[Phils20]

Phillies Notebook: Phillies top prospect Donald getting work at third base

By DAVID MURPHY
Philadelphia Daily News
dmurphy@phillynews.com
DANA POINT, Calif. - In baseball parlance, Jason Donald is known as an "overachiever." Over the past year, the 24-year-old middle infielder has worked his way from unheralded former third-round draft pick to one of the top position prospects in the Phillies' organization. In addition to hitting .307 with 14 home runs and 54 RBI at Double A Reading and competing for Team USA in the Olympics, he is hitting .423 with a .481 on-base percentage for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League.
Although the Phillies have two superstars at the positions Donald plays - second base and shortstop - they have been getting him some work at third base in order to expand his options.
"We're trying to bounce him around a little bit to give him more versatility," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "He is one of the premiere position-type prospects. Obviously, we have a shortstop and a second baseman and it is nice to have him play some third base and get him acclimated at that position in case we have to go that route with him at some point."
Although the Phillies could be in need of a righthanded-hitting outfielder next season, don't expect Donald to fill that role.
"We may put him out there at some point, but right now it's not an option," Amaro said. "He's a valuable infielder, and he could be a valuable middle infielder. That's a premium position."
Another option, of course, is using Donald's skyrocketing stock as a bargaining chip in a potential trade. His name surfaced several times in the trade-deadline rumor mill this summer, and it will likely surface again this offseason.
Donald is a client of Scott Boras, who said he has no indication that a move involving the middle infielder will happen this offseason.
"I'm sure Philadelphia has plans where they don't want to give up a guy that they have control over with that kind of skill," Boras said, "knowing that he could really be a very important dynamic for them if anything were to happen to [Chase] Utley or to [Jimmy] Rollins."

Rounding out the staff


The Phillies have a definite opening on the coaching staff at third base, after Steve Smith was fired Tuesday. They also have a potential opening in the bullpen, where longtime coach Ramon Henderson left the team for personal reasons midway through this season. Former Phillies infielder/outfielder Juan Samuel, who re-signed with the Baltimore Orioles as third-base coach this offseason, doesn't seem like a likely candidate. But Amaro said the Phillies likely would have some announcements in the next few days regarding the coaching staff and baseball operations department, where vacancies exist thanks to the promotion of Amaro and the departure of then-fellow assistant general manager Mike Arbuckle.

Negotiations to begin


While no further progress has been made toward re-signing leftfielder Pat Burrell, Amaro said some action soon will occur between the Phillies and agents representing pitchers Jamie Moyer and Scott Eyre. "We're going to start to have more substantive discussions with both Eyre and Jamie in the next few days," he said.

Golden gloves


Shortstop Jimmy Rollins and centerfielder Shane Victorino won two of the nine Rawlings Gold Gloves awarded to National League fielders yesterday. Rollins, who won the award for the second consecutive season, led all NL shortstops with a .988 fielding percentage, committing just seven errors in 593 chances.
Victorino, who replaced 2007 Gold Glove winner Aaron Rowand in centerfield, committed two errors in 337 total chances for a .994 fielding percentage that ranked fourth in the National League. The 27-year-old, who is eligible for arbitration, was tied for fourth with seven assists.
Gold Gloves, presented to the top fielder at each defensive position, are significant because they are chosen by managers and coaches from across the league.
"Winning a Gold Glove is a tremendous honor for me in what was already an amazing season with us winning the World Series," Victorino said in a statement.

Maddon may flip


One day after Charlie Manuel graced the general managers' meetings with his presence, his opponent in the World Series arrived. Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon, who lives about 20 minutes away from the St. Regis Monarch Beach resort where the meetings are being held, held court in the lobby before meeting with Rays general manager Andrew Friedman. Among the more interesting revelations? Maddon has been invited to perform the coin flip at the Lehigh-Lafayette football game on Nov. 22 in Easton. Maddon, who played catcher at Lafayette from 1972-76, might not be able to attend - the plane tickets he has purchased for his European honeymoon conflict with the date. But he said he will try to change them.
Gillick news


Former GM Pat Gillick was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. After the ceremony, he ruled out a return as Blue Jays president, telling the National Post, "I live in Seattle and I want to be close to Seattle." *

[njpsufan]

Interesting. The fact that he is a Boras client makes me want to trade him. Do you read the article where Boras has a book out to give teams saying Oliver Perez is one of the top 5 left-handed pitchers in the game. On par with Hamels and Santana.

[Phils20]

Boras is an Ass. That does make me want to trade him, but Boras would get his nasty hands in that too, and screw that up...