Phillies Hot Stove, Winter 2023-24

Matt, they use pitchers with different rest (5-6 days) in Japan, as I'm sure you know. My concern about bust potential is that he's significantly below the minimum height for a typical MLB starting pitcher, has never pitched on "normal" MLB rest, and shorter pitchers are thought to be more prone to arm issues. Even Pedro Martinez was taller than he is. If he were 6'1" or above I'd have much less concern.

I'd rather invest the money in pitcher who has shown he can handle a MLB innings load on traditional rest, or at least fits the physical profile of pitchers who survive the MLB workload.

It's a lot of money...a big bet on projecting success for a "unicorn" with very little supporting evidence of that kind of player succeeding. It's not my money, though...

Of course, if the team that signs him is right about him, with the big risk comes big rewards. It just feels like a long-shot bet to me.

They do, so do most amateurs and minor leaguers. Even in the majors more and more pitchers are going 5 days of rest. Is the "minimum height" just bias? Just look at the current FAs, Sonny Gray 5'10", Marcus Stroman 5'7", Julio Urias 6'0" (using as a height example, his off the field disqualifies him). Aaron Nola is listed at 6'2" but it isn't exactly a normal MLB frame and he has been one of the most durable starters in baseball. Framber Valdez is listed at 5'11".

To a certain extent I agree with you. They do indeed use amateurs and minor leaguers on longer rest. But, to be fair, they don't pay $300 million to sign amateurs or minor leaguers, partly because of the uncertainty of holding up to a MLB workload.

If MLB moves to a different usage pattern that mitigates the risk with Yamamoto. I also didn't realize there were quite as many sub 6'0" starters in MLB now. Phillies have been extreme for a long time in their affection for taller pitchers...

Well we maybe already have. Yamamoto averaged about 7.5IP per game over the last 3 seasons. in 21 and 22 he threw the same amount of innings (193) Wheeler threw last season. He just did it in 6 less starts. So would limiting him to 6IP per start (exactly what Wheeler averaged in 2023) make up for the extra 6 starts

Nattering nabobs of negativism backing up like ballerinas:

"...With the projected price tag to sign the Japanese right-hander continuing to increase, it was thought that ownership and the front office would not be interested in spending that much money on another player."

"It was thought" seems to mean "I thought and wrote".

When you're playing a high-stakes poker hand, you don't need some observer, with nothing of his own in the game. to be chirping that your hand is hopeless and you really don't care if you win, especially when he doesn't KNOW anything. Hard to believe a couple of you guys think that stuff is just peachy.

The Phils are a long shot for Yamamoto. Everybody knows it. DON'T PRINT IT. Let the Phils play the hand.

Thanks to PC for reminding everybody that Yamamoto is not without risk. OTOH, most of MLB is all over this guy. They are not even slowed down by the risk factor. Tells me the Phils should be confident going forward as everybody else is.

The Phils look good because they are already playoff level AND they have a strong pen. Yamamoto could win a lot of 6-inning games with the Phils and protect his arm, maybe set some records. In addition, rumor has it the Phils might be opening 3 or 6 new Japanese restaurants.

Journalists dont work for the team. They cover the team. Its their job to write the news and opinions regardless of whether that helps or hurts the team. Which is does neither. Nothing they print is a secret around the league.

Why not print an opinion, or print what some in the front office may be leaking? What is the damage from printing it?

Fans don't like to have their expectation/temporary anticipation of a big potential signing dampened. Of course, that's exactly why the team leaks that it isn't going to happen and why the Phillies quickly traded Lee while only talking to one team and winding up with no value back for him. The Phillies fear being tarred by fan expectations which have no chance of happening. Keeping Lee/Halladay/Hamels should have happened. We might well have one more WC and parade if the owners had been flexible. Wirh the Dodgers' binge, I think the Phillies need both Wheeler and Yamamoto to get back to the WS.

Isn't the ostensible origin of the "nattering nabobs" phrase when someone had a problem with the media printing unflattering things that were true?

"Nuttering nabobs of negativity" was Spiro Agnew's phrase describing the media that was on his tail and also Tricky Dick's

I did have to Google it and apparently it's an urban legend that he said it about the media. It was originally directed at some anti-Nixon political candidates in 1970. But, he was always (and already) at war with the media too, and the two things were eventually conflated. By, lol, the media.

Yamamoto may have average 7 innings per outing, but how many pitches is that? I’m comfortable with our rotation already. Japanese players are often a risk…particularly at $300 million. You could get Yu Darvish or Chan Ho Park.

Chan Ho Park is not Japanese. He was also great to good for quite a few seasons.

A 20 WAR with 4 years above 3 WAR, including an ~5 WAR peak year. He was Korean. Of course, our biggest fiasco, although years back, was the 2 Korean pitchers for $2 mill, when $2 mill was really a lot of bonus money.