MLB Trade Deadline: Where Do Phillies Need to Be on July 31 to Avoid Selling?
July 6, 2012 by Ely Sussman
Filed under Fan News
Ryan Howard returned to the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.
They’ll need huge contributions from him between then and July 31, or else the reigning NL East champs—who currently stand at 37-48—will be sellers at the MLB trade deadline.
Unbelievable, isn’t it?
This franchise has achieved at least 85 victories in nine consecutive seasons (102 last summer). Not since 2006 has the front office moved effective players to build for the future.
However, that will be the only logical course of action if they can’t rise out of last place.
Despite his recent transactions, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. isn’t waving the white flag. Chad Qualls and Jim Thome—a mediocre right-hander and aging designated hitter, respectively—were never key pieces to the championship puzzle.
We’ll know that Amaro has given up when impending free agents Cole Hamels and Shane Victorino are dealt to contenders. But he will wait and see what transpires over the next several weeks before pushing the panic button.
The all-important non-waiver trade deadline passes at 4:00 p.m. ET on July 31. Mark it on your calendar, Phanatics, because that gives manager Charlie Manuel fewer than 20 games in the interim to rally your team.
Five of those six series will be against superior opponents, which is exactly what the Phillies need. There are opportunities to leapfrog the Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves.
The buyer-seller ratio is far above 1.0 this season, and the newly-expanded playoff format is responsible. Majorities of each league consider themselves alive for the second wild-card spot. Unfortunately, that sentiment does not extend to the Phils, whose aforementioned record is 12th among National League squads.
I don’t care how they get there, but the Phillies must reach 50 wins—and get within two games of .500—by deadline day. That should at least elevate them into the top 10.
If their mark is less impressive, they ought to restock the farm system and shift the focus towards 2013.
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