Is It Finally Time for the Phillies to Accept That 2012 Is a Lost Season?

Could rookie infielder Freddy Galvis be the physical embodiment of the 2012 Philadelphia Phillies?

Earlier this week, Galvis was diagosed with a fractured vertebra. To treat the injury, he’s been outfitted for a brace which he’ll have to wear for three weeks. During that time, he can’t engage in any physical activity. Galvis has to wear the brace at all times, except when he showers. 

But here’s the sentence from Matt Gelb’s Philadelphia Inquirer story that may as well be talking about the entire Phillies team, rather than just Galvis:

“The Phillies rookie second baseman will miss significant time with the injury, but the team is not ready to proclaim his season over.”

Just take out “rookie second baseman” and substitute “his” with “their,” and you’ve essentially summed up the 2012 season for the Phillies right there.

The Phillies did what they needed to do this week in taking two of three from the lowly Minnesota Twins. But prior to that, the Phightins slogged through one of their worst stretches of the season. They suffered a four-game sweep at Citizens Bank Park to the Los Angeles Dodgers and lost two of three to the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.

The Dodgers series was especially troubling. Not just because no team should lose all four games of a particular series at home, but because the Dodgers have the best record in the National League. This was a chance for the Phillies to see whether or not they could hang with the top competition in the NL. Viewing it as a test, however, the Phillies failed miserably.

Over the past week, Philadelphia has dropped three games in the NL East standings. Going into Friday’s play, the Phillies are nine games behind the first-place Washington Nationals.

They can still make a climb and get past the Miami Marlins, who are only two games ahead. The Braves are within striking range, too, four games up on the Phillies.

But are the Nationals already out of reach? They seem to be getting better each week and should continue to improve as their injured players come back. 

Yes, the Phillies have some wounded men set to return as well. But they’ll have a considerable hole to help dig out of when they get back on the field. 

The counter-argument is that the Phillies are only 4.5 games back in the NL Wild Card race, and with an additional team getting into the playoffs, there is still an excellent chance at getting into the postseason.

Yet there are seven teams ahead of the Phillies in the Wild Card standings. That’s quite a few clubs to climb over to get to the lead. All seven of them aren’t just going to fall down like dominoes and let the Phillies walk into the playoffs. 

But that Wild Card makes for a difficult decision on whether or not to pull the plug on 2012 and start selling off assets. Can general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. really justify doing so when the numbers say his team is still in the race and fans keep filling Citizens Bank Park with expectations of a playoff berth and postseason run? 

Unless the Phillies start winning some games and making a notable move up the standings, talk about them being sellers at the trade deadline is only going to get louder. ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden rates the Phillies as a “possible” seller, listing Cole Hamels, Shane Victorino and Domonic Brown as players they could deal off. I think you could add Hunter Pence, Joe Blanton and maybe even Jonathan Papelbon to that list. 

David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News composed an excellent post detailing what sort of return the Phillies could expect in return for each of the potential trade pieces on the current roster.

Going by Murphy’s formula, should the Phillies trade Hamels if they could get a top-50 prospect, along with two to three other players that are considered top-10 prospects for a particular team? 

If you’re the Phillies and you have doubts not only about being able to contend for the playoffs this year, but also question whether or not you can re-sign Hamels if he opts for free agency, don’t you have to make that move at this point? 

Re-signing Hamels can’t be completely written off as we near the three-month mark of the season. The Dodgers just signed Andre Ethier to a contract extension and he was due for free agency this winter also. 

But Hamels and his people don’t seem interested in signing any deal now. And why should they? Matt Cain got $127 million from the Giants. What could Hamels get when teams are competing for his services, some of whom figure to have big money to spend? 

The risk of losing Hamels with no return is too great at this point. And what is the reward if the Phillies do re-sign him? Another $20 million pitcher on the payroll that further handcuffs Amaro from using available funds to upgrade left field, third base or the bullpen? Would any money be left for possibly re-signing Shane Victorino? 

Of course, re-signing Hamels would give the Phillies a sure thing, unlike whatever prospects would be yielded in a trade. Justin Smoak and Matt LaPorta looked like huge returns in deals for Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia, respectively. But neither player has yet become the cornerstone player that’s expected with such a trade. 

Phillies fans surely don’t want to hear this. But writing off this season and selling some pieces now will help make next year’s team stronger. Chase Utley and Ryan Howard will hopefully be back healthy to join whatever new additions Amaro can make at midseason and during the winter. Sacrificing 2012 for a better 2013 is a noble endeavor. 

 

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25 Biggest Letdowns of the Philadelphia Phillies’ Season Thus Far

Things are getting ugly for the Philadelphia Phillies, and fast.

For a team that was expected to come into the regular season as a favorite in the National League East, poised to contend for their sixth consecutive division crown in spite of injuries to some of their big players, you could easily make the argument that their 2012 season has been a letdown as a whole.

But when you break it into several, smaller letdowns, that’s when you start to uncover the bigger picture. It’s time to face the music. As it’s constructed now, this Phillies team just isn’t very good.

Coming into the regular season, that wasn’t supposed to be a problem. We knew the offense would miss Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, but an elite pitching staff and more than a couple of All-Stars that remained in the lineup were supposed to be enough to pick up the slack.

There’s still time for this Phillies team to turn things around, but that window of opportunity is fading fast. If they have any chance of roaring back into contention, they’ll need to solve these early season letdowns and leave them in the past, and fast.

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How the Philadelphia Phillies Have Stayed Afloat Despite Injuries

To say the Philadelphia Phillies are having an awful year is, at this point, a gross understatement.

Granted, they aren’t as bad as some of the worst teams in baseball. But based on the way they play some of their games, it sure seems like it. They did win two of three from the Minnesota Twins this week, but the game they lost was horrendous, and their win on Wednesday night that should have come easily was very close in the end.

Despite their struggles this season, the Phillies have managed to remain in striking distance in the NL East. Yes, they are dead last in the division, nine games out of first place with their 31-34 record. But even with their injuries and hitting and pitching issues, the Phils are still holding on.

With some of their most severe injuries coming to some of their biggest contributors, players like Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Roy Halladay, there’s a reason why the Phillies have struggled. In light of these injuries, though, the Phils have held their own, and they deserve credit for at least being able to do that.

Here’s how the Phillies have managed to stay afloat.

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8 Reasons to Believe in Ryan Howard, Chase Utley This Season

As of this writing, the Phillies are three games under .500 and nine games out of first place.  Roy Halladay is on the disabled list, Cliff Lee does not have a win yet.  

Bleak stuff.  

And here comes a slideshow on why you should hold out hope for Ryan Howard and Chase Utley not for 2013, but for THIS SEASON.  There is a risk to sounding like the purser on the Titanic in putting this together.  

That’s not lost on me, but indulge me anyway.

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MLB Trade Rumors: Why Hunter Pence Is the Best Player on the Market

The Philadelphia Phillies certainly got off to a slow start this season, and while their play has improved as of late, they still find themselves in the cellar of the NL East, nearly 10 games back of the surprising Washington Nationals.

It’s a long season, so you’d be hard pressed to say the Phillies are out of it, but some analysts, like ESPN’s Buster Olney, seem to think the team will be aggressive sellers when the deadline approaches.

Should they opt to unload some of their talent in favor of high-ceiling prospects, Hunter Pence’s name will no doubt be a name that comes up as he is one of the best young players in the game that may be up for grabs.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Should the Philadelphia Phillies Pursue Ben Sheets?

Ben Sheets might be trying to make a comeback again.

According to Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors, the 33-year-old right-handed pitcher threw for scouts from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the New York Yankees, the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Philadelphia Phillies are in need of some type of spark, and Ben Sheets might be able to provide that for a very low price.

The low price would come from the fact that he hasn’t pitched since 2010. He has been incredibly susceptible to injury throughout his career, and that has cost him a substantial portion of his career up until this point.

While it may seem risky to sign a pitcher with such a questionable past, the low cost would help mitigate that risk.

From the reward standpoint, Sheets has been a very effective pitcher when he has been healthy. Even though he has a sub.500 (90-92) career record, his career ERA is 3.97.

His record is less than ideal simply because he pitched most of his career for the Milwaukee Brewers when they were not very strong contenders.

It very well could be a good thing for the Philadelphia Phillies to take this risk. Quite frankly, they need to do something.

However, their hands are somewhat tied by their already high payroll. Therefore, they need to find someone who has the potential to make a large impact at a low price.

If Sheets is able to put together some of the strong ERAs he had channeled in the past, he would definitely be worth a look from the Philadelphia Phillies. If it doesn’t work out, then the financial loss would be relatively small. Why not take a risk?

 

Whether you think I know everything or nothing about Major League Baseball, you should follow me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook and keep in touch. I love hearing what you all have to say!

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Steve Carlton Couldn’t Make the Philadelphia Phillies the Second Time Around

Steve Carlton refused to give in.  He never gave in when he was the best pitcher in the game and he wasn’t giving in now. Carlton was trying to make the Philadelphia Phillies nine months after they had released him on June 24, 1986.

There were some moments during spring training in 1987 when it appeared that the old Carlton was returning, but he was generally ineffective. He didn’t make the Phillies the second time around, but the first time had been fantastic.

Carlton was traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Phillies in exchange for Rick Wise in February 1972. It was one of the great trades in history for the Phillies. Only Grover Cleveland Alexander had ever been a greater pitcher for the Phillies than Carlton.

In his first season in Philadelphia, Carlton had one of the greatest seasons any pitcher ever had. He was 27-10 for a team that finished last with a 59-97 record. Carlton accounted for 46 percent of his team’s wins.

As a comparison, the 2001 Seattle Mariners won 116 games. Jamie Moyer, who was ancient even then, won 20 games. To win 46 percent of the Mariners’ games, Moyer would have had to win 53 games. Shades of Old Hoss Radbourn.

From 1972-84, Carlton was a top-flight pitcher. Actually, he probably was the best pitcher in the game most of those seasons.

During those years, he was 236-145 with a 3.01 ERA, a 1.23 ERA+ and a 1.190 WHIP. In 1980, he beat the Kansas City Royals twice in the World Series.

Following the 1984 season, Carlton struggled. After the Phillies released him, he played, with little success, for the San Francisco Giants, the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Indians and the Minnesota Twins.

At the age of 43, Carlton was forced to pack it in. His former teammate with the Phillies, Bill Campbell, said that most players couldn’t summarily retire. The reason was that it would be terrible to wake up one morning and realize that you still might be able to play.

Carlton won 329 games in his career, which is more than Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Randy Johnson and the greatest left-hander of all, Lefty Grove.

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25 Draft Picks the Philadelphia Phillies Have the Best Odds of Signing

There’s nothing quite like Major League Baseball’s amateur draft, for all parties involved.

For high school players, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime and the biggest decision you may ever make. It’s an emotional high but also a time to weigh the risks: Do you get your professional career starter and forgo a college education, or spend time in college to refine your skills? 

For college players, it is the reward after all of the hard work. Guys spend three to four years in college working their tails off, not only playing baseball, but studying as well. Being drafted is like coming full circle; the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, if you will.

But the oft-forgotten beneficiary of the MLB draft is the organization. Take for instance, the Philadelphia Phillies. This is a club that used the draft to add hitters and pitchers from both the college and high school level and restock their farm system.

A farm once described as “barren” could be roaring back to life with just 40 selections of some of the most promising players throughout the country.

But it’s all meaningless unless the player comes to terms with the club—in this instance, the Phillies—on his first professional contract.

Some players are more likely to sign than others. It should go without saying that a college senior has more urgency to sign that a high school senior with an opportunity to go to college. Then again, a strong college commitment could draw a player away from a team.

This list will attempt to signal out which of the Phillies’ top draft picks from this season have the greatest potential to sign a contract.

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MLB Trade Deadline: Why the Philadelphia Phillies Should Trade Cole Hamels

The Philadelphia Phillies are in last place in the NL East and aren’t likely to re-sign Cole Hamels this offseason. So, why not trade him at the deadline?

Hamels has been an integral piece in the Phillies’ success over the past few seasons, and was the breakout star of their World Series run in 2008.

But Hamels will be seeking a huge contract this offseason, on par with or greater than the seven figure deals of his teammates Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay.

The Phillies already sport the second-highest payroll in the MLB at $174 million for 2012, and will not be able to add another $20 million to the books in 2013 for Hamels. So why not just deal him at the deadline and get some top flight prospects in return?

Here are four reasons why dealing Hamels at the trade deadline is the best move Philadelphia in the long run.

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5 Things the Media Doesn’t Get About the Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies have received much media attention for the past few years due to their win totals, streak of division titles and postseason success.

This season, not so much.

Dating back to spring training, the Phils have been in the news more for injuries and how many games back they are in the standings than they have for somehow staying afloat despite missing key parts of their lineup and pitching staff.

And as this season has proven thus far, a last place team with a payroll in excess of $170 million is bound to receive its share of criticism, with few members escaping blame.

However, there are certain aspects of the Phillies that the media seems to misunderstand.

Yes, the Phillies haven’t won a World Series since Ruben Amaro Jr. took over as general manager, but would they have had the success that they had following the 2008 season without his moves?  Yes, Charlie Manuel has made some questionable decisions, but have you seen some of the lineups he’s had to work with this season?  And yes, Ryan Howard’s contract pays him a lot of money for a player who strikes out over 150 times a season, but should he still be considered overpaid?

No one besides the front office, coaching staff and players can know for sure what goes on before and after the games, but some attempts by the media make it seem like they don’t quite have the pulse of the team.

Here are five things the media doesn’t get about the Phillies.

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