Phillies in Serious Trade Talks for Wilton Lopez

[The A Team]

Joe Borowski

Dennys Reyes

Wilton Lopez

[Synyster89]

ATeam I love your hatred for Lopez...so entertaining

[BigLee53]

Walden > Lopez by far as a set up man. get it done.

[TheIlladelph16]

Walden > Lopez by far as a set up man. get it done.

My issue with this is that the price for Walden will be conceivably higher in terms of prospects. I worry Ruben will trade one of our young SPs in Biddle, Morgan, May, Martin or Pettibone. Plus guys like Watson and Gueller who we just drafted, although i don't believe then can be traded yet.

Position prospects I'd like to avoid trading: Joseph, Asche, Franco, L. Green, Walding, Quinn, Ruf.

Relievers: Aumont, Diekman, Bonilla, De Fratus

Basically I'm too fond of some of our prospects haha, but anyone else is fair game to me.

[Ender]

I think Aumont is Madson 2.0. He has a breakout '13.

I'm all for keeping our specs for a few years until we can sell them as can't-miss and fork them over to LAA for Trout in 3 years, a la Drabek, Taylor, etc.

While I'm at it, Ruf is Luzinksi, Jr. Just put him out there and let him hit. Pull him in the 7th. We can afford to do this if we land Hamilton, which we will.

[Illa215]

If only Walden didn't walk 4 guys per 9 over the past two years... I'll pass on giving him the setup role.

Don't get me wrong, I like him.. But if you're going to say that Lopez is unproven as a setup man, then how could Walden possibly be a better fit?

[Illa215]

ATeam I love your hatred for Lopez...so entertaining

I'm not quite sure where it comes from.

[bringbackfredex]

I think Aumont is Madson 2.0. He has a breakout '13.

I'm all for keeping our specs for a few years until we can sell them as can't-miss and fork them over to LAA for Trout in 3 years, a la Drabek, Taylor, etc.

While I'm at it, Ruf is Luzinksi, Jr. Just put him out there and let him hit. Pull him in the 7th. We can afford to do this if we land Hamilton, which we will.

Don't think you can risk that after what happened last year, we need a proven setup man to start the season. Can Aumont develop into that during the course of the season? Sure, but I wouldn't bet on that by any means.

[bringbackfredex]

As for Lopez, he's put together a very good last 3 seasons, but he was also pitching for an irrelevant team with no pressure. Don't know how that would translate to Philadelphia IMO.

That being said, beggers can't be choosers and it's a shame that we found something damaged in a guy who had a very impressive 2.17 ERA in 66 innings last season. With the way our bullpen was last year, just about anything is an upgrade at this point.

[Ender]

Don't think you can risk that after what happened last year, we need a proven setup man to start the season. Can Aumont develop into that during the course of the season? Sure, but I wouldn't bet on that by any means.

My gut tells me he flips the switch this year. Remember the first time Madson went from 91-92 to 98-99? I think we see that same light go off for Aumont. I believe he and Madson are at comparable points in their career when it clicked for Mad Dog.

I base this on nothing beyond instinct.

Sign Hamilton, stick Ruf in LF, Brown in RF and let them play until they prove that they can't.

[Illa215]

Madson didn't really turn into what he is now until his 5th year in the league, which was '08. Also, Madson never had issues to fix like Aumont does now. His walk rate is still ridiculous. Madson was always a really solid pitcher when he was young, but once he added life to his fastball, he took off.

I still like Aumont a lot, but I think he'll take a much different path than Madson did. I hope he'll figure it out sooner than Madson.

[Ender]

Guess we'll find out.

[sev66]

Lopez IMO was going to be a great addition. He was going to be a late inning pitcher, who has expierence as a closer to give Papelbon a break every so often. He was under team control for 3 seasons and was schedule for a paycheck between 1.5 and 2 million.

Amaro has the right ideas this offseason, spend money wisely were you can. Madson signed for 7 million coming off injury and wont pitch when the season starts. Lopez was going to be a cheap option with great potential.

[The A Team]

ATeam I love your hatred for Lopez...so entertaining

??

He's a good reliever, I like him. He's just not an ideal first division set up man. Aumont and Bastardo both have better skill sets for that role.

[TheIlladelph16]

??

He's a good reliever, I like him. He's just not an ideal first division set up man. Aumont and Bastardo both have better skill sets for that role.

I agree with this. The draw for a guy like Lopez though was his ground ball rate and performance, plus a cheap, minimal cost contract. Just another guy I won't be losing sleep over not getting. I just worry we will overspend for a guy like Adams, who is great for sure. Spending a lot on a set-up guy limits the ability to improve two outfield spots though.