Phillies fans had dreamed of a rotation for 2008 with Curt Schilling penciled in behind ace Cole Hamels. According to the latest news coming from Boston, the Philly fans can keep on dreaming. According to the Boston Globe and Boston Herald, Schilling and the Red Sox are close to striking a deal to keep the right-hander in Boston for another year. The deal, reportedly, is a one-year incentive-laden one which could be contingent upon Schilling passing a physical.
Though the Phillies coveted Schilling - and the pitcher had expressed interest in returning to Philadelphia - it was no secret that the righty's first choice was to return to the Red Sox.
Schilling, who turns 41 on Nov. 14, went 9-8 with a 3.87 ERA in 24 starts for the Red Sox in 2007.
Keeping priorities straight According to The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, the Phillies have not placed a premium on bolstering the third base position this winter. Instead, general manager told reporters from the General Manager meetings in Orlando that he has a bigger fish to fry:
"Because we're going to concentrate on improving our pitching," Gillick told the Inquirer.
According to reports, this winter's free-agent crop of third basemen includes Alex Rodriguez and Mike Lowell. Potential trade candidates include Miguel Cabrera, Garrett Atkins, Hank Blalock, Adrian Beltre, Miguel Tejada and Joe Crede. But Gillick said he believes the Phillies can make it through the season with Wes Helms and Greg Dobbs at third with the thought of adding a defensive specialist to come into games during the late innings.
As far as the pitching goes, the Phillies' reported priority remains to re-sign reliever J.C. Romero.
More baseball notes... Longtime Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal has sparked the interest of the Toronto Blue Jays. ... Meanwhile, Lieberthal's former Phillies teammate, Scott Rolen, has reportedly been listed as a darkhorse candidate to replace Alex Rodriguez at third base for the New York Yankees. The report fails to mention that Rolen has an iron-clad no-trade clause in his contract. Nevertheless, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Rolen could waive the no-trade clause (or have the Cardinals buy it out) so that a deal could be struck to take him far away from manager Tony La Russa.