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Originally Posted by Redsfaithful
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12. SP Elizardo Ramirez - Age 22
This is what happens when you jerk around a prospect too much.
I'm not sure why the Phillies felt the need to bring him up to the big league club in 2004 as a 21 year old, but then again, it is Philadelphia we're talking about. They just gave a ton of money to Cory Lidle, which kind of says it all.
Ramirez isn't a power guy, but he has excellent command and has pitched very well at a high level for his age. He was recently added to the 40 man and will probably make an appearance with the Reds in the next two years, barring any difficulties. It's possible I've got him rated a little high since he doesn't strike out too many hitters, but I just love the command and the fact that he pitched well last season in AA as a 21 year old.
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Not that I'm defending the Phillies front office (I don't like doing that), but they were in a bind when they called up Ramirez. When Billy Wagner was scheduled to come off the DL in late May, they had planned on sending Hancock down to AAA the day after one of his starts in order free up a spot for Wagner. However, at the last minute, they decided that Wagner wasn't ready to come off the DL, so they needed another reliever to fill that spot that Wagner was going to reclaim (a couple days earlier, they had sent down Geoff Geary to make a spot start in Scranton, and they would have had to wait 10 days to call him back up). Since they needed someone immediately, and couldn't wait for Wagner or Geary, they had to call up Ramirez, who was probably the most "major league ready" on their 40 man roster. I forget exactly the details involved in the promotion of Ramirez to the major league club, but it was done out of necessity due to Wagner not being ready to come back from an injury.