Rise and Phight: 12/8/2022

In the Rule 5 draft, the Phillies made an unusual move, one that could pay dividends soon enough. They took Noah Song, a right handed reliever out of the Boston system, something that seems straightforward until you realize he is in active duty for the United States Navy.

Song was a Golden Spikes finalist in 2019 while in college, dominating with Navy before being called into duty in June 2020. He debuted for Boston’s short season team in 2019 and looked really good there and with Team USA as well.

This is the kind of stuff I can get behind, even if they have to wait for him a little bit. Does he get onto a major league mound this season? Unlikely! But it’s still a good way to find a loophole into adding talent onto your roster for free! Kudos, Sam and Dave!

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• A recap of the Rule 5 draft, including more about the Phillies’ selection and why he’s unique to the team.
• The Phillies were the dominating team of the Winter Meetings, no matter what contracts were given out.
• Is this the best Phillies lineup ever? For me, unless they win the World Series, then probably no.
• Again, always love when the national people are raining love on the Phillies.

MLB news:

• Missed this the other day, but Major League Baseball is still playing shenanigans with the baseball again.
• You may have heard, but the Yankees went out and bought an outfielder, big guy, goes by the name of Arson.
• Quick hitters on the moves: Kenley Jansen to the Red Sox, Masataka Yoshida is joining him, Willson Contreras is going to learn the Cardinal Way, and Jose Quintana is a Met.
• Xander Bogaerts looks like he is staying put in Boston.