To Jimmy Rollins, we're the team to beat."

When asked to ellaborate, Beltran stated "Let me tell you this, without Santana, we felt, as a team, that we had a chance to win in our division. With him now, I have no doubt that we're going to win in our division. I have no doubt in that. We've got what it takes."

Phillies have high interest in Benson

The Philadelphia Phillies may have more interest in right-hander Kris Benson than they're saying.

According to the Philadelphia Enquirer, Benson has thrown twice in the last week for Phillies scout Chuck LaMar. Benson's agent, Greg Clifton said "Kris worked out for the Phillies, and initial reports are they were pleased. He'd love to continue discussions with them, and he'd love the chance to be part of that staff in '08. He really likes that team."

Phillies interested in Perez?

According to the Philadelphia Daily News, 30-year-old righthander Odalis Perez worked out for the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday in the Dominican Republic.

However, Phillies' assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said their interest in only "lukewarm" and does not have a time table for their decision.

Phillies, Feliz finalize 2-year deal

The Philadelphia Phillies finalized a 2-year $8.5M deal with 3rd baseman, and former San Francisco Giant, Pedro Feliz.

The incoming Feliz could mean that Wes Helms could be dealt prior to opening day.

Phillies sign Lidge, Madson

The Philadelphia Phillies avoided arbitration with closer Brad Lidge ($6.35M) and reliever Ryan Madson ($1.4M) when they signed both to 1-year deals on Thursday.

The last 2 arbitration eligible players left are 1st baseman Ryan Howard and infielder Eric Bruntlett.

Rowand guarantees title hunt with Giants

Aaron Rowand may have let his excitement of being with a new team scramble his brain. According to Chris Haft of MLB.com, Rowand has guaranteed that the Giants will contend for the NL West title.

Now, I'm not a Giants fan, nor a Giants hater, but Rowand may be biting off a little more than he can chew. To guarantee anything at this point is both ludicrious and dumb.

Things the Giants do have going for them...their pitching staff is young and talented. Their front 4 boasts Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito, Noah Lowry and Matt Cain, a fearsome foursome to be sure, but where is their offense going to come from? Rowand can not carry an offense, most people say he's a ballpark created hitter. Moving from a very hitter friendly ballpark in Philadelphia to one of the best pitchers parks in baseball isn't going to do him any favors.

Last season, the Giants ranked 27th in Team Batting Average (.254), 29th in Runs (683), 25th in HR's (131), 28th in OBP (.322) and dead last in Slugging Percentage (.387).

There's no doubt the Giants have pitching, but with their only addition being Aaron Rowand, I just don't see how the Giants are going to compete for anything but last place.

Phillies sign Werth, avoid arbitration

The Phillies avoided going to arbitration when they, and outfielder Jayson Werth, agreed on a 1-year $1.7M deal according to the Associated Press.

Werth shared time last season with Shane Victorino and is expected to share time next season with newly acquired Geoff Jenkins while Victorino will replace Aaron Rowand in center field.

Orioles purchase contract of Phillies' Roberson

According to an AP report, the Baltimore Orioles have purchased the contract of Chris Roberson from the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies also sent catcher Pete LaForest outright to AAA Lehigh Valley.

Mike Cameron still unsigned

The biggest surprise to me this offseason, Mike Cameron is still yet to be signed. Cameron and his agent had been talking to the San Diego Padres about a 2-year deal few weeks ago, but could not come to an agreement on the dollar amount.

The teams that had been interested, namely the Rangers and Phillies, have both acquired center fielders. The Rangers traded for Reds' center fielder Josh Hamilton, the Phillies signed both Geoff Jenkins and So Taguchi to free agent deals.

At this point, with his options dwindling by the day, could Cameron return to the Padres? It's doubtful, but if he and the Padres are willing to re-negotiate the dollar amount on that 2-year deal previously discussed, maybe there is a chance.

Phillies sign So Taguchi

The Philadelphia Phillies picked up another outfielder on Sunday, signing So Taguchi to a 1-year $1M with an option for 2009.

So the Phillies' outfield looks like this...Pat Burrell, Geoff Jenkins, So Taguchi, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth. Not the best defensive outfield out there, but does have some offensive pop for sure.

Phillies in or out on Lohse?

This morning, reading Ben Maller's MLB Rumors from Fox Sports, I came across two different articles on the bidding for pitcher Kyle Lohse.





The first one, from Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press, says Lohse is pondering a 4-year $40M offer from Philadelphia Phillies. Contrary to that report, George King of the NY Post says the Phillies have backed out of the running.





In the George King article, Phillies assistant GM, Ruben Amaro, says "We talked to his agent Scott Boras a few times and from all indications it looked like it would take four years. We let him know that we wouldn't go higher than three. He indicated he could get four, and we bowed out gracefully"


I guess we'll get the real story in a few days.

Phillies land Chad Durbin

According to Dejan Kovacevic reports that the Philadelphia Phillies have signed, former Tigers starter, Chad Durbin, though the terms of the contract have not been released.

Phillies sign Geoff Jenkins

The San Diego Padres have lost out on the 3rd free agent they were after. After losing to the Cubs for Kosuke Fukudome, Milton Bradley to the Rangers and now the most recent being Geoff Jenkins who just signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

According to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN, Jenkins signed a 2-year $13M deal with a vesting option based on plate appearances that could make the total deal worth $20M. Jenkins is expected to platoon in right field with current Philly Jayson Werth.

Padres will not match Phillies offer for Jenkins

Free agent outfielder Geoff Jenkins has still yet to decide between the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Diego Padres.

The Phillies have offered a 3-year deal and it's unlikely that the Padres will attempt to match it according to Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union Tribune.