Say it ain't so, Chan Ho: Park signs with the Yankees

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em? One of the most reliable pieces from the Phillies bullpen in 2009 has joined the Yankees: Chan Ho Park signed a one year deal to play for the World Champs. Park signed for 1.2 million plus incentives, a drop from what the Phillies were offering him following last season.

Why Park didn't want to come back to the Phillies initially and why the Phillies couldn't sign him at such a meager price are a mystery. The Phillies made enough moves (Contreras, Baez) to get past the loss of Park but he sure would have been a nice piece to still have around. As we all know, you can never have enough consistent bullpen arms.

One thing is for sure: Chan Ho Park, like Chris Coste, is now dead to me.

Uh, oh: Chan Ho felt a pop

With all the mess that the Phillies bullpen has been forced to deal with in recent weeks, this news could make it even worse. Chan Ho Park, who has been the one constant in the Phillies bullpen this season, left the game on Wednesday night after he threw his final pitch and felt a pop in his hamstring. While some initial reports said that Park pulled his hamstring, the fact that he heard a pop means it could be pretty serious.

Charlie Manuel agreed in his postgame comments, saying that he was "very concerned" and that Park was going to be "down awhile". It's way too early to speculate but one would think that Park will be out for a couple weeks at the very least and you have to think he will be in jeopardy of missing some postseason games.

Since Park's move to the bullpen early in the season, he has developed into the most reliable bullpen piece the Phillies have. Park can be counted on to pitch in the 6th, 7th or 8th innings and he can go multiple innings if necessary. Losing him for an extended period of time would obviously be a huge blow to an already struggling bullpen.

Error, not Park, causes Phillies to lose to Santana, Mets

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

The result is what we expected: the Mets, who sent Johan Santana to the mound, beat the Phillies, who were starting Chan Ho Park. What wasn't expected was just how well Park would pitch and just how close the Phillies would be to winning this game.

Santana pitched 7 strong innings, struck out 10 batters and gave up only 2 hits as he cruised to a 1-0 victory for the Mets. Surprisingly, Park kept up with Santana, going 6 innings and allowing no runs on two hits. Park probably even should have stayed in the game another inning, considering how well he was pitching and the fact that he had only thrown 91 pitches. Phillies fans (me included, check my tweets earlier in the day) should all apologize to Park for not giving him a chance in this one, he proved that he deserves a few more chances to hold on to the 5th spot in the rotation.

What ended up failing the Phillies in this game was, for once, not the pitching, but instead the defense. The usually excellent fielding of Pedro Feliz failed him for one play, when he made an errant throw to first base, and it was enough for the Mets to squeak out the lone run of the game in the 7th inning.

Chalk this loss up to an anomaly: Pedro Feliz rarely makes errors. The Phillies got a great game from Park, but Johan Santana proved that he is still the best pitcher in baseball. Luckily for the Phils, the Marlins also lost, which keeps Philly in first place.

Chan Ho Park named the Phillies 5th starter

It's official: Chan Ho Park will take the ball every 5th day for the Phillies. Park beat out J.A. Happ with a solid spring where he had an ERA of 2.53 and struck out 25 batters in 21 and 1/3 innings.

There is no word yet on whether Happ will make the team. Since the Phillies already have two lefties in the pen following the acquisition of lefty Jack Taschner, it appears that Happ will start the season in Lehigh.

With this news and the release of Geoff Jenkins, there is essentially one roster spot left for someone in the bullpen that will likely go to Gary Majewski or Bobby Mosebach. The smart money would be on Majewski. Barring a trade or signing (Sheffield, anyone??), listed below is how the Phillies Opening Day roster will look, except for that one bullpen spot. Keep in mind that J.C. Romero is suspended for the first 50 games so someone will have to removed down the road.

Catchers (2): Carlos Ruiz, Chris Coste

Infielders (7): Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Pedro Feliz, Eric Bruntlett, Greg Dobbs, Miguel Cairo

Outfielders (4): Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino, Raul Ibanez, Matt Stairs

Starting Pitchers (5): Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, Joe Blanton, Chan Ho Park

Bullpen (7): Brad Lidge, Ryan Madsen, Chad Durbin, Clay Condrey, Scott Eyre, Jack Taschner, ?????

Phillies acquire lefty Jack Taschner for Ronny Paulino, roster looks to be taking shape

Well, that didn't take long! Two days after the Phillies announced that they were looking to trade catcher Ronny Paulino, they found a taker: the San Francisco Giants acquired Paulino from the Phils for lefty reliever Jack Taschner. The trade of Paulino officially makes Chris Coste the backup catcher for this season, or until Lou Marson is ready. The acquisition of Taschner will have a domino affect on the final Opening Day roster spots and also tells us who will win the 5th starter spot.

Taschner, 31, will be the Phillies second lefty option out of the pen after Scott Eyre. Taschner lost his spot in the Giants bullpen seemingly the moment they brought in Jeremy Affeldt in the offseason, so he became expendable. He hasn't put up great numbers in the past, including a career ERA over 5, so I wouldn't expect him to start mowing hitters down now. He is likely expected to hold down his spot for about 50 games, or until J.C. Romero is back from suspension.

This trade gives the Phillies 12 pitching spots for their Opening Day roster and it likely means that J.A. Happ has won the 5th starter spot and Chan Ho Park will start the season in the bullpen. If Happ was going to be starting the year in the bullpen, the Phils would have no reason to go out and get another lefty.

This move also means that the Phillies will have one less bat for their bench, meaning either Matt Stairs or Miguel Cairo has to go. The smart money right now would be on Cairo winning the spot because the Phillies need another right handed bat, but it's still tough seeing Stairs getting cut. The Phils could always trade Geoff Jenkins and keep Stairs around, although I doubt anyone would want to take on Jenkins' salary.

Ronny Paulino was acquired from the Pirates in the offseason for catcher Jason Jaramillo, so this trade essentially works out as Jaramillo for Taschner. While Taschner is nothing special, he will fill a specific role that the Phillies really needed.

In all, a nice move by GM Ruben Amaro but nothing to get too excited about.

Ugh: Phillies sign Chan Ho Park, may use him as starter

There's nothing like signing a pitcher who hasn't been good since 2001 to help you defend your World F'n Championship: the Phillies have signed Chan Ho Park to a one year deal worth a minimum of 2.5 million dollars. Park, 35, is a 15 year veteran who started his career with the Dodgers but has since bounced around with the Rangers, Padres, Mets and back to the Dodgers last season. He has a career record of 117-92 and a career ERA of 4.34.

The signing of Park as a bullpen option would actually be a pretty good move, he could make a good long relief option. Unfortunately, it looks like the Phillies want to give him a shot at the rotation since Park stated that one of the reasons he signed was because the Phillies "considered me a starter". Let's hope the Phils were just saying that to be nice because there is no way Park should be a starting pitcher on any team that thinks they are going to the playoffs.

If the signing of Park is meant to replace Jamie Moyer then the Phillies are clueless. At this point of his career, Park is beyond washed up as a starter. He could still be effective out of the bullpen, as he was last year with the Dodgers, so let's hope the Phillies envision him as a long reliever who will get the occasional emergency start.

Of course, I will be more optimistic of this signing if he drops kicks a few Mets.