As I watch Peyton and the colts finish off da bears, I cant help but think about baseball.

The phils are starting to flesh out, adding alot of depth to some positions they struggled in last year.

Rod Barajas C
Adam Eaton SP
Wes Helms 3B
Freddy Garcia SP Jayson Werth OF Antonio Alfonseco RP

Garcia and Eaton are surprising pickups and bring the total number of Starting Pitchers to 6. Gillick has been quoted as saying he anticipates going into the spring with 6 starters. Some good competition for the final starting slot could be exciting. Lieber does appear to be the odd man out of the group here, being the only non-phils farm system product left on the roster.

Young star Cole Hamels and the just recently signed to a long term contract Brett Myers show the strength of the farm system arms making their way through the ranks. Matheison and Happ appear to be two more prospects (Matheison with the short stint in the majors cut short by an arm injury) who should carry on the long standing tradition of good phils products making their way into the majors.

44 Year Old Jamie Moyer rounds out the 3 starters from last year who seem to be heading for a prominent role in the rotation. At first glance it would appear that Gillick is aiming to rebuild the rotation into a staff of his choosing, other then the rotation Ed Wade built, going from a more flyball friendly rotation to one based around higher groundball percentages.

Moyer – 50% Myers – 47% Lieber – 44% Hamels – 42% Garcia – 42% Eaton – 38%

However Eaton’s seem to be a bit under what you would expect if that was the case.. and why the push of Lieber out of the rotation?

Eaton’s numbers appear to be a bit skewed. His numbers in the minors from last year (he spent alot of time there due to injury.. oh joy) look a bit better in g/f percentages:

2006 FRI 62%
2006 OKL 57%

So this could be a promising sign.

In comparison, the fire sale of Lidle and the departure of Wolf show mix blessing.

Lidle had a 49% GB percentage from his time with he phils last year. Wolf on the other hand, who had never warmed to the new Citizens Bank Park, suffered from the new ball park: GB% – 37% and the highest HR/OF ratio for a starter of .17 (minus the trainwreck that was Ryan Franklin).

That’s all for tonight, later we’ll look at the upcoming catcher and third base position battles.