Parade of Links Vol. I

Aren't the alpacas darling?

(1) Tons of stuff to go to today, but we’ll start with another all-important spring training game recap. Phils beat Paul Byrd, Jason Michaels, and the Cleveland Indians in Clearwater yesterday afternoon by a score of 5-1. Prepare yourself for an onslaught of “Gavin Floyd is Back!” articles over the next few days…you know they are inevitable. Floyd was excellent today (6 IP 4H 1 ER 0 BB) and he has performed well all spring long. His control has been excellent lately (something like 2 walks over his last 15 innings or so), so maybe he has indeed turned the corner. There will be more than a few Phils fans giddy enough about his spring to start proclaiming him in the running for a job on the 25-man roster to start the season. Bad idea. I think the Phillies should not deviate from their earlier plan for this situation – send Floyd to Scranton and let him know that if he keeps pitching like he has been, he’ll be the first starter called up if the big club needs him.

By the way, the bullpen after Floyd (Julio Santana, Geoff Geary, and Tom Gordon) was excellent as well today and Shane Victorino had a big day at the plate. Phils spring record is now 16-9-1 (Phillies.com must have listened to me when I complained about that damn tie yesterday and decided to pretend it never happened…I won’t fall for their dirty trick, the tie stands).

(2) From Phillies.com:

Not wanting to take unnecessary chances with left-hander Cole Hamels, the Phillies announced Thursday that their top pitching prospect will start the season at Class A Clearwater…"It has nothing to do with ability," said Mike Arbuckle, the team's assistant general manager of scouting and player development. "Because of weather and bus rides, we thought it made sense to start him in warm weather and where there are very limited bus rides. We don't anticipate him being there a long time." Assuming Hamels stays healthy and effective, Arbuckle said he could wind up at Reading or Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as early as May.

Makes sense to me. Arbuckle’s reasons are legit, so there is really no need for concern here. Quite frankly, I don’t care where Hamels pitches this season so long as he is happy, healthy, and actually pitching. I would like to catch a couple of his starts at Reading though, so for my own selfish reasons I hope they don’t advance him straight to Scranton – something Arbuckle seemed to insinuate was a possibility.

(3) From Sportingnews.com:

That's right: Billy Wagner joined the Mets in part because pitching in front of Phillies fans was as much fun as a sore arm. There also was Wagner's concern about the Phillies' commitment to winning a championship, which was not eased when the club traded Jim Thome. But make no mistake -- fans notorious for their nastiness played a part in Wagner's decision to leave Philadelphia after two seasons.

"Definitely," he says. "It's a no-win situation. You're out there busting your tail, and when you're having a good season, you don't want to deal with fans who aren't knowledgeable and are constantly riding you." "I'm not saying playing in New York is going to be easier," Wagner says... "But playing in Philadelphia opens your eyes. Considering how harsh it was, whether you're doing well or bad, if you can pitch there, you can play anywhere." And, to hear Wagner talk, have more fun.

This may be the last time I get into any of Billy Wagner’s off the field nonsense. I just don’t think I can take much more of what he has to say. For him to question the Phillies commitment to winning is not necessarily an unfair shot, but for him to go ahead and base this skepticism on the fact the team traded Jim Thome is insanity. It is as if he hasn’t been paying any attention to the happenings of professional baseball outside of his own career whatsoever. The comments about describing Phillies fans as fans that “aren’t knowledgeable” and are that were too “harsh” are just plain…whatever, Billy. I don’t have the will to argue against his asinine remarks. There is no need to get into or any other stupid comment that Wagner will inevitably say between now and the first Mets-Phils game. This will be settled between the lines soon enough. By the way, I now hate the Mets more than ever.

(4) Phillies may have some interest in Texas Rangers outfielder David Dellucci. You need a registration to access the story, but you can believe me, it’s all there. The Boston Globe yesterday reported (yet again) that the Phils have interest in Red Sox OF Dustan Mohr. If there is any news to report on either the Dellucci or Mohr front in the coming days, we’ll have it covered.

(5) Last, but certainly not least, Tom G. of Balls, Sticks, & Stuff has compiled an extremely helpful list of some of the prominent Phillies blogs (also known as phlogs) on the web. If you are a big baseball fan who just so happens to love the Phils, but are also a bit on the lazy side (that’s me alright) then you really need to bookmark this link right now. It comes highly, highly recommended; I promise you won't regret it. If you like what you see (and I’m sure you will), make sure to head on over to BS&S to give Tom G. his proper due.

As the title of this post noted (something I'm sure everyone noticed since it has been proven Phillies fans are a very observant bunch), this is just the first half of a two-part post - think of it as a housecleaning kind of thing where I'm trying to unload as many as the links I've accumulated over the past few days all at once. If that makes it sound kind of crappy, well...it kind of is. Hope you enjoyed it though because the second half is coming later today...suckaaaaas.