Cliff Lee Surgery Would Add Pressure on Phillies to Get Cole Hamels Deal Right

Cliff Lee‘s left elbow made it through just one spring training start—and all of two innings—last Thursday before he was shut down the following day with another bout of elbow discomfort in the same spot that plagued him for much of 2014.

The 13-year veteran went for an MRI on Sunday that revealed some inflammation, and while it’s too early to tell yet, Lee did acknowledge that surgery is at least a possibility. If that’s how this plays out, then Lee’s 2015 season will be over before it even begins—and there’s a chance his baseball career could be finished too.

“It would be 6-8 months out,” Lee said, via Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “So basically if I have the surgery this season will be done. Possibly my career I guess. I don’t know. We’ll have to see.”

And just like that, all the pressure is back on general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and the rest of the Philadelphia Phillies front office to do right by a rebuilding organization and make the most out of the club’s final big trade chip, Cole Hamels.

Were it only about his success, experience and postseason history, Lee would make for an enticing option for the Phillies to peddle to clubs eying a proven starter—provided, of course, they made the $37.5 million Lee is owed more palatable.

But combined with that amount of money, this latest run-in with elbow discomfort or soreness makes Lee absolutely immovable.

As Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News writes:

The Phillies (and Lee) obviously hoped to see the pitcher progress this spring without any issues. Had Lee stayed healthy, he could have been a nice trade chip for Amaro and Co. … and Lee himself could have potentially joined another team prior to the July trade deadline as he pursues an elusive World Series ring.

That is out the window at this point. If Lee weren’t considered damaged goods after making just 13 starts in 2014—none after July 31—due to elbow problems, well, he definitely is now.

Even if Lee were to be OK enough to pitch in the first half of the season, there’s just not going to be much interest in or market for a 36-year-old left-hander with a contract that is cumbersome (and then some) and, more importantly, an elbow that is unwilling to cooperate.

Which brings us back to Hamels, who now more than ever is Amaro’s last chance to turn the aging, injury-prone core of what was a top-notch team for several years into a batch of young, cost-controlled talent to help with a long-overdue rebuilding project that has just begun.

A 31-year-old southpaw, Hamels has been at the center of trade rumors dating back to last July and continuing all throughout this past offseason, as Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com notes.

While Amaro did manage to bring in some prospects, like Tom Windle, Zach Eflin and Ben Lively, by swapping longtime shortstop Jimmy Rollins and in-his-final-act outfielder Marlon Byrd, Hamels remains the lone piece that could net a return of real, franchise-altering value.

Nobody is knocking down Amaro’s door to ask about closer Jonathan Papelbon, and nobody is even picking up the phone to inquire about first baseman Ryan Howard.

The reports all along have been that Amaro has refused to budge on his terms involving Hamels, according to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. That means the GM won’t trade him unless the acquiring club sends an elite package of prospects and picks up most, if not all, of the $96 million Hamels is due through 2018.

“Cole Hamels is a known entity,” Amaro told Stark. “A known winner. A known World Series MVP. A known top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher. If Cole Hamels continues to be Cole Hamels, which we fully expect him to be, why would [his trade value] decline?”

Funny, but a similar sentiment might have been uttered about Lee this time last year.

Further complicating matters is the fact that Hamels has a $20 million option for 2019 that he might want picked up if dealt, especially to one of the teams on his limited no-trade clause.

The good news here is that Hamels has yet to show any sort of decline or injury concern, meaning his value on the trade front remains relatively high. He is, after all, coming off a career-best 2.46 ERA last year.

That’s a big reason why Amaro needs to get it right when it comes to trading Hamels, which feels like an inevitability by now, whether it happens in the month between now and the start of the regular season or by the trade deadline at the end of July.

It’s also a big reason why Amaro should be willing to bend, if only a little bit, in his demands with regard to a return for Hamels. If nothing else, Lee—who had a 2.80 ERA while making at least 30 starts in each of his first three seasons since re-signing with Philadelphia—is an unmistakable example of how fast a pitcher’s career can be derailed.

Here’s Amaro’s bottom line: More than ever, he needs to get it right when trading Hamels, but in light of Lee’s latest ailment, the leverage is going in the wrong direction.

 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Will New Massive TV Deal Allow the Phillies to Spend Their Way to the Top?

The Philadelphia Phillies just got paid.

Early on Friday, Jan. 3, news came down that the Phillies had reached an agreement on a long-term extension with Comcast SportsNet, according to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Later, David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News reported that the extension had been finalized.

The deal between the Phillies and the broadcast company, which was set to expire following the 2015 season, will now cover the next 25 years, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com via MLB Trade Rumors:

The number of years is but one factor here, as the major impact really comes from the pact reportedly being worth billions. That’s “billions” with a “b” and plural, as in more than one.

In fact, Gelb reports that the total tally is, well, rather large indeed:

For those who want that amount broken down into an annual figure, Eric Fisher of the Sports Business Journal has done the math:

And, as they say on game shows, “That’s not all!”

So what does this mean for the Phillies and their finances?

As far as the impact on the upcoming 2014 campaign, Gelb writes:

The contract is unlikely to have an immediate effect on general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.’s spending habits. Amaro said his payroll will be consistent with last year’s, and the Phillies are nearing their self-imposed $170 million limit.

But looking further into the future beyond 2014—and hey, a “self-imposed” $170 million budget ain’t exactly small potatoes—the Phillies will be in position to spend. And spend a lot.

Of course, this is a club that already has spent quite a bit. The Phillies have ranked among the top five in baseball payrolls for the past several seasons, in large part due to nine-figure contracts having been handed out to Ryan Howard, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. And that’s to say nothing of the “smaller” deals with Jonathan Papelbon, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Carlos Ruiz that either remain on the books or were signed recently.

As a big-market organization, the Phillies have been able to afford all this up to this point. Here, though, is where it should be pointed out that not one of those players listed in that chart is under 30 years old—Hamels turned the big three-oh in late December—and most of those contracts cover the next several seasons. And many also have options, some of which are the vesting kind, so the Phillies will still be paying rather large sums to rather old players.

In other words, the Phillies don’t just benefit from this multi-billion dollar “TV money” extension—they flat-out needed it. Otherwise, the cost of doing business and staying competitive as those past-their-primers continued to age simply would have been too steep.

Sure, this extra cash is going to help offset a lot of potential problems and ease a great deal of the financial burden. Where things might get interesting, though, is finding out what the franchise’s plan will be going forward once the new money really starts kicking in.

Will the Phillies follow the lead of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who inked their very own—and even bigger—broadcast deal, which has allowed them to spend major money on all facets, seemingly without any sort of limitation?

And if that’s the case, is that a good thing considering that Amaro—the very man responsible for many of the above massive (and questionable) contracts—may view this as yet another opportunity to continue spending big now and worrying about the consequences later?

Or will there instead be a shift in strategy? Perhaps the Phillies could choose to unload some of the dead weight deals by trading the likes of Howard in what essentially would be akin to buying out what’s left of his albatross of a pact. It won’t be easy to find any takers until the final year or two of that deal—similar to what the Chicago Cubs did with Alfonso Soriano last summer—but then again, it would allow the club to turn the page at some point.

In this case, that’s the sort of thing that money actually can buy.

 

To talk baseball or fantasy baseball, check in with me on Twitter: @JayCat11

 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Best Potential Trade Packages and Landing Spots for Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels

The Philadelphia Phillies rebuild, it would appear, is on.

Following a lengthy stretch of success during which they won five straight National League East division crowns and the 2008 World Series title, the Phillies have stumbled the past two seasons, falling to .500 in 2012 and 73-89 last year—their worst mark since 2000.

With many of their key core players from that period now well into their 30s, like Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins, or dealing with injury issues, like Ryan Howard, the Phillies are a franchise that, in the past year, has gone from teetering on the brink of needing a rebuild to becoming unquestionably desperate for one.

And so general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is looking to cash in his trade chips.

Just a few days after reminding everyone that highly paid closer Jonathan Papelbon remains available, the Phillies have made it known that they they are also ready and willing to talk about trading one—or both—of their ace left-handers, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.

There’s reason to wonder whether this approach will stick, though, seeing as how Amaro told Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, “Our goal is to add, not to subtract.” There’s also the fact that Philadelphia re-signed catcher Carlos Ruiz and brought in outfielder Marlon Byrd already this offseason.

At the same time, though, there are reports that indicate even young outfielder Domonic Brown might be on the block, as Zolecki noted. While Papelbon doesn’t have much trade value at all—$26 million guaranteed through 2015 for a one-inning pitcher will do that—Lee and Hamels fall on the other end of the spectrum.

As two legitimate No. 1 starters who have continued to perform at or near that level for the past several seasons, either of the two southpaws should be able to net Philadelphia the kind of return the team needs. Should Amaro Jr. decide, once and for all, to go that route.

Speaking of needs, the Phillies could use a few things.

Like an impact infielder at either shortstop or third base, where Rollins is getting old and 2013 rookie Cody Asche remains unproven.

Or an upgrade in the outfield, particularly in center, where Ben Revere is more of a fringy starter who could fit better as a backup.

Or bullpen arms with upside to help address the late innings, whether Papelbon stays around as the closer or not.

Or rotation depth, as Lee, Hamels and righty Kyle Kendrick are the only locks for the 2014 five-man at the moment.

Most of all, though, Philadelphia needs youth, depth and cheaper contracts, especially since so much money is tied up in Howard, Papelbon, Lee and Hamels, among others.

That’s one of the factors to consider in valuing Lee and Hamels on the trade market. For Lee, we’re talking about a 35-year-old who is guaranteed $62.5 million through 2015, along with a $27.5 million club option for 2016. Hamels, meanwhile, is a soon-to-be 30-year-old with at least $118.5 million coming his way through 2018, plus a $20 million club option for 2019. In other words, any inquiring team likely will be a contender that can fit an extra $22-25 million into its budget for the next few years.

While those prices might seem a bit overwhelming, both Lee and Hamels still would be highly sought after given their sustained production and durability. For teams who have been honing in on other top starters who are rumored trade targets, like David Price, Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija, as well as free agents like Ubaldo Jimenez, Ervin Santana and Matt Garza, the chance to land a Lee or a Hamels adds a couple more names to a growing list of appealing arms.

Here, then, is a rundown of the teams that could match up well with the Phillies in a trade for one of their two front-liners.

Begin Slideshow

An Open Letter to Ruben Amaro Jr. to Commit to Phillies Fire Sale

Dear Mr. Amaro Jr.,

First off, congratulations!

You’ve had a nice little run as a key decision-maker for the Philadelphia Phillies, a team you’ve been an executive with since 1998. You served as assistant general manager until 2008, at which point not only did your team win it all, but you were promoted to general manager.

You even managed to make a few blockbusters of your own since taking over for Pat Gillick. Some of them worked out well enough, like the trades for Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. The deal for Roy Oswalt? That wasn’t so bad either. That Hunter Pence trade helped at the time, too.

Many of the bigger, more recent moves, though, have been questionable transactions at best.

Like inking Ryan Howard to a $125 million extension when you didn’t have to or giving Jonathan Papelbon $50 million to pitch 60 innings a year.

And hate to pile on here, but how’s that $144 million you gave Cole Hamels—he of the 3-11 record and 4.38 ERA—this time last year looking right about now?

Even though they don’t qualify as major moves, let’s not even get into the Young and Young (Delmon and Michael) pickups this year, as you were trying to plug holes in your sinking ship with a little Elmer’s. You had good intentions, no doubt, with all of these, trying to make a championship-winning core better—or at least prolonging the window of opportunity—but a lot of them were a tad shortsighted.

Maybe you were trying to make your own mark after succeeding a Hall of Famer.

Which is why it’s even more important that you don’t lose sight of your position this time.

This year is huge for your future, as well as that of the Philadelphia Phillies. With the club stuck in no man’s land—the Phils are 44-46 and 6.5 games out of a playoff spot entering play Tuesday—you’ve wavered about whether you’re going to buy or sell this month.

But you got hit with a big blow recently when Howard went down with a torn meniscus in his left knee that will require surgery and keep him out up to two months. That might finally push you into the seller bucket.

At least, one would hope.

Not that Howard has been all that great. In fact, that massive extension you gave him kicked in just last season. Meaning through the first part of that deal, Howard has given you a triple-slash line of .244/.307/.445 in two injury-plagued seasons.

Even factoring in the knee problem, that’s not pretty.

That performance actually led you, Mr. Amaro, to call out Howard in a pregame interview show on 94 WIP in Philadelphia:

If Ryan Howard is now relegated to being a platoon player, he’s a very expensive platoon player and he needs to be better. I think he knows it. I know he’s struggling, I know he’s not happy with his performance—neither are we. I think he’s going to be better, but right now, he’s just not doing the job.

Furthermore, it’s fair to question, as Dan Szymborski did for ESPN Insider (subscription required), whether Howard’s contract is a total loss. Already.

But it’s not just Howard. Halladay may miss the rest of the year after finally succumbing in early May to arm and shoulder problems that had plagued him for the better part of a year. Reliever Mike Adams, who was given a two-year deal this offseason, is also very likely gone for the year.

Factor in the ages and contract situations of the core group who was responsible for a World Series title that came five years ago, and, well, it’s a pretty easy decision.

Time to sell, Mr. Amaro.

You seemed to realize this last week when you told CSN Philly, “If we continue to play the way we play sporadically, then I’m going to have to consider being a seller.”

The good news? You’ve got some chips in the cupboard.

There’s Lee, who’s pitching as well as always and who would unquestionably be the top arm on the market, even with the $25 million-a-year price tag that comes with him through 2015. Dealing Lee would not only net some young talent, it would allow you to free up some money to spend elsewhere in the future.

There’s Chase Utley, who’s a free-agent-to-be and recently came back from yet another stint on the disabled list. Trading the guy who was inarguably the heart and soul of the franchise for a decade would be a hard pill to swallow, but it’s better than letting him walk away at season’s end for nothing. Especially when Utley’s still hitting extremely well and could command a solid return.

There’s Papelbon, who’s a luxury you simply cannot afford. He’s a high-priced closer on a sub-.500 team that’s been headed in the wrong direction for a few years now. The $13 million a year he’s owed through at least 2015 will make him a tad tougher to trade, but it’s a down reliever market and there are some teams desperate enough for a closer (cough, Detroit, cough) to take that contract off your hands.

Lord knows, with more than $80 million still going into Howard’s bank account through 2016, you’ll need it.

There are others, too, like right-hander Kyle Kendrick, who would help a team in need of a mid-rotation arm. Then there’s the Young boys, with Michael capable of being a utility player or injury replacement at multiple spots and, hey, Delmon has that spiffy postseason résumé that might entice a contender.

Another key factor here is that there just aren’t many teams in sell mode yet, with maybe a handful of clubs ready to cash in their chips.

Mr. Amaro, if you get in there sooner or later—like now—you could make some real headway toward rebuilding the Phillies and restoring them to the team that was among the best in baseball over the past decade.

Beyond that, you’ll open up spots for younger players to prove themselves.

You’ve got Darin Ruf, who can get a look at first base while Howard is out. And Freddy Galvis and Cesar Hernandez can handle second base if you move Utley. Third basemen Cody Asche and Maikel Franco aren’t far off, especially once you clear Michael Young out of the way. Tommy Joseph, whom you got from the Giants last July for Pence, could be your catcher of the future.

And in the rotation, it’s time to see if lefties Jesse Biddle and Adam Morgan as well as righties Tyler Cloyd and Ethan Martin can make like Jonathan Pettibone and join Hamels.

So, Mr. Amaro, you’re the decision-maker here. It’s time to decide.

If you’re still not sure what to do, well, here’s a hint:

The writing’s on the wall, and it reads “Sell.”

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

What Changed in Turning Domonic Brown from Prospect Flop to Budding Superstar?

By the time you finish reading this sentence, Domonic Brown may have hit two more home runs.

That’s how hot the Philadelphia Phillies outfielder is.

Brown, 25, had hit—count ’em—nine homers in his past 10 games entering play Tuesday, a ridiculous streak of power hitting that has helped the former top prospect-turned-bust morph miraculously into the National League’s home run leader with 17.

So how’d this happen?

 

Going From the Background…

You may recall that Brown was once one of baseball’s elite prospects, ranking as high as No. 4 overall by Baseball America prior to the 2011 season. He was viewed as a raw yet uber-athletic talent with the potential for five plus tools.

Safe to say, though, things didn’t come easily or quickly for Brown at the major league level. In his first taste of the bigs, he hit .210/.257/.355 in a mere 70 plate appearances spread out over the final few months of 2010. No biggie—small sample size and all that.

Entering 2011, Brown seemed to be in position to take Philly by storm. Over that winter, starting right fielder Jayson Werth took the $126 million given to him by the Washington Nationals and ran. That opened up a spot for Brown, only March surgery to repair a broken hamate bone in his right hand—an injury that has been known to sap power for months after—came at perhaps the worst possible time.

And so Brown was once again relegated to the minor leagues. After a midseason call-up that lasted about two months—he hit .245/.333/.391—Brown became a spectator after the Phillies traded for Hunter Pence that summer.

Last year was more of the same. Brown split his time between Triple-A and the majors, hitting .235/.316/.396 in 56 games—the exact same number he’d played in 2011—only this time, he was promoted only after the trade deadline once the Phillies had moved Pence to the San Francisco Giants and Shane Victorino to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

All in all, through his first three partial seasons in MLB, Brown’s stats looked like this:

Not exactly impressive, especially for a guy who was seen as a can’t-miss prospect.

But the numbers also aren’t entirely off-putting, either. If you combine all three years, like the table does, Brown hit 24 doubles, knocked 12 homers and approached 60 runs and RBI, all while showing a very good walk rate (10.4 percent) and a perfectly commendable strikeout rate (18.9 percent).

He did this, by the way, in less than one full season’s worth of at-bats.

The hole in his game? That .236 batting average, which wasn’t good, but it was also driven down by BABIPs (per FanGraphs) that were lower than league average at .282 in 2010, .276 in 2011 and .260 in 2012.

In other words, with a little better luck, Brown’s introduction to Major League Baseball would have looked better than it did.

 

…to the Forefront

Two key things have happened for Brown to help him come to the forefront of the sport over the past month or so.

The first is his swing.

Brown’s swing, specifically the placement of his hands as he awaits the pitch, has been changed a few times along the way.

At right is a breakdown, from 2011, of Brown’s hands and swing by Harold Reynolds on MLB Network.

As you can see, Brown used to hold his hands very high and very far back. The Phillies had Brown drop his hands dramatically in hopes of eliminating some of the movement and what Reynolds calls the “scoop” in his swing.

Two years later, he’s maintained that starting point for the most part, but he’s also noticeably quieted his pre-pitch load—the movement of the hands just prior to starting the swing—while also shortening and leveling out his swing path.

You can read about this in pieces written this March by Sam Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daily News and Eno Sarris of FanGraphs.

Better yet, you can see this for yourself in the second video, from MLB’s Official YouTube channel, of his homer binge against the Red Sox this May.

To sum up the changes: Brown is quieter in his setup and load, allowing him to be quicker to the ball, and his swing is staying in the hitting zone longer.

The second big change is more direct: He’s playing.

Fact is, while Brown had accrued nearly 500 plate appearances in his big league career prior to the start of this season, those had come in random, inconsistent fits and starts of action. A couple weeks here, a month or two there. It wasn’t conducive to developing a young player at the game’s highest level.

Part of the problem on this front was that Brown looked like he was ready to help the Phillies at a time when the club was still in the thick of competing as a World Series contender. That’s a very difficult environment for a relatively inexperienced player to join, especially in a city as unforgiving as Philadelphia can be, because if success isn’t immediate, it usually means “see ya later, kid.”

 

The Caveat

Here’s where the “but” comes in.

As fantastic as Brown’s month of May was—he hit .303 with 12 homers and 25 RBI—he did something both incredibly unique and somewhat suspicious.

Brown managed his monster month while failing to draw even a single base on balls. In fact, among players who hit the most homers in a month without walking, Brown bashed 12, four more than anyone else ever had in MLB history, according to Baseball Reference.

[Note: Brown actually hit 12, but that’s part of the reason we love MLB’s Peter Gammons.]

That’s simultaneously freakishly good and bad.

On one hand, wow. On the other hand, those sort of results from that kind of approach simply will not last.

The good news? Brown did walk nine times in 97 April plate appearances, and he’s already walked twice in 18 PAs in June. It seems that the walk-less May was an outlier, particularly for a player who owns a career 8.7 walk percentage per FanGraphs.

 

The Future

The changes described above have been a big part of Brown’s success this year, and they also go hand in hand. The more Brown plays, the more he can work on finding and honing his swing at the major league level. For players like Brown, who had success in the high minors and no longer needed to prove anything down on the farm, it’s often about getting the chance and getting reps in the majors.

That didn’t happen, really, until this season.

Basically, the pedigree and the talent have always been there for Brown. What’s held him back up until now were injury and a lack of PT—neither of which were his fault. With those two obstacles removed from the picture, Brown is free to become the player many thought he was destined to be.

Whether he gets there or not, well, that’s up to him. Finally.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

A Eulogy for the 2013 Philadelphia Phillies and a Once Would-Be Dynasty

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming.

This is indeed a sad day, as we acknowledge the end of something. In many ways, though, this also should be a happy occasion,  time to remember and celebrate what was.

If you’ll please be seated, we’ll begin the ceremony of saying goodbye to the Philadelphia Phillies and the dynasty that could have been.

 

The Beginning of the End

The Phillies have failed to make it above .500 this season—they’re 16-21 through Friday—but the downfall of this once-proud franchise started well before 2013.

If we were to paint a picture of the very moment this club went from potential dynasty to impending travesty, it would look a little something like this:

That’s Ryan Howard, the highly paid slugging first baseman, slumped on the ground, unable to even run to first base after meekly grounding out and wrecking his Achilles on the final out of the 2011 NLDS against the Cardinals.

Heading into that postseason, the Phillies were considered the favorites after finishing the regular season with the best record in baseball—by a wide margin—at 102-60, carried primarily by their star-studded, built-for-October rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt.

But in that decisive Game 5, the Cardinals beat the Phillies 1-0, as ace Chris Carpenter was just a little bit better than Halladay, and of course, the Cards would go on to win the World Series—a destiny that many expected of the Phillies.

 

The End Itself

Coming off that disappointment, the Phillies’ window of opportunity already was closing fast, but unfortunately the club was never really able to get going in 2012.

Sure, the Phillies briefly looked back to their old selves (pun intended) when Howard, Halladay and second baseman Chase Ultey finally were all healthy at the same time. In fact, after spending almost the entire season well under .500, Philly actually got back above that mark in mid-September, thanks to a furious run.

But that was just false hope. The franchise that had earned five straight NL East titles, made two straight World Series appearances and won it all in 2008 would miss the postseason for the first time since 2006.

Reality, by this time, was starting to set in, if it hadn’t already.

 

Saying Goodbye

Now? Well, now things are bad and likely to get worse.

You’ve heard about Halladay and how the once-indomitable ace will undergo surgery that could end his season—and perhaps his career as a Phillie, seeing that the right-hander is in line to be a free agent.

Speaking of free agents, Utley is in the final year of his contract, too. There have been rumors that Utley, the longtime heart and soul of this club who performs like an All-Star but approaches every game as if he were fighting tooth and nail to remain on the 25th man roster, could be traded if the club decides to go the seller route.

And while that, too, will be a sad day, if and when it comes to pass, trading Utley might be the right move for general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.

Fact is, when you look at the ages, performances and recent injury history of the Phillies’ stars—Halladay, Utley, Howard, Lee and shortstop Jimmy Rollins—almost all of them are going too far in the wrong direction in at least one of those aspects.

 

The Long Climb Back

Perhaps the biggest factor in all of this is the competition.

While the Phillies front office has been hoping to squeeze every last drop out of a core that had the best record in the National League from 2007 through 2011—the Phils went 473-337 (.584) over that five-year stretch—the dynamic of the division they once dominated has changed dramatically.

The Nationals had baseball’s best record a year ago, and the Braves have one of the youngest and most dangerous lineups around. The Phillies aren’t nearly as good and certainly not as young as either of those clubs.

And while things don’t look as promising for the Mets and Marlins right now, both teams have already begun their rebuilding process, so they have a head start on Philadelphia in that respect.

In other words, the Phillies might have a few long seasons ahead of them.

 

The Good Times

But rather than dwell on the future, let’s remember the Phillies’ proud past. After all, there are still plenty of memories from the great years.

Like when Howard won the 2005 NL Rookie of the Year, then MVP a year later, triggering a string of individual awards and team-wide successes.

Or like when Rollins’ 2007 performance earned more MVP hardware.

Or like Halladay’s perfect game, followed by his postseason no-hitter, followed by his Cy Young win—all in 2010, his first year in town.

And of course, who can forget what left-hander Cole Hamels did in the 2008 playoffs, culminating in a strong performance in the World Series-clinching Game 5, which ended a curse and brought the first major sports championship to the city of Philadelphia since 1983.

That seems like as good a note to end our service on as any. So, folks, we’ll ask that you bow your heads in respect and remember what the Philadelphia Phillies achieved.

Could they have done more? Was there supposed to be another title along the way? Should this team—with Utley, Howard, Rollins and Hamels, just an insane run of homegrown talent all clumped together in the mid-aughts—have become a dynasty?

Rather than harp on what could have been, it’s better to appreciate what actually was.

And hold onto those memories. It might be while before the team can make some more.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com