http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/317 Recent articles about Tadahito Iguchi en-us Screaming Sports' Andrew Thibodeau takes a stab at MLB Waiver Wire and runs downs a list of six potential fantasy studs. Drew covers his bases and more in this latest gem. Tue, 27 May 2008 07:39:58 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/271296 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/271296 If you play in a league that starts two catchers, you probably are constantly scouring the waiver wires for a solid number two option. It took a trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond for AccuScore fantasy expert Tim Williams to decide that the second catcher really doesn't matter. This week's waiver wire wonders gives you better options who will do more for your team than guys like Yadier Molina. Sat, 24 May 2008 00:25:05 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/270503 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/270503 One of the best aspects of baseball is the off-season. Unlike any other sport, baseball certainly has the most exciting and active off-season. I've been covering every transaction since the 2007 baseball season ended, and here is my recap.We'll cover, Best Performances by a GM, Worst Performances by a GM, Best Trades, Worst Trades, Best Signings , Worst Signings, Most Surprising Moves, Big Winners, and Big Losers. Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:06:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/213014 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/213014 Bored of being dispirited by the awfulness of the Phillies this spring and not even wanting to bother hashing out the Pirates problems I have focused my energy elsewhere. I decided to entertain myself by perusing the current 40-man rosters to piece together a team made of former Phils. Stipulation- must have played for the Phils not just in their minor league system (meaning no JD Drew or Derrick Turbow). My roster is an NL roster (screw the AL) and has a balanced lineup of power and speed with some good defense mixed in. The rotation has some inning eaters and the bullpen actually looks better than the Phils current one. *Career OPS in parentheses Starting Lineup: 1. Kenny Lofton- LF (.795) 2. Placido Polanco- SS (.766) 3. Bobby Abreu- RF (.908) 4. Jim Thome- 1B (.974) 5. Scott Rolen- 3B (.879) 6. Aaron Rowand- CF (.805) 7. Tadahito Iguchi- 2B (.768) 8. Johnny Estrada- C (.726) Bench: David Dellucci- OF (.788), Rod Barajas- C (.696), Marlon Anderson- Utl (.713), Marlon Byrd- OF (.730), and Michael Bourn- OF (.702). *Career era and whip in parentheses Rotation: 1. Paul Byrd- RH (4.35, 1.32) 2. Kevin Millwood- RH (3.97, 1.28) 3. Carlos Silva- RH (4.31, 1.37) 4. Randy Wolf- LH (4.25, 1.34) 5. Kyle Lohse- RH (4.82, 1.43) Bullpen: 1. Billy Wagner- LH (2.40, 1.01) 2. Todd Jones- RH (3.93, 1.40) 3. Mike Timlin- RH (3.55, 1.27) 4. Aaron Fultz- LH (4.26, 1.36) 5. Ryan Franklin- RH (4.25, 1.32) 6. Geoff Geary- RH (3.94, 1.40) 7. Trever Miller- LH (4.46, 1.52) Notes- as you can see shortstop was thin, so I had to move Gold Glove winning Polano there because he's actually played that position before and then insert Iguchi into secondbase. Billy Wagner is the closer, but Todd Jones serves as a backup should Billy need a break. Bourn is my primary defensive replacement in the outfield and pinch-runner, while Marlon Byrd and Dellucci have some thump for pinch-hitting. Cuts- Jon Lieber, Vicente Padilla, Endy Chavez, Jason Michaels, Robinson Tejada, Gary Bennett, and Nick Punto. Curt Schilling is injured and wasn't even considered. Mon, 10 Mar 2008 06:04:24 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/188820 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/188820 1. You hail from the BBC (Milwaukee- land of beer, bratwursts, and cheese), but now reside in Philly. Please compare the two cities and their fan bases. Milwaukee and Philadelphia are different, but in good ways. Philly has more energy than Milwaukee. Bigger city means more options. I love being able to drive or take a train to New York, DC and Baltimore. Milwaukee is more laid back, but it's also fun. I love Milwaukeeans. They're incredibly friendly. Philadelphians are a little more ... impatient. The fan bases reflect that. Milwaukeeans are more patient with their team, but they will boo. (They're not blindly loyal like Cardinals fans might be.) Philly fans are quicker to step on an athlete's throat. For example, if Brad Lidge stumbled out of the gate in Milwaukee it wouldn't be reason for alarm. It might be in Philadelphia. But I've been in Philly since 1999. I like it here. 2. Who is the coolest athlete you've ever met and had a real conversation with? I think the coolest athletes are the ones that can have a regular conversation with you, or don't feel and act like they're superior to you. That's why I always liked talking with Randy Wolf. Great guy. Funny. Doesn't big time anybody. Just a normal guy. 3. Who was your favorite baseball player growing up? (If you say Paul Molitor, this interview will be terminated.) Robin Yount ... with Paul Molitor a close second. My first baseball memories are of 1982, when the Brewers made the World Series and Yount won the MVP. My brother and I once waited in line about four hours for a Yount autograph at a Brewers Fan Fest. I wouldn't wait in line four hours for anybody's autograph today, but at the time it felt totally worth it. 4. Describe some of the perks and pitfalls of being a beat writer. Perks: Cover baseball for a living. Get to see a lot of great ballparks and cities. Can say, "I was at that game when (insert memorable moment here) happened." Get to learn a lot about baseball just by talking and listening to people. Pitfalls: It's a real grind. I chuckle when I hear people say, "How can these ballplayers get tired? They're playing a kid's game! That's not work!" Hey, I get tired. Really tired. And I don't even play. I just write. Other pitfalls: It dampens the social life. Flying US Airways. 5. What city is your favorite destination and what ballpark, aside from the Brick Cit House, is your favorite venue to view a game? That's tough, but I'd have to pick Chicago and Wrigley Field. Chicago is my favorite city to visit. It's the best. (San Francisco, San Diego, Denver and Phoenix also are in my top five.) And I absolutely love Wrigley. The ballpark is in a great part of town. It has character. It's historic. It's fun. (PNC Park, Fenway, AT&T Park and Dodger Stadium are in my top five.) 6. Do you have any of the Phillies ball girls numbers? Sadly, I don't. I'll have to work on that, though. 7. You're a journalist that is embracing the blogsphere, and I for one appreciate that. Please discuss the evolution of your blog- The Zo Zone. I basically told my former boss last April that I wanted to start a blog. He said, "OK, sure." I wanted to write one because I see how the Internet is changing things. And our deadlines are so early that some nights it's tough to really explain what happened the night before the way I'd like, or at least put what happened into the proper perspective. The blog allows me to dig a little deeper into issues with the team. It also allows me to have a little more fun. I can post silly clips from YouTube, etc. I enjoy it. I still update the blog as much as I can over the winter months, even though I'm supposed to be on vacation and taking comp time. It's kind of addicting. Maybe I need a hobby? 8. What's your favorite aspect of baseball- pitching, offense, or defense? I'm actually a fan of whatever gets the game finished as early as possible so I'll have more time to write on deadline. But I guess I appreciate good pitching more than good hitting because I see so little good pitching these days. That's why I like Cole Hamels. 9. What's your real opinion of the job Charlie Manuel and Pat Gillick are doing? I've covered two managers: Bowa and Manuel. Fans can dismiss this if they want, but I think chemistry is big when you're talking about 25 guys being together for eight months a year. Guys didn't like playing for Bowa. That's all they ever talked about. Manuel pulls these guys together. He keeps them positive. Does he make some head scratching decisions? Yes, but sometimes those head scratchers are based on personnel. Look at last year's bullpen. Unless he was going to Romero, Gordon or Myers, it was a total crapshoot. As far as Gillick, he's been OK. His in-season moves have helped the last two years. His offseason moves haven't been as good, although the Lidge trade could be huge if it works out the way they hope. I heard somebody say on the radio yesterday that the Phillies have the money to spend, they just won't spend it. "They're cheap." It seems like such a cliche. They outbid the Red Sox for Mike Lowell and the Padres for Randy Wolf and Tadahito Iguchi. Were they cheap there? The Phillies spend money. The better question is: do they spend it wisely? Frankly, if I'm Gillick there's no way I'm signing Kyle Lohse to a five-year, $55 million contract or whatever. Just because you spend money it doesn't mean you're going to win. I'd rather take my chances with what I have then make a long commitment to a Lohse or a Silva or somebody like that. People forget Adam Eaton's contract, you know? 10. How's it feel to be mentioned by the likes of Jayson Stark and Buster Olney on their ESPN blogs? How much of an insider are you. It's cool that family or friends get a kick out of it. But it's nice because Jayson and Buster are two of the best in the business. But I'm not sure how much of an insider I am. I can say I try to stay on top of the Phillies as much as possible. Tue, 29 Jan 2008 07:07:16 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/110865 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/110865 Here's the Crooked Pitch ranking list fro NL second basemen. Sat, 29 Dec 2007 14:16:15 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/55486 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/55486 Hey everyone I'm back to finish off my N.L preview with the N.L West so without further ado lets get it started. LIke for the N.L East I'm gonna go from the best team to the worst team. 1. Arizona Diamondbacks This team even though they barley squeaked out a division championship last year they're looking real good for 08'. One big reason is because of the recent pickup of Danny Haren, with Webb making the Backs having one of the best rotations in baseball. What can I say about this lineup other than all of the starters other than Eric Byrnes are under the age of 30 and are top of the line up and comers like Justin Upton,Conor Jackson,Stephen Drew so they by the time 08' is done they all will be big names in baseball. 2.San Diego Padres This team looks pretty staked in a postions other than left with Scott Hariston who's horrible. It's about the same team than in 07' but with a few new faces like Jim Edmonds, and Tad Iguichi that help cure there real needs from last year. There pitching is actually pretty solid with Peavy, Chris Young, Randy Wolf and the always trustable ace Greg Maddux. 3. Colorado Rockies "Rocktober" or for you non Colorado faithful where the Rocks when to the World Series last year will they go back this year. they'll be lucky to make the playoffs. You know the saying if you put some makeup on a pig it's still a pig,well I have to use that analogy on the Rockies pitching even though they got Jose Capellan, Luis Vizciano, and Kip Wells it still doesn't help the fact that the Rockies rotation and bullpen is still crappy. The one thing I love about this team is there 3 musketters in Matt Holliday,Troy Tulowitzki, and the vet of that bunch Garret Atkins. The best player of that bunch is Matt Holiday for all you fantasy players out there look for this guy in the top 5,Matt last year had a .340 BA and 36 homers so this guy is great. 4. La Dodgers You guys really think just because they have Andrew Jones means there a force to be reckoned with ha ha think again fool. First lets talk about there 2 yes im saying 2 offseason pickups in Andruw Jones and Hiroki Kuroda. Let's start with Andruw, I really never liked this guy he hits about 30-40 homers other than last year where he hit 22 homers and gets a low .230 to .250 BA and the Dodgers pay 13 and a half million for this guy its crazy, Hiroki Kuroda i really never heard of this guy but i think i saw this guy in the WBC in 06' and he looked pretty good but Dice-K kinda flopped last year so you never know about those Japanese players. One kid you guys should watch for in the 08' season is James Loney in the 100 games this kid played he had a great .321 average and 15 homers so in the full season he should get a good .300 average and 25 homers. 5. San Fransisco Giants Wow what can i say about this team,well just look and read. Ok the best part of this team has to be there pitching they have Matt Cain,Tiny TIm, and Barry Zito. If there's one player outta the 3 that is most valuable to this team has to be Tiny Timmy Lincecum, during the time he's been there he took the Giant's hearts and ripped them with some games he did awesome and some games he played horrible, well i guess that's the facts of life of a rookie pitcher. What much do i have to say about this team they pay high for Aaron Rowand expecting him to be a all-star and you know what he'll become to a mediocre cat that he is. Sat, 22 Dec 2007 03:19:55 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/51022 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/51022 Remember Tad Iguchi? Remember the guy acquired in the end of July trade with the Chicago White Sox who hit .304 with three homers and 12 RBI in 45 games with the Phillies, including holding down the 2nd base fort during the month that All Star regular 2nd baseman Chase Utley was down. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 22:28:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/48535 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/48535 Hey guys whats up,The 2nd day of the Winter Meetings is almost done which means the 4 day madhouse full of trades is half over.but the rumors and the deals are not even close to being over. The main story of today is of course is that Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis going to the tigers for outfielder Cameron Maybin, pitcher Andrew Miller, catcher Mike Rabelo and minor league pitchers Eulogio De La Cruz, Dallas Trahern and Burke Badenhop. Miller,Maybin and, De La Cruz played in the Majors last year but to horrible numbers. So I think the Marlins were either drunk or they saw something so great in the prospects that they were willing to give up there 2 superstars.Here are other things that were going on today. Mets make a move to O's pitcher Erik Bedard they offered the O's righties Aaron Heilman and Philip Humber and Chris Gomez. But the offer was very nicely declined the trade. Brewers don't have enough balls for Rolen Coming off of last night's article about Rolen going to the brewers well consider that dead. The Brewers who have an outstanding 3rd baseman in Ryan Braun but according to the rumor last night they were willing to put Braun in the outfield . But these 2 things kept from the Crew to getting Rolen. 1. The huge injury risk that's been holding him back all his career. 2 The Crew aren't willing to wolf down the $36 million he's owed for his contract. So the fact that the Brewers are done with Rolen does not mean that the Brewers are not done in the Meetings because they recently met with Rocky Hall,the agent for Tad Iguchi the pretty good 2nd baseman for the Phillies. So this is not all for day 2 i'll be back tomorrow with more from day 2 and tomorrow with day 3. Wed, 05 Dec 2007 03:39:28 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/40668 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/40668 Major League Baseball reports that 2nd baseman Tadahito Iguchi, who was acquired to spell Chase Utley during the period of his injury and with whom the Phillies didn't miss a beat at 2nd base, was released by the team last Thursday. Will the move come back to haunt the Phillies in the 2008 chase to repeat as NL East champs and to advance further in the playoffs? Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:39:04 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/36734 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/36734 Still basking in the glow of making the post-season for the first time in 14 seasons, yet sorely disappointed with the speed with which they were dispatched from the playoffs, the NL East Division Champion Phillies begin planning and preparing for a 2008 season in which they seek to reach the next level and perhaps beyond. Thu, 01 Nov 2007 13:49:11 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/33936 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/33936 The Phillies won the NL East Division crown with a convincing 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on the last day of the regular season as veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer pitched a clutch 5 1/3 innings giving up 1 run on 6 hits to win his 14th game of 2007. Amidst the chants of "MVP, MVP" which have reverberated throughout Citizens Bank Park for days, shortstop Jimmy Rollins went 2 for 3 with an RBI and his 20th triple which gave him 20 or over 20 in homers, doubles, triples and stolen bases, only the 4th player in MLB history to accomplish the feat. Sun, 30 Sep 2007 23:39:40 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/29101 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/29101 1st Baseman Ryan Howard, leftfielder Pat Burrell and centerfielder Aaron Rowand staked the Phillies to a 5-0 lead after 3 innings, but it took 9th inning hitting and base-running heroics by rightfielder Jayson Werth and pinch hitter Tadahito Iguchi to set the stage for 2nd baseman Chase Utley's walk-off single driving in the winning run off of Mets closer and losing pitcher Billy Wagner as the Phils blew two leads but showed why the lead the NL in hitting in emerging victorious by an 11-10 score to sweep their four game series with the NL East leading New York Mets. Fri, 31 Aug 2007 05:18:10 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/25461 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/25461 Jamie Moyer edged out Oliver Perez in a tight 6 inning battle of lefthanders, both shortstop Jimmy Rollins and leftfielder Pat Burrell stroked first inning homers and the Phillies' bullpen once again came up big holding the Mets scoreless over the final 3 innings, thanks to a controversial game-ending double play on an interference call, to win a 3-2 nail-biter in game 3 of their 4 game series. Thu, 30 Aug 2007 05:52:48 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/25352 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/25352 For the Phillies, it's one down and three more to go as outfielder Jayson Werth, who went 5 for 5 with 4 RBIs vs San Diego on Sunday, stretched his consecutive hit streak to 9 with another perfect night. 2nd baseman Chase Utley returned to the lineup in grand style going 3 for 5 with a solo homer and 3 RBIs. Leftfielder Pat Burrell belted a two run homer, as did pinch hitter Tadahito Iguchi and J.D. Durbin tossed a fine 6 1/3 inning effort giving up only 2 runs on 6 hits while striking out 6 to earn win number 6 as the Phillies pounded the Mets by a 9-2 score in their series opener. Tue, 28 Aug 2007 06:14:25 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/25128 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/25128