Philadelphia Phillies: Buyers or Sellers at MLB Trade Deadline?

Obviously we’re just over two months out from Major League Baseball’s trade deadline, but already there is some speculation as to who might find themselves to be buyers and who might be sellers come July 31. 

One of the more intriguing characters in this year’s midsummer drama will be the Philadelphia Phillies. 

Currently sitting at 26-29 and just six-and-a-half games behind the National League East-leading Atlanta Braves, the Phillies find themselves in quite the quandary. 

The Phillies and their fans have grown accustomed to winning. In fact, last year’s third-place finish was the first time since the 2006 season that the Phillies did not win the NL East. 

During that span from 2007 to 2011, the Phillies won five division titles, two National League pennants and one World Series.

Their 81-81 record in 2012 was simply unacceptable. 

However, the front office did little prior to the 2013 campaign to improve their roster. 

The additions of center fielder Ben Revere, right fielder Delmon Young and expected eighth-inning setup man Mike Adams have yet to pay off. Likewise, third baseman Michael Young has not provided much in terms of production. 

It’s time to come to a realization—the Phillies, as they are now, cannot compete with the elite teams in baseball.

The roster is littered with guys who find themselves in the onset of the twilight of their careers. 

Cornerstone players in this organization just can’t produce like they once could.

Ryan Howard—the hulking first baseman who was once a perennial MVP contender, even winning the award once in a season that saw him club 58 home runs—is a shell of his former self.

Howard is averaging one home run for every 31 at-bats. 

In contrast, during that MVP season in 2006, Howard knocked one out of the park every 12 at-bats. 

Chase Utley, the beloved second baseman, has battled knee problems in the past. While Utley has come back, he’s just not the same superstar player that he was during seasons past.

It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this, but this year, when the Phillies once again find themselves outside of contention, we should expect to see the team move into selling mode.

There are certainly singular players on this roster who are capable of being difference-makers. 

A team in contention that is one starting pitcher away from reaching the postseason would be hard pressed to find a better starting pitcher on the market this season than Cliff Lee. 

Of course, Lee is set to make $75 million over the course of the next three seasons. That’s a lot of money, and at age 34, it’s definitely a risk.

I’m sure, though, that the Phillies will find themselves with several suitors.

With pitching at a premium in the major leagues, Jonathan Papelbon is a legitimate top-level closer. He’s having a fantastic year and is just the kind of player who can make a good team a great team.

While Lee and Papelbon will be among the hottest commodities on the trade market, I feel like the Phillies will be willing to part with several other players. However, they won’t be sought with the same vigor.

Yes, I believe the Phillies will be willing to part with Howard, Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Mike Adams and the Youngs—Delmon and Michael. 

Of course, it’s unlikely that all these players will go. In fact, it’s totally possible that none of these guys will find themselves with another club on August 1. Contract lengths, salaries and no-trade clauses could seriously hamper any chance at making a worthwhile trade. 

The truth of the matter is this team has run its course, and now’s the time to rebuild. 

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Is Philadelphia Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel on the Hot Seat?

The Philadelphia Phillies have won five consecutive National League East Division Championships.

In 2008 the Phillies won the World Series, beating the Tampa Bay Rays four games to one.

In 2009 the Phillies made a return trip to the World Series.

This time they were bested by the New York Yankees, four games to two.

So that’s a five year run to the postseason that also included back-to-back appearances in the Fall Classic.

That’s a pretty good resume for the man in charge.

That man is Charlie Manuel.

Manuel, like anyone else who comes to play, coach or manage in the City of Brotherly Love, was forced to earn the respect of the team’s fan base.

It wasn’t exactly an easy obstacle to overcome.  Manuel’s seemingly laid back approach and his West Virginia draw were not something Philadelphians were accustomed to.

Nevertheless, in 2005, Manuel’s first season with the club, the Phillies managed 88 wins, two more than the previous season.

In 2006, they won only 85 games, however since 2006 it has been a steady progression upwards in the win column for the Fightin‘ Phils, culminating with last season’s organization record 102 wins.

With all of the winning, is it safe to say that Manuel has earned the respect and loyalty of the fanbase?

After all, he led the team and the city with that World Series win to its first major sports championship in 25 years.

Sports fans are a fickle bunch though. Win and things are great; lose and, well they’re outside the window of your office with signs imploring ownership to put you out of your misery and send you packing.

This isn’t an exaggeration.

This was a scene right out of South Philadelphia this past Fall as the Philadelphia Eagles’ faithful grew more and more disgruntled with Eagles head coach Andy Reid.

The same Andy Reid that has won seven NFC East championships as well as earned Wild Card spots in two other postseasons.

Andy Reid, took over the Eagles in 1999 after the team and its fans suffered through a 3-13 1998 season.

So, while Reid took over a floundering team, Manuel took the controls of a team that was, in my opinion, already headed towards the playoffs.

The Phillies organization did a great job of molding their homegrown talent.

In fact, the core players in the Phillies resurgence were almost all primarily players that the Phillies had drafted.

Looking back, the Phillies front office, the men evaluating the talent, had done an exemplary job and really set the stage for the Phillies to become the force that they have been.

Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Brett Myers and Cole Hamels were all selected by the Phillies in the amateur draft, and they all played crucial roles in the Phillies resurgence.

Two of these guys, Rollins and Howard, were NL MVPs, and of course Hamels was the NLCS MVP as well as the World Series MVP in 2008.

Most everyone would agree that Chase Utley, from 2005 to 2009 was the Phillies best and most consistent player.  If not for the severe knee problems which are currently sidelining the second baseman, Utley would very likely still be the reigning top dog on the Phillies roster, at least as far as position players go.

This brings me to the pitching.

Everyone is familiar, at this point, with last season’s four aces.

Roy Halladay.  Cliff Lee.  Cole Hamels.  Roy Oswalt.

Those four names, it was argued in Philadelphia and beyond, were supposed to lead the Phillies to the greatest season any baseball team in Major League history had ever enjoyed.  The ultimate capper was to be a World Series win.

Well instead, in a World Series or bust season, the Phillies lost in the first round of the playoffs, dropping the fifth and deciding game at home with Roy Halladay on the mound.

The team with the $172 million payroll went whimpering into the night.

Still there were no calls for Manuel’s job.

To me, the question lingers…how long can one championship carry you?

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Jayson Werth Returns to Philadelphia to Take on Phillies and Their Fans

What does a seven-year $126 million contract get you these days? Apparently it gets a .233 batting average with four home runs and seven RBI through the season’s first month. 

This works out to roughly $214,285 per RBI. These are the numbers of high-priced free agent Jayson Werth. To state that Werth is off to a slow start is an understatement 

To state that things will get easier for Werth beginning tonight is a colossal understatement. 

Beginning tonight, Werth and the Washington Nationals begin a three-game series in Citizen’s Bank Park, Werth’s former home. These next three games have been circled on every Phillies fans magnetic giveaway calendar since Werth signed that monstrous deal in December of last year. 

To put it mildly, Phillies fans are passionate. Consider the chorus of boos that Werth heard when he took his usual place in right field for the Nationals in Nationals Park just three weeks ago. 

Those boos had nothing to do with his production on the the field, though it would be warranted, and everything to do with the thousands of Phillies fans that were in attendance. 

Considering tonight will be yet another sell out for the Phillies, this means that there will be 45,000+ in attendance ready to greet Werth with the same sort of gusto when he bats in the top of the first inning and then again in the bottom of the inning when he takes his position a mere 50 feet from the fans seated in right field. 

The same fans who once adored him and signed on to Facebook pages dedicated in both his honor and his beard’s honor. Fans who cheered his every success. Fans who have not forgotten his past accomplishments.

Please don’t misunderstand, Phillies fans are knowledgeable and understand that Werth was a key cog in the team’s success over the last several years and that during those postseason run’s, he has climbed atop the Phillies all-time postseason homer run list. 

However, the dynamic has changed.  Werth spurned an entire city this offseason when he bolted down the I-95 corridor for Washington D.C. and greener pastures. No, Werth will not be playing for a contender this year, nor will he be playing for a contender next year. He will however, be making a boatload of money. 

Tonight, Jayson Werth will be reminded of what he gave up for all of those dollar bills and of what he left behind. Tonight, at the ballpark in South Philly, he will be wearing a slightly different shade of red and in Philadelphia, that makes all the difference. 

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