Monday, July 28, 2008

Eaton demoted, Happ called up?

Apparently 24.5 million doesn't buy as much as it used to. That's how much Adam Eaton, who was just sent down to the minors, will make over his 3 year deal with the Phillies. Eaton was removed from the starting rotation when the Phillies acquired Joe Blanton but was even worse when coming out of the bullpen. The Phillies offered to send him down to the minors and Eaton accepted, making him the second Phillie to accept a minor league assignment to work on his pitching this month. Eaton has no future in the rotation so hopefully he will work on becoming a reliever. I doubt we see him up again before September.

The rumored replacement for Eaton on the roster is J.A. Happ. Happ started yesterday for Lehigh Valley and was removed from his start in the 3rd inning despite pitching well. Happ has been working as a starter so the question remains as to whether he will be in the bullpen and be the Phillies missing second lefty option out of the pen or if he joins the starting rotation and bumps Brett Myers back to a set-up role. It probably depends on what the Phillies can get done before the trade deadline since they have been rumored to be seeking a lefty reliever and another starting pitcher.

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