Ryan Madson

The Phillies selected Shane Watson, a righthander from Lakewood High School in Lakewood, Calif., with their initial pick of Monday's first-year player draft. The 6-foot-4 Watson was selected in the compensation round, the 40th overall pick. He was 4-3 with an ERA of 1.19 as a senior this year. The Phillies received two first-day picks in the compensation round, No. 40 and No. 54. The 40th pick was for losing Ryan Madson, who signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds.

AGENDA What: Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft Where: Secaucus, N.J. When: Monday-Wednesday On the air: MLB Network and MLB.com for Rounds 1 and the compensatory round; remainder of draft on MLB.com. SCHEDULE * Round 1 and compensatory, Monday, 7 p.m. * Rounds 2-15, Tuesday, noon * Rounds 16-40, Wednesday, noon   PHILLIES' SELECTIONS * Round 1: The Phillies' first-round pick at No. 31 belongs to Boston because the Phillies signed closer Jonathan Papelbon.

ATLANTA - Around 9:15 Tuesday night, Antonio Bastardo tugged on his cap and climbed on the mound that helped vault him into prominence. You remember that game, don't you? It was 13 months ago, April 8 at Turner Field, the Phillies trailing 6-3 in the top of the sixth, the game destined to end in a garden-variety, early-season loss. In terms of leverage and pressure, it was one of the more inconsequential appearances Bastardo would log last season. But when you consider the impact it had on the evolution of the Phillies' bullpen, it meant everything.

WITH EACH dispatch, the news grew grimmer. Ryan Howard has an infection. Chase Utley's knee won't heal. Michael Stutes has a bum shoulder. Antonio Bastardo's velocity is down. Occasionally, one of the gods in the rotation would pitch like a mortal, making the evening report from Clearwater more alarming still. The Phillies became the city's darlings in August 2007, which launched the best baseball played by the team in its history.

IT WAS NOT A good weekend if you were a former Phillies pitcher. Ryan Madson, expected to be Cincinnati's closer after leaving the Phillies and signing a 1-year deal with the Reds, will miss the 2012 season because of a torn ligament in his right elbow and will undergo Tommy John surgery, which is tentatively set for April 4. The operation will take place in Cincinnati with team medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek performing the procedure....

GOODYEAR, Ariz. - Ryan Madson, slated to be Cincinnati's closer after signing as a free agent in the offseason, will miss the entire 2012 season because of a torn ligament in his right elbow. The Reds said Saturday that team medical director Timothy Kremchek told general manager Walt Jocketty the ligament was torn from the bone of Madson's right elbow. Madson, who pitched for the Phillies from 2004 through 2011, agreed to a one-year contract guaranteeing $8.5 million with the Reds.

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Cole Hamels' eyes widened and his forehead crinkled when he heard the news. "No," he said, drawing out the syllable in disbelief. Yes, he was told. Ryan Madson, a teammate of his for the previous six seasons, was scheduled to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery after tearing a ligament less than two months into his tenure with the Reds. The news is relevant to Hamels, not just because of the personal relationship and professional kinship that he and Madson share, but also because both pitchers are less than eight months away from the potential riches of free agency.

This was originally posted on the Daily News' Phillies blog at www.philly.com/highcheese .   We'll probably never know for sure what, exactly, went down between the Phillies and Scott Boras this offseason. As you probably remember, longtime setup man Ryan Madson had been under the impression that Boras and general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. were closing in on a deal worth $44 million over 4 years when the Phillies announced that they had signed Jonathan Papelbon to a 4-year, $50 million contract.

DUNEDIN, Fla. - Chase Utley's creaky right knee and Ryan Howard's infected left foot that is still encased in a walking boot have dominated the Phillies' spring-training headlines and created a justifiable angst up north. Way under the radar, on the other hand, has been the work of the bullpen. The 2008 and 2009 Phillies will be remembered as a team of big bats that slugged their way into the World Series, but the fate of those two teams ultimately swung on the work of the relievers.