End of The Lieber Era?

When Jon Lieber walked off the mound in Cleveland last week with what was called with italics and smart-alecky finger quote marks as a “strained” ankle, no one thought it was too serious. Some even suggested that the ”strain” occurred when it appeared that Lieber wouldn’t escape the inning without his ERA inching closer to 5.

He is in a free-agent year, after all.

But when the news hit that an MRI revealed that Lieber had ruptured his peroneus longus tendon. This is the tendon that helps one go up on their toes and also pulls the outside of the foot upwards. The peroneals help to stabilize the foot on uneven, rough surfaces. According to medical journals, the rupturing the tendon isn’t too common, though it is often overlooked when treating an ankle sprain.

According to a podiatrical site,symptoms include pain behind the lateral ankle bone (fibula). Pain also increases with the duration of time on your feet and there is often swelling behind the fibula.

The problem for Lieber and the Phillies is that peroneal tendon tears do not tend to heal with conservative care and will require surgical repair. That pretty much means that Lieber’s time as a Phillie is probably over.

All told, Lieber went 29-30 with a 4.55 ERA. Seventeen of those 29 wins came during the 2005 season, where it was fair to say that Lieber was good. But then his fitness became an issue (an undoubtedly contributed to his injuries over the past two seasons) along with his attitude that headed south when the Phillies talked about trading him, when they didn’t trade him, when they moved him out of the starting rotation and then back to the rotation.

Either way, Lieber’s injury has put the Phillies in a lurch. With Freddy Garcia out indefinitely, Brett Myers heading back to the bullpen when he returns from the disabled list and unseasoned rookie Kyle Kendrick holding down one of the spots in the rotation with Cole Hamels, Adam Eaton and Jamie Moyer, the Phillies need an arm… now.

For the short term, assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said the team will fill a rotation spot from within the organization, but a trade is possible.

“You can't predict when someone is going to blow out a foot, a tendon,” Amaro told the Associated Press. “It is possible someone else will become available in the near future.

“Then again, I know how hard it is to make trades in this day and age.”

In the interim, Lieber will get a second opinion in Philadelphia on Monday. It’s hard to expect the news to be positive.

***
Writer Jeff Pearlman wrote a story about all of the former Major Leaguers playing for the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League for ESPN.com that is worth the read. Having had the chance to see the Ducks play in Lancaster earlier this season, it was fascinating to learn why so many former All-Stars are still toiling away far from bright lights of organized ball.

Pearlman is also the author of a book about Barry Bonds. It has to be hard to sell a book about someone as obscure and ignored by the mass media as Barry Bonds.

At least the ESPN.com story is good.

***
Speaking of Barry Bonds, according to a story in the L.A. Times, Marion Jones is broke. Flat broke.

Easy like Sunday morning...

Easily the best thing about Jon Lieber’s complete game, three-hit shutout over the Kansas City Royals last night wasn’t the Phillies’ victory or the pitcher’s relative gabfest post-game chat with the scribes. Nope, easily the most important part of Lieber’s outing was the time of game:

Two-hours, ten minutes. That’s 2:10.

That is outstanding.

With deadlines and the pressure to compose coherent stories closing in on the writers like the walls in that trash compactor scene in Star Wars, it’s nice to see the gang get a little break. After all, without the writers covering the team leading the way, the folks on TV and the radio wouldn’t have anything to talk about.

So big thanks goes out to Jon Lieber for his uber-efficient outing last night…

He must really like the writers.

Nevertheless, Lieber spent some time talking to the broadcasters after the game and had a few interesting things to say. One nugget he later reiterated with the writers was that he was feeling good while pitching, but because he’s such a location-type pitcher, he’s been getting tattooed a bit lately.

“I know it's been, ‘Here we go again. He's pitching like it's 2006.’ I'm not even close to that,” Lieber told the scribes. “The results can be deceiving, especially if you watch the game. I don't think I've done anything differently. It's just being able to throw the ball, get strikes, pitch ahead, and get the guys on and off the field.”

He certainly did a swell job of the last night. In fact, it seems as if Lieber got everyone out of the ballpark before the sun went down. Not bad for a 6:05 p.m. start time.

Apropos of nothing, does anyone think Lieber's new buzz cut makes him look like Brando as Colonel Kurtz?

***
There has been much speculation regarding the end of The Sopranos series tonight on HBO. Is Tony going to live or die? Will he flip to the feds or come out ahead in the war with New York?

Visit any message board and there are tons of theories and ideas floating around though I’m not really sure they’re based on anything tangential. Because show creator David Chase never ever wastes anything on his show (all dialogue and music has explicit meaning to the plot) anything could happen tonight.

That means I have no idea what will happen, though it’s hard not to think about an interview I read with Little Steven Van Zandt (Silvio Dante) where he said a movie based on The Sopranos series would have to be a pre-queal.

But it’s no fun not predicting anything. In that regard, I say watch out for Janice. Everyone seems to be forgetting her and she’s could be trouble.

***
Jim Thome returns to Philadelphia tomorrow.

***
The big bike race is underway in Philadelphia today, and the Tour de France kicks off on July 8. Nonetheless, we neglected to update on Floyd Landis’ first outing since last year’s Tour de France and his hip-replacement surgery in the Teva Mountain Games. There, riding a mountain bike (of course), Floyd finished an 49th in a two-hour ride through the mountains in Vail, Colorado.

“I haven't suffered in a while,” he said when it was over, happy he simply finished his first mountain-bike race in nearly nine years. “I figured this was a good place to start.”

Without a much of a chance to train or work out with arbitration hearing in full swing, Landis will race again in Leadville, Colorado in August in the well-known Leadville 100. But that race will come after a book signing tour that will bring him home to Lancaster and to West Chester later this month.

Meanwhile, listen to Floyd talk about his first public ride in nearly a year.

So it goes

I don’t care about what the Moneyballers, Baseball Prospectus-ers and other stat heads can prove by crunching the numbers and lining up all the stats in the proper column of an Excel spreadsheet. I like the bunt.

Yes, I understand that bunting actually decreases a team’s chances at scoring a run and that by bunting with intent to move runners into scoring position is never a good idea because it trades 90-feet for the most valuable commodity in the game – outs.

But my reason for liking the bunt is purely selfish. Without it, there was no place for me on the baseball team back in high school. In fact, I remember clearly when I came to terms with the notion that swinging the bat was a bad idea and dropped down a bunt for the sixth plate appearance in a row…

“Why do they keep giving you the bunt signal,” a teammate finally asked.

“No one gave me a bunt signal.”

Clearly no one gave Chase Utley the bunt signal either when facing Barry Zito with two on and no outs of the first inning of yesterday’s loss to the Giants. Thinking that no would expect the club’s No. 3 hitter to drop one down with the starter against the ropes in the early going and slugger Ryan Howard on deck, Utley thought it would be a good idea to sneak one in there.

Needless to say, it didn’t go well. The bunt didn’t go to its intended area, Utley was thrown out – but given a sacrifice – and the Phillies were on their way to stranding 12 runners on base.

“I was trying to make something happen,” Utley said after the game. “You don't know how many times you're going to have an opportunity to score off Zito. It was a curveball that I tried to put in play. Worse-case scenario, you got two guys in scoring position with the middle of your lineup up. We didn't get the job done.”

Had it worked, Utley would have been lauded as a smart player trying to set the table for Ryan Howard, who has been starting to get hot lately. Instead, with first base open, Howard was intentionally walked and the Phillies squandered yet another chance.

So it goes.

***
Speaking of squandering chances, Jon Lieber turned in another poor outing in the 8-1 loss that was detailed deftly by Bob Ford. Lieber, of course, chose not to discuss his outing after the game with the local sporting press, which is all well and good – based on his pitching line (10 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks in just 5 innings), who could blame him. However, even when Lieber pitches well he is terse and petulant with the media following the game.

That’s fine, too, and I’m sure fans don’t care about how athletes treat the press. At the same time, if a writer needs Jon Lieber to say something pithy or insightful in order to write a baseball story, well, they just aren’t that good of a writer.

Nevertheless, if someone wants to talk to me about baseball or running or any other aspect of my job, pack a lunch and call a sitter because we’ll be there all day. Maybe it’s me, but if there I’m supposed to be passionate about my life’s work it would be exciting to talk to folks about it… especially if paid $21 million for three years.

Certainly the situation with Lieber has been a mess all season long, and that’s not all his fault. The Phillies did everything but hire a skywriter to advertise that they wanted to trade Lieber, but then didn’t – or couldn’t. Then they moved him to the bullpen into a role he had never done in his 13 seasons in the Majors. And then, when it was clear that Lieber was ineffective and disinterested in engaging in his new role, they moved him back to the rotation.

In that sense, who could blame him if he doesn’t want to talk to a bunch of pesky writers.

Regardless, if the Phillies were to take Cole Hamels and Jamie Moyer out of the rotation, the teams' starting rotation has a 5.50 ERA and has allowed 283 baserunners in 189 2/3 innings this season.

Worse, the remaining bunch is 8-15… Hamels has eight wins all by himself.

What is this? Carlton in ’72?

Can't they all just get along?

Baseball players are babies… there, I said it. When one ballplayer has a beef with another player and wants to engage in fisticuffs, what does he do? Yeah, that’s right… he throws a ball at the other guy.

How silly is that?

Say I’m sitting in the press box at Citizens Bank Park or RFK or anywhere else in the country, and I have a problem with, say, Mike Radano. Do you think I’m going to throw an apple at him from across the room? No, of course not. If such a situation arises, I’m going to get up out of my seat, walk to the other side of the room, and punch Mike.

Hey, that’s how I roll.

I’m not going to shout and scream and carry on about beating up the other guy or yell about how tough I am. Instead I’ll introduce Mike to Jack Johnson and Tom O’Leary. Of course I’d probably end up in the roundhouse, but that’s a different story.

Anyway, every so-called baseball “fight” starts and ends the same way. One pitcher throws a ball that hits another player. Then, to retaliate, the pitcher for the team of the plunked hitter drills a player of the plunkers’ team. As you can see it’s a messy, tangled web.

Sometimes, when these bean balls get to a particular point a batter charges after the pitcher, which isn’t exactly a stealth move. It’s kind of like when the British Navy attacked the Falklands – first they told them they were coming, then they got in their boats and three weeks later they were in the southern hemisphere.

And then it was on.

Or at least a bunch of jostling and yelling takes place – like in the Phillies’ minor dust-up with the Marlins last night. In that instance Jon Lieber drilled Aaron Boone, then threw one behind Marlins’ pitcher Dontrelle Willis. When Lieber came up to bat in the fourth inning, Willis threw one three feet behind Lieber.

All even, right?

Apparently not. Apparently Lieber said something to Willis as the teams were changing sides at the end of the inning, which, according to sources, just might be the most Lieber has said about baseball all month since he has chosen not to engage the Philadelphia sporting press lately. Oh sure, he’s talking, but he’s not really saying much.

Nevertheless, Lieber’s comments stirred something in Willis to stand at home plate and call out the Phillies as if he was Tanner Boyle from the North Valley League Bears. Because of that, the Phillies’ bench spilled out onto the field and the Marlins emptied out and the tango was… well, it was more like the gang fight in Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” video.

So that was that. In the modern parlance, that’s a baseball fight. But in retrospect, perhaps baseball players aren’t wimps at all. Better yet, they seem kind of smart. After all, what good does fighting do?

Why, no good. No good at all.

***
Interestingly, one of the first Phillies on the scene of last night’s tango was maligned catcher Rod Barajas. In that instance, Barajas properly blocked a Marlin from advancing. It’s just too bad for the Phillies and Brett Myers that it didn’t come about 24 hours earlier.

***
More interestingly, in activating Ryan Howard from the disabled list the Phillies sent Chris Coste to Double-A Reading. Why Double-A instead of Triple-A Ottawa? According to assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr., Coste was sent to Reading so that he can work as a catcher more often. In Ottawa Coste spent most of his time playing first base so that prospect Jason Jaramillo would get the majority of the time behind the dish.

Who knows, maybe with Coste going to Reading to catch means that he will be returning to Philadelphia as a backstop in the near future. It definitely seems as if the Phillies could use a reliable backup for Carlos Ruiz.

***
The umpiring crew featuring Dan Iassogna is working tonight’s game in Atlanta. Does anyone want to bet that someone gets ejected from the game? How about if I set the series over-under on ejections at five, or is that too low?

Injuries abound

This afternoon the thought crossed my mind that maybe the Phillies should give Freddy Garcia all the time he needs to recover from what was diagnosed as tendonitis of his right biceps. After all Jon Lieber was out there revving up his ample engine in the bullpen as an insurance policy. Sure, it might leave the relieving corps rice-paper thin, but at least it was something.

But then when the team announced that Lieber had strained his right oblique muscle two more thoughts zoomed through my head…

Lieber has oblique muscles? And secondly, this isn't good.

The worst part for the Phillies is that there is no timetable for Lieber's return.

Stay tuned…

Feelin' groovy

It just figures that on the day Jon Lieber was banished to a seat near the parking lot in the bullpen so he can be closer to his environment-hating vehicle that Freddy Garcia would struggle through an outing with a sore right biceps.

Maybe they can trade Lieber for another starter?

Kidding (kind of) aside, if Garcia’s biceps turns out to be anything that could sideline him for any period of time general manager Pat Gillick will look very bright for not trading Lieber… that is if he even attempted to trade the big righty. With such a dearth of quality pitching out there it’s amazing that there wasn’t any team that wanted to make a deal. And in talking to the writers after receiving the news that he was no longer a starter, Lieber pressed on the notion that someone ought to want him as a starter.

Quoth Lieber: “It's either 29 teams really don't like me, or they're asking too much …”

Most importantly, neither the Phillies nor Garcia seems too concerned about the biceps, the pitcher’s rather pedestrian velocity during the spring or his 11.42 ERA. Better yet, the only the Phillies seem concerned about is the bullpen.

Regarding Garcia’s velocity that reportedly has topped out at approximately 88 m.p.h., assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said, “He started off throwing 80 or 81 (m.p.h.). He's a veteran guy. He knows how to get himself ready. People who have arm injuries usually their velocity goes (down), but his was building. Pain is an inhibitor of velocity. We were encouraged he was going north.”

There. All better.

In the meantime, Garcia will b re-evaluated on Saturday when team physician Michael Ciccotti arrives in Clearwater.

***
Here’s what I know about hockey:

a.) Keith Jones is one of the greatest story tellers ever. He’s like the Canadian Mark Twain or something. That guy can spin a yarn about anything and even better for whomever he’s with, he often does.
b.) When ESPN broadcast the NHL before the lockout, the national ratings rated below the WNBA.
c.) Boy is that Keith Jones ever a fun guy.
d.) The NHL or hockey seems to be able to take the extraordinary, like, for instance, a fight, and make it mundane. Actually, boring is a better word. Sometimes it seems as if the fights in the NHL are choreographed or worse, detracting from what really is an exciting sport. In the case of Todd Fedoruk, the Flyers’ designated fighter who was taken off the ice on a stretcher and to a hospital in Manhattan last night after catching a right-hand lead square on the jaw from Colton Orr, the recent bouts of fighting have bordered on dangerous. At least that’s the way it seemed to this untrained eye, which has seen Fedoruk catch more than his share of blows to the head lately. It seems as if Fedoruk isn’t just putting his career in jeopardy with the continued fighting, but perhaps even his long-term health as well.
e.) Have we mentioned Keith Jones?

***
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists new record is out and ready to be downloaded, burned or however else people legally obtain music these days. Critics are giving Leo’s Living with the Living much-deserved rave reviews, though in this wannabe critics’ view, the album isn’t as strong as his earlier releases.

Nevertheless, there are many more hits than misses in Leo and his Pharmacists’ latest opus, including live staples “The Sons of Cain” and “Army Bound.”

And the live performances are really where Leo’s appeal is. If he isn’t the hardest working and most engaging man in the music biz, then he’s damn close. Better yet, do yourself a favor and go see Leo & the Pharmacists at the TLA on South Street next Wednesday night. You’ll thank me later.

Phils push Lieber to 'pen

According to published reports, the verdict is in and pitcher Jon Lieber is out… out of the rotation, at least.

Faced with a surplus of starting pitching and a dearth of arms in the bullpen, manager Charlie Manuel announced that the decision had been made to shift Lieber from the rotation to the bullpen effective immediately.

Lieber’s status with the Phillies had been in question ever since the team acquired Freddy Garcia and Adam Eaton last December. Ever since then Lieber has been viewed as a top bargaining chip in a deal to get a much-needed arm in the bullpen the team covets. However, with opening day looming and the team unable to broker a suitable deal for Lieber, the veteran pitcher will work out of the bullpen for the first time since 1996 when he appeared in 36 games as a reliever and 15 as a starter for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

With Brett Myers, Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, Garcia and Eaton all in the mix to hold down spots in the rotation, Lieber was viewed as the odd man out. However, Eaton and Lieber were both on record saying they would accept an assignment to the ‘pen if that was what was best for the club.

Nevertheless, Lieber, who underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the entire 2003 season, is not pleased about the decision.

“I'm disappointed,” Lieber told reporters in Clearwater, Fla. “I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. I'm going to do it for these guys in here, but I think I can still start. It sucks. I signed here to be a starter.

“It's either 29 teams really don't like me, or they're asking too much,” Lieber said of the club’s inability to trade him. “I still think I can throw 200 innings. I still think I can win a lot of games for this club. If somebody somewhere doesn't think I can, I wish they'd tell me and let's move on.”

Deep thoughts...

Here’s an idea that will probably make a few people hold their heads as if they have a really bad migraine – you know, the kind where it pounds at the temples and feels as if someone or thing is shooting a low frequency wave through the skull that emits a shrill buzz in the inner ear – and question my sanity for such “unconventional” thinking.

I’m throwing it out there any way…

Maybe the Phillies should keep all of their starting pitchers. Yeah, that’s right, all Six. Before anyone goes crazy, here’s what I’d do – Cole Hamels, Freddy Garcia and Brett Myers would pitch every five days just like they customarily would in the square-boxed thinking that guides such things. Meanwhile, I’d try to figure out how to work it so that Jamie Moyer, Adam Eaton and Jon Lieber started at least one game a week and if there were too long of a lull between outings, I’m sure there would be some relief work available, too.

What?

Exactly. My guess is that Moyer, Eaton and Lieber would be perfect compliments to the top three starters and would be much more effective if they were used like a dash of seasoning instead of as a main course. Better yet, if the trio made one start per week over a 26-week season then they would be that much fresher when the stretch run approached. Besides, it seems to me that good baseball teams treat the season like a chess match or a golf game where the importance of a move or shot is to put one in position to have an even better move or shot the next time.

Hey, I’m not kidding myself by believing that any manager or team would go for something like this, but what the hell? It certainly isn't convention thinking, but ideas have to come from somewhere. Right?

***
Meanwhile, it looks as if Tom Gordon’s achy shoulder is aching again.

Last season, as everyone remembers, Gordon broke down a bit and went on the disabled list in August despite a first half in which he earned a trip to the All-Star Game. At 39, the Phillies are concerned about over working their starter as evidenced by the fact that he’s appeared in just two Grapefruit League games and by the fact that they sent him back to Philadelphia for a checkup with team doctor Michael Ciccotti.

Before anyone jumps to any conclusions (how could they?), the team says the trip is simply for a routine checkup and it’s something that occurred last year at this time, too. But before anyone can say Mike Jackson, perhaps the Phillies ought to get another arm for the ‘pen to go along with Ryan Madson and Antonio Alfonseca.

Until that happens, be sure that Charlie Manuel sticks to his guns and allows Gordon just one inning per outing no back-to-back work early in the season.

Notes from the warmer ground

Got an extra $1.7 million sitting around? Jon Lieber's house in Newtown Square, Pa. is on the market. Do you think he's unloading it to pay for his $211,000 truck?

* According to the writers covering the team in Florida, Chris Coste has a big booster in manager Charlie Manuel.

The skipper told reporters:

"What Coste did last year definitely has to be considered. He caught for us in big games down the stretch. He showed he definitely can do the job in the major leagues, and he definitely can come off the bench and hit."

More: And So it Begins
Even more: Day 1: Chillin' in Florida

Though he only played with the team for a little more than two months, the New York Yankees announced that they will honor the memory of Cory Lidle by wearing a black armband on their trademarked pinstripes. Moreover, Lidle's No. 30 has not be issued to another player this spring.

Meanwhile, after spending a little more than two years with the team, the Phillies reportedly will not memorialize their former pitcher in 2007. In fact they have already re-issued his No. 30 -- twice.

More: The Cory Lidle Foundation

In drug news, some colleges that play Division III football are going to participate in a pilot drug-testing program.

Pat Burrell is in camp and talking about his role with the team in 2007. Yes, he thinks he can "protect" Ryan Howard.

More: The Protection Myth

Watching Clearwater from 6 degrees

Let’s go out on a limb and guess that Jon Lieber didn’t see An Inconvenient Truth, nor did he read the briefings from the United Nations’ Kyoto Protocol during his winter break. We’re going to guess that Lieber spent some time stalking and killing small animals, but whatever…

Nevertheless, Jon Lieber showed up at camp with a ridiculous looking truck that is 9 feet, 2 inches tall and 25,000 pounds, with six doors, 45-inch wheels, seating for seven, a satellite dish and customized leather interior and takes $500 just to fill the 50-gallon gas tank that gets 12 miles to the gallon.

As Marcus Hayes wrote:

It was an audacious entrance for a player who doesn't really have a spot on the ballclub.

There is no word whether roly-poly Lieber shot a spotted owl or clubbed a baby seal on the ride from his home in Alabama to Clearwater.

Meanwhile, the oft-injured Lieber, who manager Charlie Manuel has told to trim down over the last two season, says he weighs 243 pounds after finishing the 2006 season close to 250. He said he wants to get down to 235 pounds before the season starts though he doesn’t think being out of shape affects an athlete.

“That's been my whole career. When I weighed 215, they were on me about my weight. The weight thing, I've heard it my whole life. I'm not worried about it. If you guys think I'm fat and out of shape, you guys will say it. But I feel great. I'm ready to help.”

Nah… maybe he’s just big-boned.

On another note, Lieber is two-inches taller and 80 pounds heavier than 21-season veteran Jamie Moyer.

More: Reason #56 To Love Philadelphia: Jon Lieber's Truck
More: Debunking myths and bad jokes - Global warming? It’s 14 below!

***
An interesting quote from Pat Burrell in the Inquirer regarding the Phillies desire to get some so-called “protection” for Ryan Howard in the lineup:

“…he had a pretty good year last year, good enough to win the MVP. So something was going on right.”

It’s cold, the roads are icy and I’m salty
Looking to do something related to public relations or marketing or whatever it is companies do to revive a so-called “image problem,” the Inky publicized the addition of two new columnists to its Sunday roster.

One of those columnists is Mark Bowden, a former Inky scribe who worked on the news side and covered the Eagles before becoming the best-selling author of Blackhawk Down and Killing Pablo to name two. Some have offered that Bowden was one of the best investigative journalists working so bringing him back into the fold is quite a boon.

Though some called it a bit pedantic, Bowden’s first offering – on the need for diplomacy with Iran – was something new for paper increasingly concerned with local coverage. The fact that Bowden is also the author of Guests of the Ayatollah: The First Battle in America's War With Militant Islam gave a little more weight to the words.

Adding Bowden was a smart move by the Inquirer.

Meanwhile, the second addition is a man named Michael Smerconish, who is a local radio talk-show host who appears to be a marginalizing figure the way Howard Eskin is for WIP. Smerconish, who also writes a column for the Daily News, plays on the mundane clichés of “liberal” and “conservative” and partisan hackery as if those ideas still have any real meaning.

It’s boring stuff, but another good move by the Inquirer because people might talk about the Smerconish guy. Yes, his scope is purely local and when one gets out here to the far provincial outposts like Lancaster, no one has heard of Smerconish. But it seemed like a good addition nonetheless.

That’s until his “column” appeared. Instead of offering ideas, engaging prose and story-telling, Michael Smerconish offered a litany of “what I believe.” Worse, the Inquirer printed it and posted it to its web site.

And they wonder why people under the age of 50 don’t buy newspapers any more.

After stomaching the first few paragraphs it was clear that the dude wasn’t suited for a column – a blog would be more apt.

Hey, that’s just what I believe.

Winter Meetings: Cleaning up

Who would have guessed that the team that made the biggest splash at the winter meetings was the Phillies?

Anyone?

But unless Barry Bonds decides to snap his fingers for that mysterious deal to conjure itself from thin air, it appears as if the trade to bring Freddy Garcia to Philadelphia was the thunderclap of the week.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t all sorts of stories floating around. Like that one that has Jon Lieber on his way to the Brewers in a trade that may or may not include both reliever Derrick Turnbow and slugger Kevin Mench.

Or the one that has the Phillies in the mix to make a deal with the Blue Jays for Vernon Wells or the Nationals for Ryan Church.

Finally, how about the one in which Aaron Rowand – even though he didn’t wind up back in Chicago – could be on the move to Texas for one of the Rangers’ relievers.

According to a story by Joe Cowley in the Chicago Sun-Times, Rowand has mixed emotions about the trade talk:

Now hearing that the Phillies have been shopping him this week during the winter meetings, with both the Sox and the crosstown-rival Cubs as possible suitors, Rowand is doing his best to keep his emotions in check.

"There is reason to speculate that I could be traded because [the Phillies] have a guy in Shane Victorino that can fill my spot and comes a lot cheaper than myself," Rowand said Tuesday. "And I know they wouldn't mind bringing in another pitcher to try and make the club better."

Sox general manager Ken Williams often talks with Phillies GM Pat Gillick, and Williams said of Rowand: "Would I be interested in somebody like that? Yeah, I would."

Gillick told Philadelphia reporters that trading Rowand would leave the Phillies short on outfielders, but he said he would like another starting pitcher -- of which the Sox have a surplus.

The major stumbling block in a Rowand reunion? Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.

"I love Aaron Rowand," Guillen said of the trade talk. "[But] I wouldn't trade Rowand for one of my pitchers. Hell, no, he's not that good. And I love Aaron, and he knows that."

So for now, Rowand sits and waits.

"I was a rumor for five years before [a trade] happened," he said, "so I'm not going to get emotional over rumors one way or the other."

Sorry, Freddy
Jayson Stark had a great quote from White Sox GM Kenny Williams on the Garcia trade:

"Man, Freddy Garcia was so great," the White Sox GM said, his voice literally quivering with emotion, Wednesday night, "he thanked me for the opportunity to come over and win a World Series. He asked me, if he saw me in a bar, could he sit down and buy a drink for me. By the end of the conversation, he had me apologizing for trading him."

One man’s opinion
I’m not a big fan of overweight right-handed pitchers. I figure that if a person’s job is to be an athlete, being fit is the easiest thing to do. That’s especially the case with baseball, football, basketball and hockey players who have the best facilities and the best health care in America. Get in shape… how hard is that?

I’m funny like that, I guess.

Nevertheless, when Jon Lieber is healthy and pitching well he’s tough to beat. In fact, the Phillies might be a better team with Garcia and Lieber… if Lieber is fit.

But relief pitchers aren't free. Sometimes they cost a lot.

Add Brett Myers into that mix, too. Aside from his legal trouble, Myers’ fitness was a serious question mark as well. Plus, Cole Hamels has pitched just one complete season of professional ball – is he headed for an injury?

Along those lines, when has Adam Eaton ever been healthy?

It’s kind of funny that the guy in the best shape (Jamie Moyer) in the Phillies rotation is the team’s weakest link.

Elsewhere

Barry Bonds to the Cardinals? If that happens would there be a team that Philadelphia fans dislike more this side of the Cowboys?

The funny thing is that when asked if the Cardinals were interested in Bonds, GM Walt Jocketty said, “No.”

It’s hard to read anything else into that.

According to a report on ESPN:

The Giants appear to be the only option for Barry Bonds at this point. The Cardinals are out of the running, and the A's, Angels, Dodgers, Padres, Rangers, Orioles, Red Sox, Devil Rays and Mariners -- all teams loosely considered open-minded -- did not take a meeting with the seven-time MVP when he was in Florida for the winter meetings, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

Bonds is seeking a one-year, $18 million contract with a vesting option that could bring a similar salary in 2008. The Giants don't want to pay that much and are offering around $10 million in guaranteed money, so the two sides remain far apart on a deal.

How funny would it be if the only offer Bonds gets is from the Devil Rays?

Could Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens be on the way back to the Yankees? It seems possible.

Three years and $34 million for Vicente Padilla?

Winter Meetings: Naming names

The names leap off the page so quickly that they make you dizzy.

Freddy Garcia.
Derrick Turnbow.
Akinori Otsuka.
Octavio Dotel.
Rod Barajas.
Preston Wilson.
Rondell White.
Kevin Mench.

According to reports there is a good chance that at least one of those players could be with the Phillies by the close of the Winter Meetings in Disney World this week. More interestingly, all of the players listed fit one or more of the team’s needs. Garcia, of course, is the top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher that general manager Pat Gillick has coveted since the first day he took the reigns with the Phillies.

Turnbow, Otsuka and Dotel are relievers who meet the team’s criteria of a set-up man, which, according to manager Charlie Manuel, means they have all been closers at one point or another.

Barajas is a catcher who could take over the starting job, while Wilson, White and Mench are veteran hitters/outfielders that provide a little depth.

In a nutshell, the Phillies would be smart to get any one of those players.

But everything has a price. In this regard the names that pop off the page are equally as compelling.

Jon Lieber.
Gavin Floyd.
Aaron Rowand.

According to the dispatches from Florida, Lieber could be dealt to Milwaukee for Turnbow. To get Garcia from the White Sox, it could cost the Phillies Rowand and Floyd.

Yikes… on Rowand.

Losing Lieber, if Garcia is acquired, is no big deal. Oh sure, Lieber won 20 games once upon a time for the Cubs, and he won 17 for the Phillies in 2005. When the big right-hander is healthy he’s a steady and consistent a pitcher capable of turning in seven innings every time out. But Lieber has been injured a lot during his 12 seasons. He has pitched 200 innings just four times, missed a full season after Tommy John surgery, and looks as if he’s a step away from a pulled hamstring or groin.

And frankly, the Phillies are a little concerned about Lieber's growing waistline.

Floyd, simply, is a huge disappointment. Yet for as much as the Phillies don’t feel as though Floyd is a part of the team’s future, they also don’t want to simply give him away.

Rowand is the tough one. Yeah, he gets injured a lot, and yes, his offensive numbers aren’t stellar. But it’s hard to deny Rowand’s influence in the Phillies’ clubhouse. Plus, it’s so clear how much the guy loves baseball. No one needed him to smash his face into a fence to see that.

Nonetheless, if the Phillies can get Garcia, the relievers they need and the extra bat or two, Rowand might have to be the casualty.

Baseball is tough like that.

***

On another note, the best blog from the Winter Meetings is Scott Lauber's.

No comment II

A day after slipping out the side door so he wouldn't have to talk to the local press about his poor, 2 1/3 inning loss to the Cubs on Monday night, Jon Lieber explained himself on Tuesday afternoon.

It turns out that Lieber figured since he didn't have anything good to say, maybe he shouldn't say anything at all.

"I was [upset]. It was nothing to do with [the media]. Trust me, I had nothing good to say. That's why I'm talking now. I didn't want to say anything [on Monday] night."

That's fair. But it would have been just as easy to say that on Monday night instead of rehashing it all the next day. Nevertheless, Lieber knows he can pitch so poorly in his next start.

"I let my team down," he said. "That's the bottom line. It was no one else's fault but mine. I can't be pitching like that at this point if we're going to get to the postseason. That's not getting it done."

He's right about that.

No comment

I have a theory that baseball pitchers are more accountable than politicians. The reason? After every game, no matter if there is a victory or a defeat, the pitcher is there to answer questions and have his outing dissected. Politicians never have to do this. They can skirt issues and hide behind talking points and canned questions.

But after Monday night’s game where he gave up five runs and two homers on 48 pitches in just 2 1/3 innings, Jon Lieber stopped being a pitcher and became a politician.

Instead of dishing out his typical insipid clichés to pointed questions about his craft, Lieber sulked quietly past approximately 20 reporters specifically there to hear from him, gathered a handbag and walked through an off-limits side door. But instead of returning to complete his job -- a job that was pretty incomplete based on his work against the Cubs -- Lieber crept out a side door and left the ballpark.

Almost as bad, the Phillies' media relations representative quietly told a select few reporters that Lieber had snuck away 15 minutes afterwards.

Good job!

Yeah, I think the press is a pain in the rear, too. They can be intrusive, obnoxious, rude and tactless. But in this case, when a few camera men and scribes a simply looking for the innocuous of quotes Lieber failed to deliver.

Again.

Certainly Lieber has been around long enough to know the drill. After all, he pitched for the Yankees in the baseball media capital of the world where he would never have dreamed of pulling a secret dash stunt like the one on Monday. He knows that all he had to do was stand there for 30 seconds and say, "I wasn’t very good tonight. I didn’t have my good stuff. We'll get 'em next time." Which is pretty much all he ever says anyway, wild-card race or not.

How hard is that?

Even upon noticing the reporters waiting for him, Lieber could have said, "Look, I pitched really poorly and I really don’t want to talk about it. I’m going to go home now." That’s acceptable, and accountable.

Instead, the fans who follow the team closely lose out.

Two days in Cincinnati

How about this: the Reds are 3-for-44 (.068) against the Phillies' starters in the first two games of the series. Better yet, in taking a perfect game through 6 2/3 innings and handling a pretty tough lineup like the Reds for nearly nine innings , it appears as if Jon Lieber has solved the problems that plagued him through the first month of the season. Then again, Lieber said he was throwing the ball well even though the Phillies lost his first five starts.

Check out what he said after the loss in Denver on April 16: “You look at my stats and you'd think I'd been giving it up. I'm throwing the ball fine. There are no mechanical issues. I had a rough opening day, but I haven't been hit hard the last two starts.”

Or this one following the loss to the Marlins at the Bank on April 21: “Right now, I suck. Bottom line. I'm not getting the job done and it’s no one else’s fault by mine. I'm going to leave it at that. I'm going to keep trying and I put all these losses on me.”

And this after the April 27 loss to the Rockies in Philly: “I always felt like if you got to the seventh inning, you did your job. I just have to build off that.

“I can only get better.”

After posting this line (8 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 110 pitches -- 83 strikes) vs. the Reds, there is nowhere to go but down. But that's OK.

*** After walking just one hitter in 23 innings and three starts for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, I thought this was an interesting quote from Cole Hamels following his debut in Cincinnati:

"The main thing I realized is that the strike zone definitely shrinks in the big leagues. You have to make quality pitches. It was definitely frustrating, because I'm not used to walking guys. I knew that to compete I was going to have to bear down and throw strikes."

This kid gets it. At 22, he's a real pro. He was that way last year at Reading -- he doesn't shrink from the attention.