The Phillies' worst-case first half
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The Phillies' worst-case first half
Matt Gelb
It seems like anything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong for the Phillies in the first half of the season. But is there any reason for Phillies fans to hold out hope for the second half of the season? The Inquirer's Matt Gelb discusses.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
Comments (42)
- I just read an old piece from when Chuck Lamar abruptly left the Phillies last year- reportedly unsatisfied with the lack of resources directed at signing minor league talent ($4.2 million in 2001 compared to $5 million in 2011). It was reported that Lamar felt the Phillies soon wouldn't be able to compete with the Nationals and Pirates. I guess that guy knows something about baseball.
— jtj06 - What can the Phillies do ?
I hope they don't waste much time hoping against hope that they are still in the race. That would amount to compounding the errors they have made already. Their chance to get some young talent might depend on them being agressive early in the trading season in moving some of these veterans. There are a few teams that may not be contenders at the end of July that believe they are contenders now. i,e Mets, Toronto, Boston, Pirates.
They have to move Rollins - Why they signed him is a huge mystery to everyone.
Any other moves they make, without moving Rollins, would be a waste of time.
In the interview above, Gelb suggests possibly moving Lee, Hamels, Victorino and Pence. I understand Hamels and Victorino because the Phillies may have no other choice but Lee and Pence. You would be willing to move them but not Rollins !
You mean to tell me somebody thinks Rollins is a more valuable commodity than Lee or Pence. Maybe he was a few years ago but not anymore.
Hold your nose and eat most of Rollins contract and move on. You'll be glad you did.
The real retooling ( buzz word for rebuilding ) can commence.
At least, we won't be going through this same old arguement about how far Rollins has fallen fron this year or two years ago.
The first move to correct a mistake is to admit one as been made. Resigning Jimmy was a doozie !
— candidly - I disagree with Mr. Gelb's assessment. They got more production and health out of Rollins and Ruiz than anyone could reasonably expect. Pierre has done well. Victorino hasn't been injured. Polanco hasn't missed much time. Anyone who thought Howard would play before July was nuts and anyone who thought Utley would play more than 115 games was nuts. The main thing that went wrong for the Phillies is that they lost a number of winnable games due to poor strategy from the manager.— jtj06
- Come on, guys, Bourn is exactly what we don't need: Another early 30s free agent player due to hit the wall (injury or otherwise) right about any day now. Trade Rollins and eat part of his contract? And we have Mikey Mart and Bad-Back Doping-Guy Galvis this year and into the next one at SS as our answers?— eman
- Remember when Ryan Howard looked like such value compared to Pat Burrell? Examine how much less Juan Pierre makes than what he earned last year. Still yet he's been a class act. The principles of "Moneyball" always apply. Rambling thoughts about fashioning a ball club that's successful. When Feddy Garcia came to the Phils we thought we had our elusive ACE. He wins one game. Stuff happens.— PhilsfaninNebraska
- Who's fault: Manager? GM? Players? Yes. A big story for me is related to the huge contracts...and it is: The player's performance after the contracts are signed. I don't recall teams like the Yankees performing this poorly when their FA's get huge contracts...and that team is the highest paid in MLB. Somebody should try to get to the bottom of this. Is it false contentment? PEDs (or lack of)? Reporters: do your job.— road515
- After reflecting on my last post, I have to say not many terrible performances based on numbers....which is why sometimes numbers can lie. You have to look at how the team gels, and this team has not gelled. It started with injury...but clearly has taken another life on it's own.— road515
- There is no way the Phillies become like the Cards last year. To get into the playoffs, they would need to win 53 games and only lose 22. Never happen!— 4thand10
- Folks give too much credit (or blame) to the manager. Cholly is the least of the team's problems. He manages like every other manager except Joe Maddon. Probably needed a little of Maddon this year but it is not his style. Guess Amaro thought they could win a lot of games 2-1 so he paid excessively for Papelbon instead of a front line position player or two. And who could have guessed that, at this point, Doc and Lee would have five wins?— butchcat
- would love to keep Hamels, get rid of Victorino, Rollins and Pence. Also love to get rid of Charlie, he has no creativity. He won so many games because he had a good team that wanted to win. He was a baby sitter, not a manager.— avogel36
- eman, 'Bourn is exactly what we don't need: Another early 30s free agent player due to hit the wall (injury or otherwise) right about any day now.' Wow, a hell of a comment for a guy who keeps defending the signing of J-Roll.
— EL Zorro - I agree butchcat. Managers get far too much credit when a team does well and far too much blame when they do poorly.— cloudkitt
- Amazing but True Fact: in 3 1/2 years and paying out hundreds of millions of dollars, Amaro has never acquired a single good young player or single quality prospect— warbiscuit
- The big question to improve this team is how to get out from under the big salaries quickly. Like Howard, Utley, Rollins, Lee, Papalbon etc. Ruiz is going to want big money as will Hamels. Its really a mess, they are stuck with big salaried non producers while needing to sign their producers.— Taser
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