RHP Adam Eaton Signs With Phillies; LHP Randy Wolf to LA Dodgers

The Phillies were involved or impacted by 3 Free Agent transactions on Monday. 

                                     

In the pitching department, they’ve agreed on a $24 million, three-year contract with 7 year veteran Adam Eaton, formerly of the Texas Rangers while losing 8 year veteran lefthander Randy Wolf to an $8 million, one-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.   Wolf’s deal with the Dodgers is reported to include $9 million option for 2008 which becomes guaranteed provided Wolf pitches 180 innings next season.  Wolf receives $7.5 million next year, and the Dodgers have a $500,000 buyout for 2008.

Both Eaton and Wolf have seen substantial time on the disabled list. 
AP sports reporter Rob Maadi writes;

Eaton had elbow surgery in July 2001 and didn’t return until the following September. He missed several starts in ‘05 with a strained middle finger and didn’t make his first start with Texas until late July because of the same finger injury.

Regarding Wolf, AP’s Ken Peters reports;

Wolf was a reliable starter for Philadelphia from 2000-03, winning 48 games and pitching at least 200 innings three times. But he began having elbow pain the following season and was limited to 136 2-3 innings, then started 13 games in 2005 before having ligament replacement surgery on his left elbow.

Eaton’s best year was in 2005 when he went 11-5 with a 4.27 ERA for the San Deigo Padres before being traded to Texas.

Wolf showed a lot of promise for the Phillies going 11-9 in 2002 with a 3.20 ERA and 16-10 with a 4.23 ERA in 2003 before injuries set in.

In terms of innings pitched and ERA in 2006 and for career, both pitchers are basically a wash.  Eaton pitched 65 innings with a 5.12 ERA in going 7-4 last year with the Rangers.  Lifetime, he is 54-45 with an ERA of 4.40.

Wolf pitched 56 2/3 innings in 2006 with a 5.56 ERA while going 4-0.  Lifetime, he is 69-60 with an ERA of 4.21.

Inquirer Staff Writer Todd Zolecki writes about Eaton;

The Phillies preferred Eaton over the other pitchers on the market - Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt expressed no interest in Philadelphia, so they were never options - for a few reasons. The most important: They simply think he has better stuff. But then there is the familiarity factor. They also consider him to be a better athlete who can field his position, and even hit a little.

Eaton has missed time in the previous two seasons with an injured tendon in the middle finger on his pitching hand. He had surgery in April, but returned in July and went 7-4 with a 5.12 ERA in 13 starts for the Texas Rangers.

The Phillies consider Eaton a step in the right direction.

       OF David Dellucci to Cleveland Indians

                             

In the 3rd of Free Agent transactions affecting the Phils, Free Agent outfielder David Dellucci and the Cleveland Indians have reached preliminary agreement on an $11.5 million, three-year contract and Dellucci has been promised the starting job in leftfield.

Tom Withers of AP Sports reports;

The 33-year-old Dellucci has a physical scheduled for Thursday in Cleveland, and he’ll finalize his deal with the Indians if he passes it.

“The key factor there was his role,” agent Joe Longo said. “They’ve given him the left fielder’s job. He also felt he wanted to be in a lineup that had a chance to win. He wanted to come back to the American League. That was the best fit.”

Dellucci batted .292 with 13 homers and 39 RBIs in 132 games for the Philadelphia Phillies last season. Before that, he spent two seasons with Texas and has also played for the New York Yankees, Arizona and Baltimore.

Dellucci hit 29 homers for the Rangers in 2005.

Longo said several teams were in the hunt for Dellucci, a left-handed hitter who has a .263 career average.

Dellucci’s deal would pay him $3.75 million next season, $3.75 million in 2008 and $4 million in 2009.

The Indians will have more options in their outfield. Jason Michaels would likely back up Dellucci in left, Shin-Soo Choo could become the everyday starter in right with Casey Blake, a former infielder, moving to first base.

Dellucci can play both corner outfield positions.

The Phils still need to shore up in 2 areas; bullpen help and finding that illusive #5 hitter to protect Ryan Howard.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 28th, 2006 at 2:03 pm and is filed under Real-Time Baseball News and Commentary, Off-Season Deals, Trades, Free Agency, Draft, Phillies Deals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.