10 Reasons Why the Phillies Must Reload, Not Rebuild, in the Offseason

The Philadelphia Phillies were supposed to be leaving questions like “rebuild or reload” for franchises well-versed in that dilemma: your Pittsburgh Pirates, your Milwaukee Brewers.

This is generally the province of the middle-market team, with payrolls south of $100 million and often records south of .500.

But the Phillies spent over $173 million this season only to see all of their careful plans laid to waste by the upstart Washington Nationals, the stalwart Atlanta Braves and, at various times, the rest of the National League. 

With 45 games left to play, the Phillies still have 10.5 games to make up and five teams to pass just to secure the second wild card.  Even if you are not good at math, you know the numbers say it is not going to happen.

Here are 10 reasons why Ruben Amaro Jr.’s answer to the question at hand has to be “reload.”

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