How 'bout Sammy?

by dajafi on Dec 27, 2008 1:51 PM EST

The Phillies' last serious piece of business for the offseason, other than settling with their many arbitration-eligible players, is to add a right-handed bat for the bench. One high profile guy out there looking for work is Sammy Sosa.

Fifth on the all-time home run list with 609, Sosa obviously isn't the mid-order monster he was ten years ago. And his defense would serve mostly to make Raul Ibanez feel better about his own glovework. But Sosa's 21 home runs and 24 doubles in just 412 at-bats with Texas in 2007 suggests he might have enough thump left to deliver some big late-game pinch-hits. It would also just be kind of funny to have two 40 year-old pinch-hitters, Sosa and Matt Stairs, there solely to swing for the fences once a night.

Sosa played for just $500,000 two years ago, or one-fifth of what Chan Ho Park will be pulling down for the 2009 Phillies. At 40 years old, he meets the evident age criterion Ruben Amaro Jr. has set down for acquisitions. So why the heck not?

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Couldn’t we just allow Mayberry to go up there and swing blindly? Oh wait, he isn’t old and overpriced, never mind… Let’s sign Sammy!

by Neduol Caz on Dec 27, 2008 5:17 PM EST reply actions

If we compare him to Jamie Moyer

Sammy’s way too young to be on our squad. Give it another six years dajafi.

by ajay on Dec 27, 2008 6:57 PM EST reply actions

what the hell?

I’d give him a shot, provided he plays for some amount close to his 2007 $500K. Of course I’d also like there to be a Plan B should Sammy sputter.

http://www.thegoodphight.com
WHY CAN'T US?

by WholeCamels on Dec 27, 2008 9:03 PM EST reply actions

To be honest, I’m not sure how serious I was when I wrote this, despite being totally sober at the time.

I did figure that at 40, Sosa met Ruben’s age requirement, and he also clearly vaults over the evident Wade/Amaro premium for having been a player whose baseball card was available 5-10 years before the current acquisition.

by dajafi on Dec 28, 2008 1:16 PM EST reply actions