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Monday, June 10
 
Phillies may still explore Rolen options

By Jayson Stark
ESPN.com

All of a sudden, there are indications that the Phillies are significantly more amenable to "listening" to see what interest exists in Scott Rolen around the league.

Scott Rolen
Third Base
Philadelphia Phillies
Profile
2002 SEASON STATISTICS
AB HR RBI R OPS AVG
230 9 37 33 .800 .252

That would seem, on the surface, like an abrupt change of heart for a team that was trading for a 40-year-old left-handed reliever (Dan Plesac) only two weeks ago, in an attempt to get back into the race.

But it appears the Phillies' marketing of Rolen, in particular, isn't a sign of surrender. It's just a recognition that the once-effervescent Rolen has grown so visibly miserable -- and his departure via the free agency so inevitable -- that the Phillies at least have to see whether they can move him now.

So can they? It isn't likely -- at least not until closer to the trade deadline. At this point, Rolen still has about $5 million in salary coming this season. And that's more than most clubs can take on.

Then look at the few contending teams that might have interest in a third baseman and might have a shot to re-sign Rolen after the season. The Phillies' options aren't good.

The Diamondbacks don't match up well with the Phillies. The Cardinals aren't in make-a-deal mode yet. The Braves are committed to Vinny Castilla this year and have heard Chipper Jones say he misses playing third. The Reds have Aaron Boone, just traded for Russell Branyan and can't add much payroll. The Dodgers continue to believe in Adrian Beltre.

Only the Mets seem to fit. But will the Phillies really want to help a team in their own division if they still feel they have a shot to get back in the race? They probably wouldn't, if everything were equal. But if it turns out the Mets are their only viable option, they may have no choice.

In the meantime, there are also rumors swirling that the Phillies are trying to move Travis Lee and would talk about one of their starting pitchers, as well. General manager Ed Wade denies that.

As for Rolen, all Wade is willing to say is: "We'd still love to figure out a way to persuade Scott to stay. We haven't decided we want to deal him. There's a strong possibility -- if not probability -- he'll be here the entire season. But it's incumbent upon me to explore all avenues which may or may not exist."

So the more they listen, the more the Rolen rumor mill heats into full-scale operation. Stay tuned.

Miscellaneous rumblings

  • The players' union continues to play its stand on drug testing close to the vest. But we've sounded out some player reps and prominent agents and we wouldn't be shocked to see the union soften its stance on testing in coming weeks.

    The caveat is that management certainly would have to pledge to keep all testing results confidential -- and not take a punitive approach to first-time offenders.

    "We have to make a deal on this, to protect the integrity of the game," says one management source. "But we don't have to humiliate and embarrass people. It can be done with sensitivity. But this is an issue everyone should be in favor of addressing. We owe it to the public. If people are going to start calling into question all the feats by McGwire and Bonds and everybody else, we have to remove those questions. It's that simple."

  • It's always this time of year, when interleague play kicks in, that complaints about the schedule kick up. But interleague play isn't going away, so grumbling won't accomplish anything.

    On the other hand, one complaint that ought to be addressed is one we hear from both GMs and players: In an era of unbalanced schedules, it's time to stop having teams play a homestand against two out-of-division rivals one week, then play those same two clubs on the road the next.

    "Those back-to-back series against the same club really bother me," says one AL executive. "And I think it bothers the players. You play the same team six times in nine or 10 days. You see the same two or three starting pitchers twice, and the other guys you might never see."

    If teams are going to play all their same-league, out-of-division opponents two series all year, it's much more fair to spread out those series. There was a big difference, for instance, between playing the Cardinals twice early, when their rotation was a M*A*S*H unit, and playing them twice now.

    Changing this arrangement makes the scheduling process more difficult to spread out those series. But it's much more fair.

  • After surveying a bunch of scouts and scouting directors, the award for Most Dubious First Round Draft Pick goes to the Diamondbacks. Their pick of California high school shortstop Sergio Santos raised almost everyone's eyebrows.

    "We had him as a third-round guy," said one scouting director. "His tools were very short for a first-round pick."

    Said another: "There were a lot of oohs and ahs in our (draft) room over that pick. We had him in the sixth or seventh round."

  • One team that rolled the dice in the first round was the Phillies, who took San Diego high school smokeballer Cole Hamels at No. 17, despite concerns by some clubs over Hamels' broken humerus bone in his junior year.

    No one disputes that Hamels' has star-potential stuff. But one scouting director told Rumblings and Grumblings: "We took him off our list because of the medical situation. I just think that guy is going down eventually. It's just a matter of time, with that injury."

    It's hard to find many successful comeback stories from broken humerus bones. But the Phillies say they checked Hamels out thoroughly -- and even were told that because Hamels suffered the break as a still-growing teen-ager, as opposed to an adult, they believe the bone will heal to be even stronger than before.

    There is also some dispute about whether Hamels suffered the injury playing football in the street, as he told people on draft day. But the Phillies' scouting-and-player-development honcho, Mike Arbuckle, described that dispute as "irrelevant."

    "I don't really care if he broke it in a fight or a football game because I know this kid has a solid makeup," Arbuckle told the Philadelphia Inquirer's Jim Salisbury. "To me, the arm injury is a very minimal risk. We all know that high school pitchers are a higher risk anyway, but my philosophy has always been if you think you have a really high-ceiling guy, you roll the dice."

    One reason the Phillies have revived their system in recent years is Arbuckle's philosophy to always take a first-round pick who has a chance to be a star. So at least if they miss on this one, they'll have missed for the right reasons.

    "I really trust the judgment of Arbuckle and (scouting director) Marti Wolever," says one NL club executive. "They really do their homework. I'd have rolled the dice on that kid, too."

  • The fall taken by virtually all of Scott Boras' clients in this draft looked like a conspiracy to some people. But when you saw 25 percent of this year's first-rounders sign within a week, it was a clear sign that many teams are just worn out by the negotiating marathons they know they're in for with most Boras-represented picks.

    "This was not a let's-all-pick-on-Scott thing," says one scouting director. "He's brought this on himself. In a draft like this one, there were so many similar options to most of his kids, I think people said, 'Why fight that battle when we can take a comparable kid without the aggravation?' Contrary to what Scott was telling us, his guys were not special -- not this year."

  • It's been widely assumed that the Reds took Schilling-esque California right-hander Chris Gruler in the first round over Texas high school pitcher Scott Kazmir because of a $1.5-million difference in price tags. But the Reds had other reasons.

    The story making the rounds is that Gruler, who wound up signing the night of the draft for a $2.5-million bonus, dazzled the Reds in a pre-draft workout. After jumping off a redeye flight and throwing in front of a throng that included Junior Griffey and Johnny Bench, Gruler told the Reds he wanted to throw a second time to show them what kind of pitcher he really was.

    In that second round, he pitched to four college hitters -- none of whom was drafted later than the fourth round -- and blew all four away.

    One AL scouting director on the Reds' decision: "If it were me, I'd take Gruler. He's bigger and more physical (6-foot-3, 200 pounds) than the other guy. Kazmir is an interesting guy with a great arm. But his size (6 feet, 170) concerns me."

  • Nothing was ever said about it publicly, but the Yankees were very unhappy with Shane Spencer's failure to hustle on a groundball back to the mound two days before their decision to call up Juan Rivera last week.

    It happened on that bizarre play against the Red Sox in which Spencer hit a one-hopper back to reliever Casey Fossum, and Fossum mysteriously threw to the plate -- even though there was no runner on third. But the Red Sox still got an unheard-of 1-2-3 out at first base, because Spencer was slow getting down the line, then conspicuously grabbed his hamstring after crossing the bag late to make it look as if he'd hurt himself.

    The next day, John Vander Wal struck out three times and failed to get a bunt down. So the Yankees decided to see how ready Rivera was before they had to go out and explore a deal for someone like Cliff Floyd.

    Unfortunately, the Rivera era didn't last long, either. He took the wrong subway train to Yankee Stadium on Saturday, arrived late, then ran into a maintenance truck while chasing a flyball in batting practice. He's now on the DL with a slight fracture in his kneecap. He should be out three weeks.

  • One scout on the Cubs: "I still think Moises (Alou) will be OK. The kid in center field (Corey Patterson) has great tools, but he's still learning. Sammy (Sosa) practically pulls a groin on every swing, trying to hit the ball out. The most overpaid guy on the team is the shortstop (Alex Gonzalez). He's not a $5-million player, not anymore."

  • More than two months into the season, the only member of that vaunted young Marlins rotation with a winning record is A.J. Burnett -- who is 6-5.

    "It's great to project how good guys can be," says one scout. "All those guys have great stuff. But in the big leagues, it's all about results. And the reality is, they've been trying to develop all those guys at the big-league level."

  • A lot is often made of how much the A's miss Jason Giambi. But one scout says they miss Johnny Damon as much, if not more: "They feel that loss because of his defense. Terrence Long is a nice player, but he's not a center fielder. They've had a lot of balls drop in the alleys this year. I think if they had either Damon or Giambi this year, they'd be right in it."

  • Everybody knows Barry Bonds leads the Giants in every offensive category. Nobody knows who's second in batting and RBIs. Nope, it's not Jeff Kent, Rich Aurilia or J.T. Snow. It's Benito Santiago (.298, 33 RBIs).

    "This guy might be the most misunderstood guy in baseball," says Giants assistant GM Ned Colletti. "He's a great guy. He's great with our pitchers. He plays all the time. He's in great shape. And he loves baseball. He's been a great teammate."

    Remember, so many teams thought Santiago was through that two years in a row, he didn't find a job until after spring training had started. The Giants didn't sign him until St. Patrick's Day of 2001. Now he's become their second-best player. Who knew?

  • Finally, it looks as if George Steinbrenner won't be adding a Nets championship ring to his extensive ring collection. Steinbrenner has six championship rings courtesy of the Yankees. Then the Devils earned him a Stanley Cup ring. So one more, and he'll be out of fingers. But don't expect him to wear his AL championship ring from last season to fill out both hands.

    "He calls that one his 'loser's ring,'" jokes one Yankees official.

    Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com.







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