The Marlins have made the Phillies better
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The Marlins have made the Phillies better
Bob Brookover
As the Miami Marlins unveiled their gauche new ballpark last winter, proud team president David Samson oddly pointed out that the outside portion of the place did not have any right angles.
"That's the way (owner) Jeffrey Loria wanted it," Samson said.
A short time later the Marlins learned that they had not made any of the right moves in an effort to revamp the moribund franchise.
That's what led to the firing of manager Ozzie Guillen after one season as well as the latest Marlins' roster purge Tuesday night. Among others, the Marlins traded shortstop Jose Reyes and star pitchers Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle to the Toronto Blue Jays.
They were moves that mystified Miami's remaining veterans and assured that the Marlins will stink again in 2013.
“Alright, I’m pissed off!!! Plain & Simple,” outfielder Giancarlo Stanton tweeted.
All of this should come as great news to the Phillies.
Without making any major moves this offseason, the Phillies' chances of returning to the postseason in 2013 should have already improved considerably.
As Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. continues to ponder ways to upgrade his roster, he already has a team that should be able to put at least five more games in the win column.
The Phillies went 10-8 against the Marlins in 2012 and 8-10 against the Mets. Their record against the N.L. East was 33-39. Given how bad the Marlins are going to be next season and how terrible the Phillies played against the Mets, they should pick up at least five games in the standings by consistently beating those two teams.
It's true that the rest of the division is also going to have the opportunity to beat up on the wretched Marlins, but the two wild-card system put in place last year gives an advantage to the teams that have the league's worst team in their division.
At this point, the three best teams in the N.L. East are the Phillies, Washington and Atlanta and that does not figure to change regardless of what the Mets do this offseason. It's conceivable the Marlins could go 12-42 against the Phillies, Nats and Braves, giving them all an advantage over the other National League teams.
That's especially true because Houston, the worst team in baseball in 2012, has moved from the National League Central to the American League West.
The Astros, of course, provide a cautionary tale for the Phillies about any given day. On the other hand, the fact that St. Louis was 11-4 against Houston last season and 10-5 the year before provides proof that having a terrible team in your division when the schedule is unbalanced is a distinct advantage.
Take the Astros out of the N.L. Central and it's entirely possible the Cardinals don't even make the playoffs the last two seasons.
The point is, the Marlins have helped the Phillies before the Phillies have even helped themselves.
If half of you would read the article, it (apparently not) clearly states that Braves and Nats make out too, but with 2 wild cards, it puts all 3 of us at an advantage over the west and central. Brown, Ruf, 2 young cheap BP guys for Stanton would be more than they got for the bunch they just traded. Do it,— cuyatm- Who's buying this? Not me. In 2007 when the Marlins won a whopping 71 games the Phillies went 9-9 against them. And, as others have already noted, three other teams in the division get the same advantage.— s
- The point of the article is that this development helps the Nationals, Braves and Phillies in the wild card race. Each of the three will beat up on the Marlins and Mets which should theoretically cancel out each other in the division standings. However, the unbalanced schedule where the top three teams play the Marlins and Mets more than teams such as the Cardinals do will lead to more victories and thus a better chance at the wild card. He correctly points out that the Cardinals beat up on the L'Astros the last few years and that helped them make the playoffs over other teams that played a tougher schedule due to their division. A way around this would be to have a balanced schedule where everyone in the same divison plays the same schedule. Then have all three second place teams in each league make the playoffs and have two wild card series with the worst divisional winner being the fourth team.— sjuhawk416
- Do NOT get so damn smug! This HAS to be THE very best example - ever - of counting your eggs before they're hatched. I agree with jmarder - I'm mostly upset at myself for reading it!— dwp66
- Bring me Giancarlo Stanton. Lets offer Dom Brown or Darrin Ruf, add Sebastian Valle, add Tyler Cloyd, if needed add Johnathon Pettibone,, throw in the 4 million that Florida has to give to Toronto but get this done. Opportunities like this don't come along that often.— tony bell
- So we're now better than the Marlins. Yo-we already were. They're not the issue. We have our own. If the way we are going to get better now if for last place teams to get rid of their only good players, we are in trouble. Guess the author felt the need to suck up to Rube.— Ballgame
- What a stupid headline. Seriously. It doesn't make the Phillies better. It makes the division weaker.— EL Zorro
- Wouldn't it be something if the prospects the Marlins picked up produce and jolt them ahead of the aging Phillies managed by a bozo?— sonnybuoy01
- Yeah, Bob, everyone else plays the dead fish too. This could be the Phillies' new PR pitch: "at least we're not as clueless as the Marlins."— ijj
- This is what passes as good Phillies news these days?— dasher
- Wow. Have we really sunken to the point where we revel in OTHER teams "getting worse" as a way of making us better? How about this? The Phils stop underachieving and play like they are suppose to.— Dr Bonz
- This is pretty lame. No team sits around hoping opponents will make questionable personnel decisions. The Phillies have to improve, a lot, notably with at least one proven OF, an infielder who can hit a little, and a couple of solid relievers (well, as solid as relievers, a notoriously dicey bunch, can be).— Dave Clemens
- nhlfightclub, the Eagles are in much deeper than the Phillies. The Eagles will be very lucky to even make .500.— cloudkitt
- How are Lee's best years "in the dust"? Halladay was injured and we'll have to see if he's recovered, but Lee's numbers by season's end were not all that different from years past, he had no dip in velocity and his control was (mostly) still there, so except for W/L, which he doesn't have much control over, I don't believe we've come to his decline yet. I'd still take him over 90% of the SPs in the league.— Dante1138
- Pretty ridiculous article. The Marlins were the last place team. This in no way makes the Phillies better. The Mets are young and getting better. The Braves and Nats are young and already better than the Phils. The Phils are old and getting worse. 4th place next year.— Palestra Jon
