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
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."
smfree31 nice one on the encryption.It should be fun to debate the different baseball moves.— honomugym- why is first year player Bryce Harper so God almighty awesome and feared? Adam LaRoche? Justin Upton? have any of them hit 58 hrs? do these teams have multiple Cy Young winners? people have comeback years. no one thought rollins would play as well as he did last year. you want to say age, right? look at Mike Schmidt's numbers in his mid thirties. hating the players so quickly is pretty distasteful. maybe you are right? it's still distasteful to quit on players who didn't quit on your team. halladay is the hardest working player in baseball .can't the guy get the chance to put down the snotnosed nats before you hate on him? nats did it all against a AAA phils team last year. not convinced until their TEAM beats the phils TEAM.
- hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...jump on warbiscuit all you want but this team has no chance.— jimmymack
- Brookover, what have you been smoking?! I am hoping that this team finished above the Mets and Fish. There is no way this team wins the East and as long as they have an inept one as Rube the Boob as GM they won't ever do it. Maybe if the baseball gods are kind they will win more than they lose.— vietnamvet
- God, what a bunch of dreamers we still have in this city! Get real, people. The red pinstripes will not even see third place in their sights with this roster, unless all the other teams in the division have even greater injury attacks than we did last year. NOT likely!
Expect to lose big for a few years now...and just cheer for a few good games and some occasional spectacular plays. It's only entertainment, not ANYTHING one can pin their life's hopes and dreams on. Get real!— ocpizza - Enough of the stop-gap signings that provide "flexibility' for possible mid-season signings. Get Michael Bourn and at least two outfield spots will have legitimate starters.— Boru
- Kidding here, but it sounds like Amaro, Manuel and Brookover have been reading my posts.
You don't wish injuries on any team, but what if the Nats lose Strasburg or Gonzalez for a month or two this season? Are they really that bullet-proof? For that matter, will Strasburg ever log 180 innings -- because he never has?
The Braves look good too but, last time I checked, Justin Upton's never won a thing and BJ Upton was so beloved by the Rays' organization it let him walk for a draft pick.
We are older and have more question marks. We also have three stars -- Halladay, Utley and M.Young -- in the final contract years of their careers. I'd bet none of the three is ready to retire and they all want a two- or three-year deal starting in 2014. That's a lot of motivation. Not that those guys need it, but it's there.
— eman - Project the 2013 season to the July 31st trade deadline when the aging, injury riddled Phils will again be under .500 and Lee and Utley are moved to contenders and for young prospects to finally let the youth movement begin. From Martin, Morgan, Pettibone or Biddle several young starters emerge under Ryan Sandberg. Asche takes over at third as Michael Young finishes out the season at second for Utley and then retires back to Texas. Ruf and Brown first push Delmon Young to the bench and then he is traded to a contender for the stretch drive so he can win another Playoff MVP for some other team.— Dull
- News flash...no games have been played yet, the Phils could win it all!— PhillySubsMac
- Chris "Wheels" Wheeler texted his peeps exactly the same thing form a Tikki bar somewhere on the west coast of Florida.
Chris said this team has a chance to be "really, really special."— Wilhelm Von Humboldt - An optimistic article angers all the commenters all the more about how terrible the phillies are gonna be. The fact of the matter is nobody has ANY idea how anyone is going to be until the season starts.
The Angels were supposed to be godlike last year and did nothing (the Phillies were supposed to be a lot better than they were as well). The Nationals were supposed to be better than 2011, but not nearly the jump they made.
Some teams, it's REALLY hard to imagine them doing anything this year (Marlins), but teams in the middle of the pack like the Phillies can really go anywhere, so just relax.— cloudkitt - Angels actually won more games than the Tigers. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. — mwcnabb
- Failures expect other people to fail and so say they will, just sayin'...— DJ
- Yea Right ! When pigs fly....how can this stuff be printed???— d1955h
- What is with that warbiscut. Why doesnt he just root for another team??? This is a great team the Phils have to put out on the field this season. Granted some moves by Rube have been bad, but so have the other GMs. Everyone keeps saying IF these guys are healthy, well that goes for the rest of the league also. Read this article and you see what the phils are going to start with is good enough to play with anyone. With lineup intact the Phils will mow them down....— Trot
