Lighter Side of Spring Training: Kendrick “Traded” to Japan
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With spring training just underway, having started on the voluntary reporting date of February 14, the Phillies training camp is electric with excitement in anticipation of the beginning of the exhibition season in 8 days and the 2008 season beginning at the end of March.
On February 14, voluntary reporting day, the Phils made official that pitcher Kris Benson, who missed the 2007 season due to recovery from right shoulder rotator cuff surgery in March, 2007, had joined the fold.
Benson, who agreed to a minor-league contract, could make just over $5 million in salary, signing bonus and incentives based on time on the active roster, innings pitched, and starts should he make the roster.
Whenever he is fully recovered and in shape to join the starting rotation, I project him as at least the 4th starter in a rotation of lefthander Cole Hamels — chiropractor and all, Brett Myers, Kyle Kendrick with veteran 45 year old lefthander Jamie Moyer as the 5th starter. As for Adam Eaton, he was an unmitigated disaster last season with an astronomical 6.29 ERA. Hopefully Benson will be a vast improvement over Eaton’s 2007 performance although the Phillies hope for substantial improvement from Eaton as well.
In the meantime, with Ryan Howard’s salary arbitration hearing but a couple of days away, the big slugging first baseman is loosey-goosey despite a $3 million gap between his asking price of $10 million and the club’s offer of $7 million. On the third day of training, Howard was chipper while going through the exercise regiment and in brief conversations with the press. It’s noted that he reported for camp;
15 pounds lighter than last spring, spoke after his workout, in which he spent at least 30 minutes working on his defense.
The joyful Howard is not about to worry or let a possible arbitration hearing stand in the way of preparing for and anticipating the new season
In fact, while being focused on preparation for the coming NL East title defense, the entire club is soo loose that they’ve let Carlos Beltran’s “Mets - the team to beat” boast pass without a word, unlike the panicky Mets response to Jimmy Rollins’ boast of last winter. The Phils are still one up with Rollins’ latest prediction of the Phillies winning 100 games in 2008.
Just how loose is this team? Check out this Yahoo story on the “trade” of second year starter Kyle Kendrick to Japan in a $1.5 million deal;
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick was shocked to learn that he’d been traded to the Yomiuri Giants in Japan for a player named “Kobayashi Iwamura.”
“I don’t know what to think right now,” he told reporters outside his locker shortly after getting the news from assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.
Had he truly been thinking, he would have realized that such deals are prohibited. And with a little digging he could have found out that there is no Kobayashi Iwamura playing in Japan.
The “trade” was, in fact, a prank. The ruse was orchestrated by pitcher Brett Myers and was elaborate enough to include Amaro, manager Charlie Manuel, Kendrick’s agent, the media and others.
If you want to split your sides laughing, check out this YouTube footage of how this “trade” rouse went down. Imagine getting traded, as Myers said in the punchline, for Kobayashi — “for a hot dog eater.” Kendrick — punked indeed.Even reliever Tom Gordon reported to camp feeling substantially better than he had last spring.
Philly.com’s Todd Zolecki reports about Gordon;
Because of his shoulder problems and a respiratory infection, Gordon missed two months last season and pitched 40 innings.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said he planned to monitor Gordon’s use early so he remains strong through the season. The righthander thinks he will stay strong and hopes Manuel doesn’t nurse him along. He would rather pitch as often as possible.
Gordon used a new shoulder program over the winter to build strength.
“It’s really strenuous,” Gordon said. “I did a lot of work strengthening it. It should keep me away from things that caused me to get sore.”
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