Phillies finalizing deal for Astros' reliever Wilton Lopez

It seems the Phillies are finalizing the details of a trade that will make Wilton Lopez their set-up reliever for 2013 in exchange for a pair of prospects. While nothing is official and names won't be divulged until then, a source said the prospects are expected to be big-league ready sometime in 2013. One of those prospects is expected to be catcher Sebastian Valle, who became expendable when the Phils acquired Tommy Joseph in the Hunter Pence deal with San Francisco last season and highly impressed the organization with his potential. Valle (22) and Joseph (21) are at about the same spot in their development, and thanks to a solid reputation for developing catchers the Phillies are getting value for that position. The other prospect likely will be one of the handful of relievers the Phils brought up last season (Justin DeFratus, Mike Stutes, Michael Schwimer, Jake Diekman).
Lopez, 29, was 6-3 with 10 saves, a 2.17 ERA and 1.04 WHIP for an otherwise woeful Astros squad in 2012. Over the last three seasons he has averaged 68 innings and has a 2.64 ERA and 1.126 WHIP. He is in his first year of arbitration eligibility, so the Phils are getting a late bloomer in his prime and getting paid a reasonable wage.
Lopez would set up Jonathan Papelbon and should allow Antonio Bastardo to move into more of a specialist/7th inning role. It also takes the heat off young, talented right-hander Phillippe Aumont, who showed big-time potential as a reliever last season. Throw in Jeremy Horst and Josh Lindblom and the Phillies suddenly have a bullpen with youth, talent and experience.

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Phillies announce revamped coaching staff

Here's the Press Release. As I reported yesterday, Ryne Sandberg is on board, and Steve Henderson is the hitting coach. Have more for you later.


PHILLIES NAME NEW COACHES

The Phillies retained three coaches and promoted three others from their player development system, Manager Charlie Manuel and Senior Vice President & General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. jointly announced today.

Mick Billmeyer, Rich Dubee and Juan Samuel have all been offered positions for the 2013 season. Steve Henderson, Rod Nichols and Ryne Sandberg were promoted from their roles in the Phillies player development system.

Billmeyer, 48, has been promoted to the role of catching coach. The longest tenured member of the Phillies coaching staff, Billmeyer served as the team’s bullpen coach for the past four years (2009-12) and prior to that as the major league catching instructor (2004-08).

Dubee, 54, has been retained as the pitching coach. The 2013 season will be Dubee’s 12th in the Phillies organization and ninth at his current position.

Samuel, 51, has been offered the position of first base coach and outfield/baserunning instructor. He has spent the last two years as the Phillies third base coach and outfield instructor.

Henderson, 61, will serve as the club’s hitting coach. A former major league outfielder of 12 years (1977-88), he has spent the last three seasons working in the Phillies minor league system as the hitting coordinator (2011-12) and, prior to that, the outfield/baserunning coordinator (2010). Before coming to the Phillies, Henderson was the hitting coach for the Tampa Bay Rays for four years (2006-09).

Nichols, 47, will fill the role of bullpen coach. He has worked in the Phillies minor league system since 2000 as a pitching coach for four different affiliates, including the last eight years at the triple-A level. Nichols pitched parts of seven seasons in the major leagues (1988-93, 1995).

Sandberg, 53, will be the Phillies’ new third base coach and infield instructor. Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005, Sandberg managed in the minor leagues for the last six seasons (2007-12) for both the Chicago Cubs and the Phillies and posting an overall record of 439-409-1.

As previously announced, the Phillies elected to not renew the coaching contracts of Greg Gross, Pete Mackanin and Sam Perlozzo.

What's in a third baseman ...

Prior to Friday night's game against the Braves the Phillies were honoring Chipper Jones for a career that certainly will qualify him for a plaque in the Hall of Fame.
Let's look at his numbers broken down by position:

That's a career .401/.537/.938 OBP/SLG/OPS slash line for Chipper as a third baseman. That not only compares favorably with Mike Schmidt, it's actually better than Schmitty's .380/.526/.906. Granted, Schmidt was a better fielder and played in a less-juiced era. But let's face it: If you count baseball's all-time great third basemen on one hand, Chipper deserves to be one of the fingers.
Chipper did spend a couple of seasons in left field, moving there so the Braves could bring in Vinny Castilla to play third base. You might remember that Castilla STUNK as well.
But for most of his 18 seasons in the majors, Jones has been a staple at the hot corner for the Braves. It has been less stable for the Phillies in that span.
Since Jones became Atlanta's everyday third baseman in 1995, here is the list of starting third basemen the Phillies have had:

Charlie Hayes (one year, .340/.406/.746)
Todd Zeile (one year, .353/.436/.789)
Scott Rolen (six years, .373/.507/.880)
David Bell (four years, .331/.385/.715)
Abraham Nunez (one year, .310/.277/.587)
Pedro Feliz (two years, .306, .393, .699)
Placido Polanco (three years, .330, .356, .686)

Toss an honorable mention to Tomas Perez, who started 66 games at third over the years, mostly when David Bell's brittle back would fail.
That's a list of third basemen of varying skill levels, with Rolen and Polanco earning All-Star nods during their tenures. And let's point out two crazy factoids: 1) Zeile was the second-best third baseman they had during that time (offensively, that is -- defensively he was hideous); 2) Feliz, an absolute piñata for many fans (especially the SABR crowd), had a higher OPS in his two years than Polanco has had in his second turn with the Phils.
Perhaps what played a role in the level of disgust Philadelphians have had toward Chipper is that he was everything people longed for the Phillies to find at the hot corner when Mike Schmidt rode into the sunset. The Phils had that for a while in Rolen, but his discontent has led to another decade-long meandering in the desert for the next iconic third baseman.
Looking at that list should make fans appreciate what Jimmy Rollins has meant to this team. His production at shortstop has made it possible for the Phillies to thrive in the past decade with a pretty big bag of blah at third base.
And while we're on that subject, I'll give you a tip for tomorrow morning: Check out Jack McCaffery's column. He goes to bat for Rollins as someone who ought to be in the Cooperstown conversation.
For those who want to check out all of Chipper Jones' stats, here they are, minors included:

PHILLIES 2013 SCHEDULE

Here it is ... opening in Atlanta, home opening series against the Royals. I think the toughest stretch is right after the All-Star break, with a 9-game road trip to New York, St. Louis and Detroit. The last 15 games of the season are NL East tilts.