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Phillies' woes not manager Ryne Sandberg's fault

Blame depleted farm sytem, bad draft and trades for the sad state of this Phillies team.

Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)
Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)Read more

WE'D REACHED the part of the process where we were supposed to ask the manager solemn questions about his future, and Ryne Sandberg seemed to understand that as he sat in the dugout at Citizens Bank Park yesterday.

The Phillies were coming off an embarrassment that had been brewing for months, a 19-3 loss in which a starting pitcher strained a hamstring covering home, a reliever gave up five home runs, a rightfielder threw 48 pitches, and a pitching coach was forced to wave the white towel - literally - because the bullpen phone was off the hook.

They aren't just bad - they are a carnival exhibit. Pretty soon you'll have to start avoiding I-95 by the stadium because of rubbernecking delays. Every night they do at least one thing you swear you've never seen on a big-league diamond. And as the highest-ranking member of the uniformed personnel, Sandberg understands the impression it gives.

"Wins and losses, that's a reflection on me," he said. "That's my job. To win games."

So if the goal is to make an example of somebody, then, yeah, sure, fire the skipper. But haven't the Phillies fired enough people in recent years to realize that the organization's problems begin somewhere north of the dugout? Milt Thompson, Greg Gross, Charlie Manuel, Rich Dubee - Whoops-a-daisy! Guess they weren't the problem! Might as well fire a few more and see what happens!

The Phillies are an embarrassment right now, but they aren't an embarrassment because of Sandberg. They are an embarrassment because they spent four years living in an oasis of self-delusion, oblivious to the fact that the sport was changing around them, that the free-agent market was getting thinner, that prospects were getting more valuable, that the draft and the international market were on the verge of becoming a lot less exploitable, that their own veterans were showing signs of decline.

The Phillies are an embarrassment because of a combination of awful drafts and shortsighted trades. The Phillies are an embarrassment because, time after time, they have displayed a fundamental misunderstanding of future value, the accurate measurement of which is the most critical factor in sustaining success over the course of multiple life cycles.

The Phillies are correct when they console themselves with the reminder that every organization goes through ups and downs. But not every organization embarrasses itself, because some organizations understand that to properly evaluate a prospective transaction, one must consider its consequences for four years down the road in addition to the ones for tomorrow. What we are witnessing in the year 2015 is a direct result of decisions made in the years 2010-13, because those decisions resulted in a farm system that did not have the talent required to prevent an organization from embarrassing itself on the big-league level.

Whose fault is it that the Phillies' centerfielder is a converted second baseman who had never played above Double A instead of Anthony Gose, who - going into last night - was hitting .287/.329/.390 for the 34-31 Tigers? Whose fault is it that the Phillies do not have the option of calling up 22-year-old Domingo Santana as the first-place Astros did after he hit .320/.444/.584 with 11 home runs in 241 plate appearances at Triple A?

A lineup that starts with Gose/Maikel Franco/Jon Singleton/Santana might not be a playoff lineup, but it at least deserves to be a lineup, and even before you factor in J.P. Crawford, it leaves you with the potential of adding a couple of free-agent bats and having something that is, at the very least, competent.

Whose fault is it that they have nobody to start in place of the injured Jerome Williams? That they do not have the option of calling up Trevor May, who has given the second-place Twins 12 solid starts? Whose fault is it that they did not attempt to trade Chase Utley when they could, instead signing him to a contract extension after his 10-and-5 rights vested? Whose fault is it that they are stuck with a $12.5 million closer who does not have any games to close? Whose fault is it that Cliff Lee is sitting at home collecting $37.5 million of their coin instead of somebody else's?

A rotation that starts with Cole Hamels/Aaron Harang/Aaron Nola/May might not be a playoff rotation, but it at least deserves to be a rotation.

Yes, every organization goes through ups and downs. Yes, it is unfair to expect a front office to succeed on 100 percent of its moves. Yes, it would have required some deft maneuvering to keep the Phillies at 90-plus wins.

But there is a long way between 90 and 54, which was their pace heading into last night's game against the Orioles. To finish a season with 54 wins requires a near-total organizational failure that renders the farm system so devoid of talent that the manager is forced to run out a lineup without a single player who would get picked up on waivers by a contending club. Their outfield, which, keep in mind, is the second-easiest hole to fill on the field, features two players who never regularly played the position in the minor leagues before this season, plus a guy who spent part of last year pitching as a reliever at Triple A.

The only thing that Sandberg has proven this year is that he is not a magic elf with the power to reverse a half a decade of disastrous decision-making.

"I'm fully supportive of Ryne," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said yesterday afternoon.

Considering the source, that might be the strongest argument against the guy.

Blog: ph.ly/HighCheese