Phillies sign Brian Schneider
Right on the heels of the Mets signing Chris Coste, too... let the conspiracy theories of sign stealing and catcher espionage begin!
Schneider is a career .251/.292/.335 hitter, but has hit at least .417/.528/.837 against the Phillies in his career (don't bother looking it up, it's just a guesstimate). He's agreed to back up Carlos Ruiz because he grew up a Phillies fan, and as a left-handed hitter, he should provide a nice complement to Chooch. No word on money yet, but he'll obviously be taking a substantial pay cut from the $4.9 million he made last year.
[EDIT from David S. Cohen: And our own dajafi nailed this one a few weeks ago. Now if only he could tell us the lottery numbers this coming week . . . . ]
8 months ago
PhillyFriar
23 comments
0 recs |
Email
PrintComments
Hmm, yeah, that’s not exactly ideal. I don’t see why they need to guarantee a second year.
Unlike the Castro signing, though, there aren’t many better alternatives here. If Gregg Zaun signs on to be a backup for similar money, I’ll be disappointed, but even at $1.5 million per, I’d prefer Schneider over the Paul Bakos and Brad Ausmuseseses of the world.
Official splits from Zolecki
$1.25 mil in 2010
$1.5 mil in 2011
Still puzzled over the second year, but at those totals I think I can live with it.
Well that didn't work
It’s at his blog, http://zozone.mlblogs.com/
I should add...
That while statistics for catcher defense are basically in their infancy, Schneider grades out pretty well from what I’ve seen. See Beyond the Box Score’s post on this (Schneider is addressed in the comments here), and Driveline Mechanics post as well. And looking at Schneider on The Hardball Times, he actually compares pretty favorably to Chooch: less stolen base attempts per game (0.58 to 0.78) and more guys caught (32.1% to 19.7%), though more passed balls/wild pitches (.309 to .184).
I think what these two articles
really point out is that Carlos Ruiz is a very good catcher and much better than average hitter. Basically, top 7 in both areas.
by SmilingJPhilsPhan on Dec 1, 2009 3:59 PM EST up reply actions
Because I'm bored, I looked it up...
.273/.354/.412 against the Phillies
The numbers given are a darn good fit for Schneider versus Texas, though – .467/.579/.867 against the Rangers for a whopping 1.446 OPS
"When you make your final stand
I'll be right there
I'll never leave
And all I ask of you is
Believe"
Not worthy of its own post...
But Jayson Stark says the Phillies are unlikely to offer arbitration to either Park or Eyre.
Eyre makes sense, because I wouldn’t even want to risk going to arbitration with a guy who’s either going to re-sign or retire, and who could fairly easily be replaced by a minimum signing on the free agent market. But Park? I’d be shocked if he accepts arbitration off the year he just had, especially when he’s made noises about wanting to start. I’d be more than willing to run the risk of offering Park arb, then go ahead and recoup the supplemental draft pick if he signs elsewhere.
Zolecki had said earlier he thought that Park would get an offer. Maybe I mis-read it.
And on top of that…John Smoltz? Would he really pitch in our “high school” park? Would we want him to?
If you offer arb to Park and he declines, it probably just makes it less likely that he’s signed by another team. This might be an effort of good will by the Phillies, because in all honesty…who is really going to sign that guy knowing that they’re giving up a first round pick to do so.
Essentially all you’d be doing is forcing CHoP to stay here or retire, and if neither side is happy with either of those options, nobody wins.
I thought he was a Type B, not a Type A. In which case we would get a pick, but the signing team wouldn’t lose one.
He is a Type B
But it doesn’t matter. Amaro confirmed to Zolecki that Stark was right.
I don’t get it….what would Park make in Arbitration?
by Clyde Simmons on Dec 2, 2009 7:58 AM EST up reply actions
Park could simply submit a figure higher than what Amaro would like to spend for that reliever slot. He had a decent year as a reliever and could probably make an argument for a pay raise over what he had last year. The extra million they lose (as a round figure) if an arbitrator agrees could go towards a second bullpen arm.
I suppose there’s also the off chance they’d present a case that Park should be a starter and offer a starter’s arb figure, which would in theory be even more expensive.
Others would know more about the machinations of such things, but I’d imagine that first scenario is probably the rationale.
When is Kaz Matsui available? That guy kills us, too. Forget it, he’s signed through 2010. He’ll be a Phillie in 2011. He’ll be right in our wheelhouse, too, because he’ll be 36.
Despite what I wrote in the piece David linked, I actually don’t have a problem with this… though it’ll be annoying if he stinks it up for the Phils after killing them for so long.
That (small sample) history aside, he’s a defense-first guy who isn’t as helpless at the plate as Bako was. And I don’t think the price is unreasonable. A two-year deal seems maybe excessive, but by backup catcher standards he’s not old, and playing once or twice a week I don’t think he’ll deteriorate much further.
No idea why they wouldn’t offer arb to the Choppa, though.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
Related FanPosts on The Good Phight
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
Next Game
Philadelphia Phillies
@
Washington Nationals
Sunday, Aug 1, 2010, 1:35 PM EDT
Nationals Park
Partly cloudy,rain. Winds blowing out to left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 85.
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
