Phillies can still finish first during the season
The Phillies may have finished third in the National League East last season and again this offseason, but that doesn't mean they have to finish anywhere other than first once the season begins.
Phillies can still finish first during the season
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
The Phillies may have finished third in the National League East last season and again this offseason, but that doesn't mean they have to finish anywhere other than first once the season begins.
At a dinner banquet in Allentown Thursday night, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. explained why this offseason has been different in terms of the team's moves.
Instead of one big splash -- a trade for Roy Halladay, the signing of free agents Cliff Lee and Jonathan Papelbon -- that grabs the attention of the entire baseball world, the Phillies have made a series of smaller moves, dealing for center fielder Ben Revere and third baseman Michael Young while signing setup man Mike Adams, fifth starter John Lannan and right fielder Delmon Young.
As detailed in Friday's newspaper column, the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves have made the sexiest moves among the National League East teams this offseason.
"We had a lot more to fill this offseason and a lot less dollars to play with," Amaro said. "Our big moves were made when we got Doc (Halladay) and we got Cliff and we signed Ryan (Howard) and we signed Chase (Utley) and also Jimmy (Rollins) as well. Those were our moves."
Therein lies the Phillies' hope and possibly despair.
Add Cole Hamels to Amaro's list and those are the six players that will determine whether the 2013 Phillies can contend with the Nationals and Braves in the National League East.
It is interesting to view the national perception of the Phillies. Richard Justice, a columnist for MLB.com, lauded Atlanta's trade acquisition of outfielder Justin Upton Thursday and declared that the Braves joined the Nationals, Giants, Dodgers, Cardinals and Reds in the discussion about the "Best Team in the NL."
The Phillies are only one season removed from putting up the best record in baseball for the second straight year and they did go 35-24 after dealing Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence at the all-star break.
"With Howard and Utley being back, we made up 14 games," manager Charlie Manuel said. "We were 14 under .500 and we played good in the second half as far as winning games and we can play a lot better."
Because of the way the Phillies have gone about their business, they should have payroll flexibility at the trade deadline if they're looking to upgrade in the outfield or at some other position.
"We're leaving ourselves a little flexibility ... in the hope that at some point if we need to, we can maybe add," Amaro said.
That will heavily depend on whether Howard, Halladay and Utley are better and, at this point, the Phillies are encouraged about all of them. Howard is among the regulars already working out down in Clearwater, Fla. and the medical reports on Halladay and Utley have been encouraging.
Amaro said Halladay, who missed nearly two months last season with a shoulder injury, threw off a mound for the first time Tuesday and was scheduled to do so again Friday. Utley has been sending Manuel e-mails that has the manager upbeat.
"He sent me a couple e-mails and the last one right at Christmas said, 'It looks like you're going to have a healthy second baseman,' " Manuel said. "The other day (trainer) Scott Sheridan had a DVD of him working out and he really looked good. He looked really strong in his legs. You can tell he's been doing something all winter."
A baseball scout was asked what he thought of the Phillies' offseason moves compared to what the Nationals and Braves have done.
"The Braves and Nats did better, but the Phillies did a nice job, too," he said. "The Phillies did well with adding the two Youngs and Revere and Lannan will be a solid fifth starter. Roy Halladay is far and away the most important player in the division this coming season. Which guy we see will determine the Phillies' fate."
Finally, a positive article about The Phillies. I have been saying all along that if Holladay is back ,then The Phillies will have a dominant staff.— 1danny- And the lineup will be dominant too -- IF Howard has learned to hit breaking balls (or LH pitching), IF Utley's knees have miraculously healed, IF the SS has realized that the JStroll routine isn't working, IF Chooch can hit without cheating, IF Revere can manage more than 19 extra-base hits, IF the whole line-up has learned to be patient at the plate .... the IFs go on and on. Rube-the-Boob hopes he has pulled the wool over our eyes with these "name" players. In the end, he is just a poor excuse for a GM whose incompetence is now painfully obvious. Don't belive me --- check out Sports Illustrated, who just graded the Phillies' offseason moves. They give Amaro a "D" — Copper34
- I'm waiting for alll the RAJ haters to take this time to point out he is the sole problem with the Phillies and not ownership/age/other teams getting great draft choices....I can hear it coming.....— ryanrockzzz
- How much do the Phillies pay you? The GM of a team with the 2nd highest payroll in the league has to be held accountable when the team he assembles is the worst defensive team in baseball -- with at least 5 guys who can't field (Howard, D.Young, Ruf, M. Young, ... and maybe Dom Brown) ... when the OF he puts together is the worst in baseball ... when the stocked farm system he inherited is now in shambles ... when the only stud young player he has (Hamels) only plays every 5th day ... when he has repeatedly failed to address needs. If you have to pick one guy who is responsible for this mess, it has to be Ruin Tomorrow Jr. The guy is in way over his head. I hope that Ruf is great and somehow manages to bail him out. But, I am not hopeful. — Copper34
- that's nice -- the Astrso could also win the World Series...maybe the Sixers will win the NBA Championhip...— warbiscuit
- You need to go to the ChiTrib's web page, dungbizkit, for your whine. That's a place that really deserves it! — BEMiller
- No ... warbiscuit has to stay right here and continue to speak the truth about Rube-the-Boob ... until the owners finally, mercifully fire him and get a real GM. You, BEMiller, should go to the Phillies Phan Club. — Copper34
- Similar to what many have said before - anything could happen. San Fran has won two World Series with starting pitching, bullpen and Buster Posey & Sandoval. Were their batting orders really that great? No! Renteria? Burrell? Cody Ross? Freddy Sanchez? Huff? Rowand? Pagan? Torres? Uribe? Schierholz? Belt? Really? Sabian is an OK GM but you are kidding yourself if you don't think he has gotten extremely lucky with these bits and pieces players that have stepped up for the team in the offseason.— michael2_19030
- PERFECT!! Rube-the-Boob inherits a Championship team with a stocked farm system and four years later, with the 2nd highest payroll in the league, we are sitting here hoping to "get lucky." Good players with good chemistry led by good managers "get lucky." I can forgive michael2 ... he's probably just a real Philly sports fan. Brookover ought to be ashamed ... — Copper34
- It's definitely realistic to think that the Phillies have a shot at competing in the NL East and in the NL as a whole. The difference between the team now and the team a couple of years ago is that they don't have as wide a margin for error or the assets to make a huge deal to recover if things fall apart. That said, they do have enough flexibility to make up for a few shortcomings if things don't come together and could have a pretty solid year.— OutofTownPhillyFan
- and there's the imbecile himself making the same excuse that his apologizers here make that it's not his fault that he doesn't have the money and talented prospects to use to try to improve the team ...
YES IT MOST DEFNITELY IS HIS FAULT -- he's been the g.m. for 4 1/2 yrs, squandered hundreds of millions of dollars and all his prospects and young players for short term rentals of over-the-hill and/or overrated players, and the resulting product is a very expensive, very old and very mediocre team that can't hit, can't field and, other than 2 reliable starters, probably can't pitch
ooh, not my fault, he cries, didn't I get 2 good months of Oswalt? he's not only incompetent but he's got the lowest character of anyone in a senior position that anyone's ever seen .. at least Reid had the character to say yes, I failed, it didn't worlk --this loser just makes more excuses --news alert: when Phils are done in July and he's dumping Lee --"uh, well, see there were injuries and "nonperforamnce" --how was I supposed to know M.Young and D.Young couldnlt field ("how was I supposed to know Wigginton couldn't field"); "how was I supposed to knwo Lannan and Cook couldn't get batters out? ("how was i supposed to know W?llis and Qualls couldn't pitch?") --and so it goes: more excuses, no accoutabilty and idiotic articles like this one— warbiscuit - Is this encrypted? All I can read is "waaaahh waaaahh waaaaah" — smfree31
- I really enjoy the input from the fans but the constant crying by that guy is unreal. — Trot
- At the risk of leading to dozens more warbiscuit posts, ask yourselves this: is he wrong? No, he's completely right. Ruben was given a team coming off a world series win, with a great farm system and payroll flexibility, and in 4 years has turned this team into the mid 1980s Yankees. No payroll flexibility, a depleted farm system, aging, overpaid, injured players, huge holes in the everyday lineup, and 90 % of the fans crossing their fingers that Delmon Young can play right field, while the Braves get Justin Upton. This team (organization) is an absolute mess, and it's going to be years before the Phillies are a really good ballclub again. — mjc1
- Of course warbiscuit is right. That's why the Phillies are paying to have "positive" nonsense written here in the comments section. Real Phillies fans are starting to catch on, though. The Delmon Young signing (where RAJ acquired yet another American League Dh - this time to play a position he hasn't played since 2007 ... on a surgically repaired ankle ... while overweight and anti-semitic). At least the last DH he acquired last played the position (3B) in 2010 and seems to be a great character guy!! Maybe he can be Sandberg's bench coach when Uncle Charlie finally gets canned. We can only hope that Ruin Tomorrow Jr. goes with him ... — Copper34
