One Year-End Goal for All 25 Philadelphia Phillies Players

The Philadelphia Phillies are having quite the memorable season, but for all of the wrong reasons.

Coming into the 2012 campaign, you would find few so-called “experts” with the nerve to go against the grain and pick any team but the Phillies to win the National League East. They were carrying that level of expectation.

Of course, fast-forward a couple of months and the Washington Nationals are the talk of the division with the Atlanta Braves right on their doorstep. The Phillies, meanwhile, are battling the Miami Marlins to stay out of last place and looking forward to 2013.

That’s right. How many people would have guessed that, at the beginning of August, the Phillies would be out of the postseason race and looking forward to next season?

With Hunter Pence, Shane Victorino and Joe Blanton all officially in the books as “former” Phillies, it’s time for their replacements and the rest of the club to start preparing to come back strong next season.

One of the most vital ways to do so is to finish the 2012 season strong. Here’s what each player needs to accomplish by the end of this year, with an eye on the future.

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Re-Ranking Philadelphia Phillies’ Top 25 Prospects Post-Trade Deadline

We knew that the Philadelphia Phillies weren’t going to be quiet heading into the July 31 trade deadline.

After arguably the most disappointing season in all of baseball, the Phillies were positioned to be the game’s most surprising sellers, and contending teams were on their most valuable players like white on rice.

In a way, however, it was surprising that the club only moved Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence. Victorino was a likely candidate as a free agent at season’s end with no visible future in Philadelphia. Pence was a bit more surprising, but there were rumblings, and the Phillies definitely needed to free up some space under the luxury tax.

It’s surprising because of the players who didn’t move. Placido Polanco’s stint on the disabled list probably saved him. The Phillies discussed Joe Blanton with the Baltimore Orioles, but never moved him. Ditto for Juan Pierre and the Cincinnati Reds, which is even more surprising because the Phillies acquired a controllable, left-handed outfielder in Nate Schierholtz.

They even discussed moving Cliff Lee in a blockbuster but never did. If nothing more, the trade deadline was interesting for the Phillies.

But we’re here to discuss the future. The Phillies acquired a few prospects at the trade deadline in Tommy Joseph, Ethan Martin and Seth Rosin. Each of the three will slide into the Phillies’ top 25.

We’ll also be updating the ranking of the prospects already in the Phillies’ system, and to apply a proper trade-deadline term, I’m making “wholesale changes.” Here we go.

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July Grades for All 25 Philadelphia Phillies’ Players

Any month that ends in a wholesale free-for-all for a team that had World Series aspirations before the season started probably wasn’t a good one. It definitely wasn’t a good month for the Philadelphia Phillies.

It has been a long time since the Phillies were out of the postseason race this early in the season. Sure, they had their reasons: Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Roy Halladay missed a good portion of the first half of the season.

You try and win a division as tough as the National League East without the middle of your order and one of the best pitchers in baseball. That’s not a simple task.

But the Phillies aren’t the type of club to make excuses. Instead, they’ll have to stand before the executioner (I think he goes by Ruben Amaro Jr. nowadays) and take their lumps. Necks are on the chopping block, and it is no one’s fault but their own.

For Phillies fans, this could be a depressing month. This is the end of the road. The team that won the World Series in 2008 is going to be effectively eulogized through a mass sell-off.

Here’s where each player went wrong (and the very few who went right.)

*All statistics are through Monday, July 30.

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Odds of All 25 Philadelphia Phillies Being Traded at the Deadline

For a long time, the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline was the most exciting time of the year for fans of the Philadelphia Phillies. It was about making moves to get better for the future after accumulating an upwards of 10,000 losses.

After five straight division crowns, they’re not excited about going backwards.

But there is optimism that the 2012 season is just a blip on the radar as opposed to a sign of things to come. The Phillies battled with injuries. They battled inconsistent performances. There’s no shame in cashing in your chips and trying again next season, when the odds are better.

That all begins and ends on Tuesday afternoon, when the non-waiver trade deadline rounds into focus. On that day, it’s time to separate the rumors from the facts, and there have been plenty of rumors.

Which Phillies will be moved for prospects or bullpen help? Will they move the usual suspects, or will Ruben Amaro Jr. pull a rabbit out of his hat? 

Here are the odds of each member of the Phillies’ roster being moved before 4 p.m. on July 31.

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MLB Trade Deadline: Grading Each of Phillies’ Last 25 Big Deadline Deals

The game of baseball can be a lot like a game of Russian Roulette at times.

More often than not, teams find themselves in unfavorable positions, especially at the trade deadline. General managers are forced into facing difficult decisions. Do they surrender the future (in prospects) to win now, or do they surrender the here and now to be better in the future?

Very rarely is baseball a game of clear-cut odds. In fact, that may be one of the few situations in life where the word “never” actually applies. There is always a risk in making a big trade, even if it seems favorable at the time.

So as we approach the trade deadline of yet another baseball season here in 2012, what better time is there to look back and learn from the past.

The 2012 Philadelphia Phillies are in a unique situation. Do you rally around the core of All-Stars already assembled, add more to it or subtract from it? That should become clear either way.

One thing you can expect the Phillies to do is make a move in some way, shape or form, and when they do, make sure you come back and compare it to the last 25 big, deadline deals they’ve made.

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Handicapping All 25 Philadelphia Phillies Odds of Being on the Roster in 2013

There are more than a few words in the English dictionary that don’t appeal to fans of the Philadelphia Phillies, but if you had to pick a single word that was venomous to the ears, how about turnover.

That’s a loaded baseball word if there ever was one, but Phillies fans know all about that. After more than 10,000 losses and five straight National League East crowns, it is a word that most fans never wanted to hear again.

But as the 2012 trade deadline rolls into focus, the Phillies are ready to party like it’s 1999. That’s not a good thing. A 1999 Phillies party involved selling off everyone of value at the trade deadline, as the club cashed in early on yet another season.

There were more than a few years like that for Phillies fans. That’s why they don’t want to hear that this team could have a major turnover, or that they could rebuild, or re-tool or have a fire-sale.

Enough is enough.

So as we approach yet another uncertain deadline for the Phillies, it’s about time we took stock of the future, not only after this season’s deadline, but after the off-season as well.

How many members of this current Phillies club will return in 2013? Time to find out.

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25 Players the Philadelphia Phillies Wish They Never Traded

They say hindsight is 20/20.

More often than not, that’s more fact than cliche when it comes to the sport of baseball. Transactions, especially trades, are a gamble. One player can perform better in a certain market while the other could fall flat on his face.

One of the biggest grey areas in the sport is also one of the biggest debates: prospects. Do you trade unproven players for established, MLB-proven guys? Do you keep your top prospects and hope to develop a contender through your own system?

That debate will never end.

However, it would be nearly impossible to operate as a franchise without having to make those tough decisions, and that’s true for the Philadelphia Phillies, especially over the last couple of seasons, but in the past as well.

There are going to be prospects, and even MLB players, that teams don’t want to move but have to. There are going to be players that they do want to move and later regret. It’s just part of the game.

Here are 25 players that the Phillies once traded but, in hindsight, never should have moved.

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25 Reasons the Phillies Should Not Blow Up Their Core at Trade Deadline

The 2012 season has kind of been like a game of poker for the Philadelphia Phillies.

With the July 31 trade deadline just around the corner, they’re sitting at the table already knowing that the other players (the contending teams) hold better hands. Ruben Amaro Jr. is using his best poker face, but it’s just one of those hands. The other players just seem to know.

But there’s no shame in admitting that you’ve been dealt a bad hand. The fact of the matter is that any team would struggle after missing their third and fourth hitters, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, respectively, for most of the season.

Then you lose your ace, Roy Halladay, and the plan of action suddenly becomes pretty clear: Fold. Don’t lose anything else. There will always be another chance.

But not for the Phillies. The Phillies are the game’s high rollers. They have the luxury of staying in the game until the last moment, waiting out some stroke of good fortune that seems to have evaded them since the first card was dealt.

For the Phillies, that means waiting out the trade deadline until the last possible moment. They’ll watch the dealer turn over cards until there is absolutely no way that they can win.

Of course, at that moment, the Phillies will begin to dismantle their “core” of players—the players that the entire roster is built around for now and for the future.

That could mean dealing obvious names like Cole Hamels and Shane Victorino, but it could mean so much more.

Cliff Lee. Jimmy Rollins. Vance Worley. Ryan Howard. Are any of them really safe?

If the Phillies go into an all-out sell-mode, all hell could break loose here in the city of Philadelphia, but I’ll be the one to tell you why it shouldn’t.

With the trade deadline less than two weeks away, I’ll give you 25 reasons why the Phillies shouldn’t blow up their “core.”

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MLB Trade Rumors: 25 Prospects the Phillies Could Consider Dealing

There is a chance that the Philadelphia Phillies will be buyers at the July 31 trade deadline, but it is a shadow of a chance—and that may be a little optimistic.

But hey, this is the United States of America, right? This country was built on hopes and dreams, so its national pastime should operate in the same manner.

Okay, enough with the mushy stuff. It’s time to get serious. As things stand right now, the Phillies won’t be doing any buying come the end of this month. But the club has remained adamant that if they can get on a roll with all of their big names healthy—and Roy Halladay’s start on Tuesday was the final domino to fall—then maybe, just maybe, they could stave off selling.

Again, that isn’t likely.

However, if the Phillies do become surprising buyers, they won’t be in the mix for the game’s top targets. They just don’t have the payroll or prospects that some of those deals would require.

But this much is a guarantee: If the Phillies sell, they will deal from positions of depth in their farm system. That means that they’ll move pitchers and outfielders with some authority if it comes down to it.

With that being said, the Phillies probably won’t be moving any prospects this July, unless it is a move with an eye on the future as well (a la Chase Headley of the San Diego Padres.)

The following slideshow will attempt to identify some of the prospects the Phillies would be willing to move, along with a scale of just how willing they would be to move them, with one being the lowest and 10 the highest.

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MLB Trade Rumors: Grading All 25 Phillies’ Current Trade Value

There’s something different about Major League Baseball’s trade deadline this season.

Maybe it’s the eerie silence on the transaction front less than two weeks from the July 31, non-waiver trade deadline. It is a different game this season. There are a lot of teams in their respective races and the second Wild Card will keep postseason hopes alive until the very last moment.

But don’t be fooled. This isn’t going to be a quiet trade deadline. It’s more like the calm before the storm.

As teams finally decide they’re not in the playoff picture, we’ll begin to see an intense trade period, and no team is in a better position to cash in than the Philadelphia Phillies, who are double-digit games out of first place in the NL East.

So who will they trade?

Believe it or not, that’s up in the air. The Phillies will kick plenty of tires over the next couple of weeks, but there is no doubt that they have some of the game’s top trade chips.

This slideshow will attempt to determine the value of each trade chip. We’ll rank the trade chip on a scale from 1-10. A mark of 1 will signify that a player has no trade value while a mark of 10 will show that they are extremely valuable.

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