Phillies claim Lahey off waivers

[Schwarber Fan]

The Phillies claimed righthander Tim Lahey off waivers from the Cubs and outrighted pitcher J.D. Durbin, infielder Ray Olmedo and outfielder Chris Snelling to triple A Lehigh Valley.

 

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/sports_breaking/20080328_Phillies_claim_Lahey_off_waivers.html

[Post Count Padder]

Beat me to it. Here's off Rotoworld:

 

Phillies claimed RHP Tim Lahey off waivers from the Cubs.

 

Lahey would be a weak choice for the final spot in the Philadelphia pen. The first overall pick in the Rule 5 draft after spending most of last year in Double-A, he had a 6.55 ERA and a 7/8 K/BB ratio in 11 innings for the Cubs this spring. The Twins still figure to get him back at some point.

[BCVM22]

That answers that question... does anyone know how the Cubs worked around the Rule V stipulations?

[Derwood]

That answers that question... does anyone know how the Cubs worked around the Rule V stipulations?

 

i don't think they did. i think they are allowed to expose the player to waivers before having to return him to the Twins

[Ding Dong Johnson]

That answers that question... does anyone know how the Cubs worked around the Rule V stipulations?

they followed the Rule 5 stipulations. before anyone is returned to their original team, they're first put on outright waivers. the Phillies now have to keep him on their 25 man all year or he gets offered back to wherever the hell it is he originally came from

[sneakypower]

i preferred barton but oh well

[Vanilla Ice]

Barton would have been nice, but wouldn't have been a difference maker. I dont really care

[Guest]

Barton would have been such a smart choice. I said it then and I'll say it now. We spent half the winter looking for a right handed compliment for Pie. Now we're paying 1.3M for Reed Johnson when we could have had a better player in Barton to spell Pie against lefties for $50K plus minimum salary. So instead of having a little foresight during the Rule V, we went for a right handed reliever when we knew we were going to have Wood, Howry, Marmol, Wuertz already. I think we had also traded for Ascanio already. Plus we've got Hart, Petrick and others at Iowa.

 

It's not outrageously stupid, but it was pretty freaking stupid.

[CubinNY]

Barton would have been such a smart choice. I said it then and I'll say it now. We spent half the winter looking for a right handed compliment for Pie. Now we're paying 1.3M for Reed Johnson when we could have had a better player in Barton to spell Pie against lefties for $50K plus minimum salary. So instead of having a little foresight during the Rule V, we went for a right handed reliever when we knew we were going to have Wood, Howry, Marmol, Wuertz already. I think we had also traded for Ascanio already. Plus we've got Hart, Petrick and others at Iowa.

 

It's not outrageously stupid, but it was pretty freaking stupid.

 

Stupid Meter

                              Pretty Freaking              Canine 
                         <|---------|---------|---------|---------|>
                    Outrageous            What Dusty Would Do        Just Plain

[Vanilla Ice]

Barton would have been such a smart choice. I said it then and I'll say it now. We spent half the winter looking for a right handed compliment for Pie. Now we're paying 1.3M for Reed Johnson when we could have had a better player in Barton to spell Pie against lefties for $50K plus minimum salary. So instead of having a little foresight during the Rule V, we went for a right handed reliever when we knew we were going to have Wood, Howry, Marmol, Wuertz already. I think we had also traded for Ascanio already. Plus we've got Hart, Petrick and others at Iowa.

 

It's not outrageously stupid, but it was pretty freaking stupid.

 

Stupid Meter

                              Pretty Freaking              Canine 
                         <|---------|---------|---------|---------|>
                    Outrageous            What Dusty Would Do        Just Plain

 

 

I laughed at this.

 

But I am kind of surprised we let him go.

[RedFlash]

Barton would have been such a smart choice. I said it then and I'll say it now. We spent half the winter looking for a right handed compliment for Pie. Now we're paying 1.3M for Reed Johnson when we could have had a better player in Barton to spell Pie against lefties for $50K plus minimum salary. So instead of having a little foresight during the Rule V, we went for a right handed reliever when we knew we were going to have Wood, Howry, Marmol, Wuertz already. I think we had also traded for Ascanio already. Plus we've got Hart, Petrick and others at Iowa.

 

It's not outrageously stupid, but it was pretty freaking stupid.

 

I wouldn't even call it stupid. All picks in the Rule V draft all high risks. I mean did the Cubs feel comfortable going with essentially two rookies in CF? Apparently. Did the Cubs believe Barton would stay on the roster the WHOLE yr? Lahey didn't even make it to Opening Day. And I doubt Barton would have stayed with the Cubs all season. Barton may be a better player, but he's still a couple of yrs from actually contributing to team. I am more unpset of the Cubs taking and trading Josh Hamilton of last yr, moreso then passing on Barton this yr.

 

Now, I do agree that taking a RAW relief prospect, when you already have Wood/Howry/Hart/Marmol/Wuertz, and to a certain degree Dempster, didn't make sense, but going with two rookies in CF, made even less sense. Barton is a better fit for a team that is likely to struggle this yr. That way he can stay on the roster the whole yr.

[Guest]

But I am kind of surprised we let him go.

 

They were probably trying to get him back to the Twins so they could get him back as the PTBNL in the Monroe trade. Not that surprising because he wasn't going to stick on the big league team.

[Guest]

Barton would have been such a smart choice. I said it then and I'll say it now. We spent half the winter looking for a right handed compliment for Pie. Now we're paying 1.3M for Reed Johnson when we could have had a better player in Barton to spell Pie against lefties for $50K plus minimum salary. So instead of having a little foresight during the Rule V, we went for a right handed reliever when we knew we were going to have Wood, Howry, Marmol, Wuertz already. I think we had also traded for Ascanio already. Plus we've got Hart, Petrick and others at Iowa.

 

It's not outrageously stupid, but it was pretty freaking stupid.

 

I wouldn't even call it stupid. All picks in the Rule V draft all high risks. I mean did the Cubs feel comfortable going with essentially two rookies in CF? Apparently. Did the Cubs believe Barton would stay on the roster the WHOLE yr? Lahey didn't even make it to Opening Day. And I doubt Barton would have stayed with the Cubs all season. Barton may be a better player, but he's still a couple of yrs from actually contributing to team. I am more unpset of the Cubs taking and trading Josh Hamilton of last yr, moreso then passing on Barton this yr.

 

Now, I do agree that taking a RAW relief prospect, when you already have Wood/Howry/Hart/Marmol/Wuertz, and to a certain degree Dempster, didn't make sense, but going with two rookies in CF, made even less sense. Barton is a better fit for a team that is likely to struggle this yr. That way he can stay on the roster the whole yr.

Right...gotta have veterany goodness at all costs.

[Derwood]

i'm sure this board's reaction to a Rule V pick being the 4th OF over Murton would have been overwhelmingly positive

[Guest]

i'm sure this board's reaction to a Rule V pick being the 4th OF over Murton would have been overwhelmingly positive

No worse than Reed Johnson.

 

The decision would still come down to Fontenot or Murton if the assumption is that we've gotta have a right handed counterpart to Pie that can play CF. Your logic is very flawed, but nice try to put some emotional spin to it.

[Derwood]

i'm sure this board's reaction to a Rule V pick being the 4th OF over Murton would have been overwhelmingly positive

No worse than Reed Johnson.

 

The decision would still come down to Fontenot or Murton if the assumption is that we've gotta have a right handed counterpart to Pie that can play CF. Your logic is very flawed, but nice try to put some emotional spin to it.

 

no worse than Reed Johnson? at least Johnson has some MLB stats to argue about. if you put unproven Rule V guy on the roster instead of Murton, NSBB explodes with anger.

[Guest]

He hit: .351/.424/.596 in 57 AB. I don't know that there would be that many complaints.

[SABR Gamer]

an outfield of

 

Soriano

Hamilton

Fukudome

 

makes me cry

[Post Count Padder]

an outfield of

 

Soriano

Hamilton

Fukudome

 

makes me cry

Hindsight is 20/20.

[badnews]

No, it's stupid, it's very stupid. I think the fact that only Tim has expressed any anger about this shows how low standards have dropped among Cubs fans. Hell, look at the Baseball Board, there's a topic that congratulates Jim Hendry for not signing Barry Zito. Isn't this great? On other teams they give their GM accolades for making good moves. Over here we say he's good because he isn't responsible for every bad signing in baseball.

 

Here's my problem with this - it's the same old crap from Hendry.

 

Step 1 - A draft comes up.

 

Step 2 - Baseball America makes its recommendations.

 

Step 3 - Jim Hendry takes a guy no one has ever heard of that usually fits in with some bizarre drafting idiosyncracy of his (a catcher converted to a pitcher, a 6'6 righthander from Notre Dame, somebody from the southeast, like Virginia or around the Tampa area, etc.)

 

Step 4 - Baseball America turns out to be more on the ball than Hendry 9/10.

 

This is the same thing again. We should've taken one of the Baseball America approved guys, yes, like Barton. The excuses people make are just bending over backwards for Hendry. "We wouldn't have liked giving a Rule 5 guy a spot over Murton." That's not the point. We're wasting the spot anyway on nothing Fontenot who doesn't have plus speed or plus defense or even play more than one position or do anything at all or contribute anything. And when it comes down to it, our farm system is not great and I'd like a shot at robbing someone else's.

 

The above comment says about Josh Hamilton "Hindsight is 20-20." Oh boy. I can't wait for someone to say that about Barton. "He had a microfracture, at the time no one thought he would be a good pick, etc."

 

Let's all just re-write history to accomodate Jim Hendry. Even aside from Barton, I thought Bierd or Fernando Hernandez would've been better picks than Lahey.

 

But people don't seem to care much. The chance to grab quality talent and improve the team shouldn't be looked upon so lightly. The Cubs just nickel-and-dime away too many opportunities. I wonder, for example, what the bullpen would look like with Bierd and Blevins in the mix. Or heck, Callix Crabbe is probably more useful on a roster than Fontenot and I didn't even think much of the choice.

 

I don't think this organization knows how to manage a roster. Remember when the Cubs put catcher Jose Reyes on the 40 man roster? And people tried to double-talk that there was probably a reason, even though he was awful and no one gave a crap about him? And then a year later he was off, there was no good reason, it was just foolishness. And now Adam Harben. This guy shouldn't be on the 40 man roster. I think the last time I heard so much talk, so much equivocating and double-talk about a guy who did so little was Luke Hagerty. At least Randy Wells was healthy.

[RedFlash]

No, it's stupid, it's very stupid. I think the fact that only Tim has expressed any anger about this shows how low standards have dropped among Cubs fans. Hell, look at the Baseball Board, there's a topic that congratulates Jim Hendry for not signing Barry Zito. Isn't this great? On other teams they give their GM accolades for making good moves. Over here we say he's good because he isn't responsible for every bad signing in baseball.

 

Here's my problem with this - it's the same old crap from Hendry.

 

Step 1 - A draft comes up.

 

Step 2 - Baseball America makes its recommendations.

 

Step 3 - Jim Hendry takes a guy no one has ever heard of that usually fits in with some bizarre drafting idiosyncracy of his (a catcher converted to a pitcher, a 6'6 righthander from Notre Dame, somebody from the southeast, like Virginia or around the Tampa area, etc.)

 

Step 4 - Baseball America turns out to be more on the ball than Hendry 9/10.

 

This is the same thing again. We should've taken one of the Baseball America approved guys, yes, like Barton. The excuses people make are just bending over backwards for Hendry. "We wouldn't have liked giving a Rule 5 guy a spot over Murton." That's not the point. We're wasting the spot anyway on nothing Fontenot who doesn't have plus speed or plus defense or even play more than one position or do anything at all or contribute anything. And when it comes down to it, our farm system is not great and I'd like a shot at robbing someone else's.

 

The above comment says about Josh Hamilton "Hindsight is 20-20." Oh boy. I can't wait for someone to say that about Barton. "He had a microfracture, at the time no one thought he would be a good pick, etc."

 

Let's all just re-write history to accomodate Jim Hendry. Even aside from Barton, I thought Bierd or Fernando Hernandez would've been better picks than Lahey.

 

But people don't seem to care much. The chance to grab quality talent and improve the team shouldn't be looked upon so lightly. The Cubs just nickel-and-dime away too many opportunities. I wonder, for example, what the bullpen would look like with Bierd and Blevins in the mix. Or heck, Callix Crabbe is probably more useful on a roster than Fontenot and I didn't even think much of the choice.

 

I don't think this organization knows how to manage a roster. Remember when the Cubs put catcher Jose Reyes on the 40 man roster? And people tried to double-talk that there was probably a reason, even though he was awful and no one gave a crap about him? And then a year later he was off, there was no good reason, it was just foolishness. And now Adam Harben. This guy shouldn't be on the 40 man roster. I think the last time I heard so much talk, so much equivocating and double-talk about a guy who did so little was Luke Hagerty. At least Randy Wells was healthy.

 

The problem tho is....Hendry DOES NOT have to make a pick in the Rule V draft. And chances are Barton would NOT have made the team out of spring training, if for the simple fact, Lou would not want two rookies handling CF. In other words the Cubs would have had to hang onto a rookie liek Barton for the full season, (which would have hurt both the Cubs, and Barton's development) or trade for him. And chances are Shapiro would have asked for Gallagher, Marshall or a longshot like Rich Hill for Barton in a trade. Which means it would have been a gamble all around. IMO, if the Cubs can't keep a player they draft from the Rule V on the roster the full yr, and it doesn't hurt, then I prefer them not making a selection. Because ultimately people are going to nitpick every little thing Hendry does.

 

I like the pick of Lahey, and you can't have too many quality arms, imo. It's unfortunate, the Cubs couldn't work out a trade for him. He's Philly's problem, and I have no problem with NOT having Barton on this team, seeing as in 2008 Reed Johnson will be better then he will be.

[badnews]

I prefer we take the chance. And you can't expect me to not to be frustrated that we have stupid people running the show.

 

I just don't care for the way you frame the issue, like taking Barton is just one gigantic hassle and we're better off not taking a risk in a win-win situation.

 

I don't even think it's a given that Reed Johnson is better than Barton. Furthermore, that's one of the problems with this organization - they don't think past one year. That's one of the reasons why we haven't won a World Series in so long.

 

As for Lahey, there were probably better pitchers out there, but Hendry again went with another one of his weird "the experts don't agree/we've never heard of him" picks. Just like he does in the June draft. Baseball America says to spend your bonus baby money on guys like Jordan Walden, Lars Anderson, and Matt Latos, what does Hendry do? Gives more money to Huseby (who? where was he on the radar? Nowhere?) than Walden and Anderson got. Great. Walden and Anderson are already top prospects with Latos close behind. More money and opportunities flushed down the crapper because of Hendry's "hunches."

 

Baseball America says take Travis Snider. Hendry takes Tyler Colvin. Who? What? Wasn't he projected in the early 2nd round? Now Snider is the 5th best position prospect in baseball (we don't need help in that area, of course) and Colvin looks like the #15 prospect in better organizations.

 

So yeah, when Hendry continues to take the no-name over the expert pick and it continually backfires on him, I'm going to be frustrated. I just can't believe no one else is.

[RedFlash]

I prefer we take the chance. And you can't expect me to not to be frustrated that we have stupid people running the show.

 

I just don't care for the way you frame the issue, like taking Barton is just one gigantic hassle and we're better off not taking a risk in a win-win situation.

 

I don't even think it's a given that Reed Johnson is better than Barton. Furthermore, that's one of the problems with this organization - they don't think past one year. That's one of the reasons why we haven't won a World Series in so long.

 

As for Lahey, there were probably better pitchers out there, but Hendry again went with another one of his weird "the experts don't agree/we've never heard of him" picks. Just like he does in the June draft. Baseball America says to spend your bonus baby money on guys like Jordan Walden, Lars Anderson, and Matt Latos, what does Hendry do? Gives more money to Huseby (who? where was he on the radar? Nowhere?) than Walden and Anderson got. Great. Walden and Anderson are already top prospects with Latos close behind. More money and opportunities flushed down the crapper because of Hendry's "hunches."

 

Baseball America says take Travis Snider. Hendry takes Tyler Colvin. Who? What? Wasn't he projected in the early 2nd round? Now Snider is the 5th best position prospect in baseball (we don't need help in that area, of course) and Colvin looks like the #15 prospect in better organizations.

 

So yeah, when Hendry continues to take the no-name over the expert pick and it continually backfires on him, I'm going to be frustrated. I just can't believe no one else is.

 

All I was to say was, the Cubs had their 25 man roster pretty much sewn up, especially offensively. There was no way Barton was going to make the roster, and/or play regulary with Lou Piniella. I guarantee you, Piniella would NOT be thrill with having a Pie/Barton platoon in CF, especially if you're trying to end a streak. Would Barton be a better fit for the future....yes...but in 2008, I don't think he'll be better then Johnson, to be honest. Atleast Johnson can help immediately, Barton IMO, is 2 yrs away from contributing anything for the Cards.

 

If the Cubs could stash a Rule V player on their roster, without hurting anything, so be it, but with very few spots open heading into Spring Training, Barton would not have made sense. The Cards can afford to stash Barton in RF and let him play through his mistakes. The Cubs don't have that luxury.

 

Personally, the Cubs should have skipped the Rule V draft, unless there was somebody they ABSOLUTELY LOVED, and could stash him for the yr. Otherwise, they should have skipped it, and saved themselves some heat over some no name rookie. It's Barton, for god sake. IF or when he turns in a star, then I'll eat crow, but considering the %%% of that happening, I'm not eating crow anytime soon.

 

With that said....there is a time and place to criticize Hendry, but over a Rule V draft pick? Come on.....people are just being nitpicky.

[Terp]

Sweet. They can get the Iron Pigs to suck more with those players.

[davearm2]

an outfield of

 

Soriano

Hamilton

Fukudome

 

makes me cry

Hindsight is 20/20.

It's not even 20/20 hindsight. The fact that Hamilton was Cubs property for 5 minutes is a meaningless technicality.

 

The reality is, Hamilton was never even on the Cubs' radar. They sold their Rule 5 pick to the Reds because they didn't plan on burning their 25th roster spot and last bench spot on a longshot who might contribute nothing to a team that was built to contend.