Cha-Ching!: Ryan Madson’s Asking Price Rises with Each Successful 9th Inning

Baseball’s highest-paid closer earns $15 million per year.

The game’s best-rewarded setup man is making $10 million this year, but his contract is scheduled to pay him $25 million over the next two seasons (if he doesn’t opt out), bringing the annual value of the deal to just under $12 million per season.

The Phillies are paying Brad Lidge $11.5 million this season after paying him $12 million each of the previous two seasons, expecting him to be their closer through the life of the three-year extension he signed during his 2008 season of perfection that led the Phillies to the World Series championship.

As important as Lidge was to that championship, the work of Ryan Madson during and since cannot be disputed. At some point in the 2008 season it seemed as if Madson finally figured it out and became a lockdown eighth-inning reliever, the “bridge to Lidge,” as it’s been said.

Other than a few unsuccessful attempts to move into the ninth-inning role while Lidge was unavailable, Madson has been the Phillies’ best reliever since mid 2008. He might be the best reliever in the National League period, although I’m sure some fans in San Francisco could justify a case for their hotshot closer.

At the start of the 2011 season the Phillies front office and manager declared Ryan Madson unfit to close and named journeyman Jose Contreras as their closer. This move was puzzling, especially considering Madson’s spring and contract situation.

He pitched well in spring training, and logic would tell most Phillies fans that with Lidge opening the season on the disabled list, Madson would enter the season as the closer, especially since it might be the Phillies’ last chance to test out whether or not Madson can actually close in the major leagues before he enters free agency following the 2011 season.

Ryan Madson is earning $4.5 million this season, less than half all the pitchers mentioned above are, save Contreras. The three-year, $12 million contract he inked late in 2008 is coming to an end, and he’s set to test the free agent market this coming winter. But what will the market bear? Were the Phillies intentionally attempting to keep Madson tucked away in the eighth inning to keep down his potential salary demands? With Scott Boras representing him, it’s unlikely it would have worked anyhow.

No one is going to mistake Madson’s body of work for that of Mariano Rivera, perhaps the greatest reliever the game has ever seen. Therefore Madson does not deserve to be compensated on the same level Rivera is and has been. However, closers are better compensated than eighth-inning men, so therefore he has a right to ask for a contract of at least as much as Rafael Soriano makes, putting his salary demands in the range of $12 million to $15 million per season.

But how many teams would be willing—much less able—to pay closer-type money to an eighth-inning reliever? Not many, and the Phillies probably aren’t one of them with their already bloated payroll.

Ryan Madson has been a sensation this year. After getting off to a strong start as the setup man and then moving into the closer’s role, he has been lights-out dominant. Off to the best start of his career, Madson can begin counting the millions he will inevitably get once free agency starts—unless, of course, the Phillies can lock him up before then. (Which, of course, is unlikely considering his representation.)

The list of potential closers on the market this offseason is strong. Along with Madson and Lidge, both of whom will be free agents (barring a stunningly foolish move of the Phillies picking up Lidge’s option for 2012), and Soriano, who can forgo the remaining two years on his deal, the free agent market will be flooded with big names. Guys like Jonathan Papelbon, Joe Nathan, Matt Capps, Francisco Cordero and Heath Bell can become free agents.

It’s likely the Phillies will be able to replace Madson with another proven ninth-inning man if they let him leave, but would it be the correct move? Madson undoubtedly will earn more than some names on the list. No team will pay Nathan what they will pay Madson as this point, who will be one of the better-paid free-agent closers in the offseason.

However, in the same breath, pitchers like Papelbon or Bell would be suitable replacements at similar costs, but each comes with his pluses and minuses.

Papelbon has been as dominant a reliever in the American League at times as anyone not named Mariano Rivera. However, there have been questions about his long-term effectiveness and whether or not he’s lost some zip on his stuff. Add in the fact that he’s been nearly impossible to deal with for the Red Sox front office and taken them to arbitration nearly every year, and I don’t see him as a fit for the Phillies’ style.

Heath Bell would be fun to have. He’s been closing for three years in San Diego and doing it well—and he HATES the Mets. Who better to have closing games than the one player in baseball who despises your team’s biggest doormat more than the fans themselves? But he’s also three years older than Madson, and the NL East is a tougher division than the West.

After the 2011 season the Phillies will have a lot of questions. Coming off the payroll will be Raul Ibanez, Jimmy Rollins, Lidge and potentially Roy Oswalt. It may seem like the Phillies will have a lot of money to play with, but Cliff Lee’s contract nearly doubles next year, Cole Hamels is in his final arbitration eligible year (another player they may need to lock up long-term) and there is no replacement for Jimmy Rollins in-house. Do they keep Rollins or, with their endlessly floundering offense, sign a replacement like Jose Reyes who will command big dollars?

Either way, the Phillies payroll will be stretched to its max again next year, and that means paying a top closer is going to be difficult. Any possible replacement they sign to supplement Madson who is going to be just as good will cost just as much. At this point it’s better to guarantee the money to the one who fits into your clubhouse, has proven himself in your city and has that flashy piece of jewelry he earned while pitching here.

Ryan Madson will not come cheap—especially with the way he’s been pitching this season—but four years and $52 million sounds fair for both sides. And why wait for the offseason, when another closer could ink a deal that ups the market for closers? The Phillies know what they have in Madson…get the deal done.

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Philadelphia Phillies Lose to New York Mets: What Was Jimmy Rollins Thinking?

Jimmy Rollins is the Phillies longest tenured player and, at times, he has been both the face of the franchise and its best player. 

In 2007, he put his credibility on the line by declaring the Phillies were “the team to beat” in the NL East—and then backed it up by winning MVP and leading the Phillies to a final day division title over the rival New York Mets. 

But Rollins’ time in Philadelphia has not been without controversy nor boneheaded plays. He’s been benched more than once for failure to give his all on a play.

In Sunday’s series finale against the Mets, Rollins’ boneheadedness struck once again, or to be accurate, it struck a few times during the course of the game, but only truly cost the Phillies once. 

But when it did, it cost them big.  

Rollins’ first two boneheaded plays were stealing bases. Anyone who has seen Jimmy Rollins play baseball for the past decade knows that running is as big a part of his game as anything else.  However, there are times and places to run.

Down by seven runs with two outs in the fifth inning is no time to try to steal a base, especially not third base. Rollins was already in scoring position and a base hit to the outfield most certainly would have scored him. Maybe the fact that Rollins made it easily—after attempting to go on the previous pitch when Placido Polanco fouled a pitch off—could alleviate him of responsibility, but it doesn’t. 

There’s an unwritten rule in baseball that you do not make the first or last out of an inning at third base. It could kill a rally or stop one before it ever starts.  

The second time Rollins ran was with two outs in the seventh inning, and the Phillies were down 9-1 at that time. He stole second with Polanco up.  He may have gotten himself into scoring position, but at what use? A base hit makes it a seven-run game again with him on second base, while it puts two runners on with two outs in the seventh with the heart of the Phillies lineup due up. 

Not really a big enough difference to risk getting thrown out and ending the inning.

Rollins’ finale gaffe on the day, and perhaps the one that cost the Phillies a chance to come back, happened in the eighth inning.

The Phillies began the inning down 9-1 and had mounted a slight rally. Raul Ibanez led off with a home run to right, and by the time Rollins came up six batters later, the Phillies had tacked on two more runs and were within five of the Mets at 9-4. The previous two games, the Phillies came back in the eighth inning against New York, but had a larger, more difficult deficit to overcome on Sunday. 

With two outs and Dominic Brown on first, Rollins laced a base hit down the right-field line. It didn’t make it to the corner, but was far enough away from Jason Pridie for Brown to reach third. Jimmy Rollins should have stopped at first—that was probably apparent to everyone in Citi Field or watching on TV at home. 

Instead, Rollins rounded first and headed for second, where Pridie easily threw him out to end the inning and the Phillies biggest rally of the day, still down by five runs.

Five runs might still be too large a deficit for a team to overcome, but with two runners on base, a bullpen on its heels and the Phillies two biggest bats—Ryan Howard and Chase Utley—on the bench, one swing could have changed everything. A five run deficit becoming a two-run deficit drastically changes things, especially heading into the ninth inning. 

Unfortunately, because of Jimmy Rollins’ boneheadedness, we will never know what might have happened in New York on Sunday.

It begs the question: What was Rollins thinking? 

Was he thinking that if he didn’t play as aggressively as he possibly could and take whatever extra base he could, it would be the difference between winning and losing? Did he weigh the risks in the game versus the benefit to his statistical pile at the end of the year? 

If Rollins steals 35 bases or belts 40 doubles, no one is going to remember when they came or if Rollins put his team at risk to achieve them at the winter meetings; they’re only going to see that he did steal 35 bases—that he’s still got it.  

Rollins is a free agent at the end of the season, and this may be his last chance at a big time payday.  Since his MVP season, Rollins has been going downhill.  HIs numbers have decreased and the injury bug has bitten him. 

There’s no way he hasn’t heard the whispers, the insinuations that he’s lost a step, that he’s done and won’t be the same player ever again. Could Jimmy Rollins, once the man who stood up and was willing to take anything anyone threw at him because he believed the Phillies were the best team in the division, now be more concerned with padding his personal statistics rather than the Phillies win/loss record?  

I don’t know, but I don’t want to have to think about it again. I don’t want to watch Jimmy Rollins play over-aggressively and have to wonder if he’s doing it for the team or his future contract. 

And I didn’t even mention the error he made in the first inning that cost the Phillies three runs and put them in that situation to begin with.

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Chase Utley’s Return and What It Means to the Philadelphia Phillies

It’s being reported that the Phillies plan on calling up franchise second baseman Chase Utley in time for Monday’s series opener against the Cincinnati Reds.  There has been speculation for a week now that Utley would return for this series, although General Manager Ruben Amaro has denied it.  However, it’s difficult to take Amaro at his word on anything as most of what he says turns out to be false, as he runs one of sports tightest lipped front offices—not sure if that’s good or bad for the fans.

What will Chase Utley bring to the table?  Will he be the Utley of old, the one who’s an offensive force and can carry a team on his back?  Will his knee hold up the remainder of the season?  What type of rest will it require to stay in the lineup through yet another long October run?

I’m a pessimist by nature and have a hard time seeing good in much (there are exceptions), but even I’m having a hard time envisioning how this is anything but fantastic news for the Phillies and their fans.  Utley is returning to the lineup at precisely the right time, when the team needed a moral booster and something positive to focus on.  

No one can, nor should, expect Utley to go out and play like the Hall of Fame-caliber second baseman we’ve seen throughout his career.  After not having played healthy, meaningful baseball at a high level for nearly an entire year (when he returned from his thumb injury last year he was not 100 percent healthy and it showed), he’s going to be rusty.  He’ll probably struggle offensively—and perhaps defensively too—for a while, until he fully tests his knee at the major league level.  

However, Utley’s return to the Phillies lineup is about more than just his own production or where he bats in the lineup.  (Although that itself is a good question also: Where does Utley bat?)  His return will take pressure off other members of the team.  Ryan Howard will no longer feel he is the only legitimate threat in the lineup.  Jimmy Rollins can stop trying to hit home runs to replace Utley’s, and go back to trying to hit home runs to show off what a 5’7″ man can really do.  Raul Ibanez and Ben Francisco can stop trying to replace both Chase Utley and Jayson Werth—and start figuring out how to keep Dominic Brown from replacing them.

There will be a lot of questions the Phillies and Utley face.  No one can be sure how his knee is going to hold up, whether or not the injury will reoccur or when and how the damage will negatively affect his play.  And with Chase Utley there’s always the possibility that he will re-aggravate the injury and refuse to acknowledge it, thereby potentially hurting the team also.  

But nothing bad can come from this move right now.  It will all be smiles in Phillies-land tomorrow, and it should be.  Win or lose against Cincinnati, and the feelings around Citizens Bank Park will be warm and cozy—unless of course something disastrous happens, although I’m not allowing myself to go there.  Charlie Manuel, for the first time all year, will be able to write Chase Utely’s name into the lineup.  He will probably bat second, between Rollins and Polanco, and the Phillies will have two star offensive players in the lineup again.  

Utley will probably play well in his first game back—adrenaline and all—but will struggle afterwards for a while until he regains his footing and form.  In any case, this is excellent news for Phillies fans.  Chase Utely should be the spark this team needs to continue on in its quest for another World Series Title.  Welcome back, Chase Utley.

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Dominic Brown’s Bat Headed to Save Philadelphia Phillies?

The day a lot of fans have been waiting for has arrived.  On the day the world is supposed to end, according to some, the Phillies have announced that prized prospect Dominic Brown will be returning to the big league club to provide some offensive punch for a team that’s struggling to not only score runs but to simply get base hits.

It appears that Phillies manager Charlie Manuel and GM Ruben Amaro disagreed about calling up Brown so early, with the GM convinced more time in Triple A would do the youngster some good.  Manuel, who has a success of bringing young players, especially those with potentially prolific bats, along at a pace that makes their transition to the major leagues successful, wanted the kid up here as soon as possible.  

The stalemate between the two men ended when Amaro folded his hand and issued the call-up order to Lehigh Valley.

Dominic Brown is once again a Phillie.  Barring something strange happening or complete failure on his part it will be the last time Brown is “called up” from the minor leagues.  He should be here to stay, and Phillies fans everywhere hope he lives up to the hype.  

However, was it a good idea to call him up at this precise moment?  Yes, the Phillies recently dropped four straight and five of six.  They have loosened their grip on first place in the National League East, and their dominant pitching can only carry them so far.  

But Pennants cannot be won in April, May and June.  They can surely be lost but despite the panic surrounding their offensive (un)production they have in no way damaged their quest for a third pennant in four years.  

Promoting Dominic Brown today is a mistake.  It could have waited a week or two, when that other player toying around in the minor leagues is ready to return as well.  Brown is a fantastic talent.  He’s got all the tools to succeed in the major leagues and may very well have a superstar career.  In a couple of years he may be the face of the franchise and one of the best players in the National League, he’s that talented.  

However, bringing him up now is asking him to be savior, and that’s a lot of pressure to put on a 23-year-old.  The Phillies will say all the right things, to the media, to the players and especially to Brown himself.  

They will tell anyone who will listen that Brown will be eased in, that there is not much expected of him, and they will truly mean it and believe it themselves.  But it’s the fans and the media who will expect Brown to carry the team offensively.

He will be under extreme scrutiny and his every move will be watched by hundred of thousands. The first moment he steps in the batter’s box at Citizens Bank Park he will be greeted with a standing ovation, and the love fest will continue for a while.  

But what happens the moment he begins to struggle, as all rookies and young players do? What happens when he goes 2-for-34 and strikes out 20 times?  What about when he overthrows the cutoff man attempting to show off his arm and nail a runner at the plate and the winning run scores?  Will fans continue to give him standing ovations as the savior, or write him off as quickly as they written off Raul Ibanez and Ben Francisco?  Time will tell.

Dominic Brown should have been called up this year.  If he hadn’t have gotten hurt, he more than likely would have made the big-league club out of spring training.  However, once he was sent to the minors the best time to call him up would have been at the same time Chase Utley is activated from the disabled list.  

Between the two, Utley is the star and would have garnered the media and fans attention either way.  Brown’s return to Philly would have been a story but the BIGGER story would have been Utley, and he could have been eased into spotlight.

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Philadelphia Phillies: The Call To the Bullpen — From Upstairs?

When the Phillies’ season began with Brade Lidge on the disabled list, many fans were left scratching their heads with the announcement that Jose Contreras, not Ryan Madson, would be taking the ball in the ninth inning and handling closing duties.  The reason Charlie Manual and Ruben Amaro gave was that Madson had been given a fair chance to close and proved he was not up to the task, so the eighth inning suited him best.

I’m sorry, but I don’t buy that, not the reason nor that it’s true.  Madson has failed to convert a good percentage of the save opportunities he’s been given, but it’s not as if he’s been given all that many opportunities.  The only way you go with Contreras to be your closer is if you are 100 percent sure that Ryan Madson will never close effectively in the major leagues.  If there was any question–which I believe there is–than Madson would have begun the season as the team’s closer.  Worst case scenario, he proves them right, blows a few saves in April and goes back to the eighth inning role he has flourished in for several seasons .  While it’s possible that a team can lose a pennant in April (but not win one) no matter how poorly they left April, the Phillies were not going to be out of contention.

So it begs the question, why was Madson passed over?  And who made the decision?

My feelings are that the choice to promote Contreras over Madson was a decision made upstairs, perhaps even above Amaro’s head and that it was financial.  Charlie Manual, by his own admission, manages by his gut and has never shown reluctance to bring Madson in in a tough spot.  He’s been the Phillies best reliever for several years and most in the organization should hope he’s here many more years.

However, Ryan Madson having another good year as a setup man sets his asking price at one level, and Ryan Madson having a good season as a closer on a dominant team sets his asking price much higher–especially with Scott Boras representing him.  Heath Bell will probably be the No. 1 closer on the market next year, but if Madson has a good season as closer, he might jump ahead of him, considering his nasty stuffy (which is slightly better than Bell’s, thanks to his changeup) and the fact that he’s three years younger.

With tens of millions of dollars commented to the likes of Cliff Lee, Ryan Howard, Roy Halladay and Chase Utley over the next several seasons, it would not be totally unwise to try to limit the amount of dollars Madson could theoretically ask for by limiting his role.  Rafael Soriano signed a three-year, $35 million dollar contract to be a setup man with the Yankees.   But no other team is going to be willing to spend that much on an eighth inning guy.  As a closer, Madson could command at least that–and probably a lot more–on the open market.  

Three years ago, Francisco Rodriguez received a contract in the same neighborhood (three-years, $37.5 million) from the Mets.  While he was coming off a record-setting saves season, many scouts and baseball executives agreed that Rodriguez had lost some zip on his fastball and bite on his breaking ball and was not the same pitcher who helped the Angels win the World Series nearly a decade before.  While three years and $35 million would be striking gold for a setup man, it would only be the starting place in negotiations for an elite closer.

Ryan Madson is the best option to close for the Phillies–now and in the future.  He’s got the stuff, demeanor and experience for the Phillies to take a chance on him now.  However, I doubt they will use him, no matter how well he does filling in for the injured Jose Contreras or Brad Lidge.  The Phillies will go back to them once they are healthy in hopes to save a few dollars in the future. 

It’s not a bad business decision, but it’s not a good baseball one.  And if someone wants to pay Ryan Madson to close next year without seeing a significant sample, then so be it.  The Phillies could exercise Brad Lidge’s $12.5 million option or just hand the closing duties to Jose Contreras again, who’s signed for $3 million (including his buyout).

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Is Werth A Hero or Villain for Taking the Money?

Tonight the Phillies will square off against former teammate and fan favorite Jayson Werth. On their way back home to Philadelphia, they stop off in the nation’s capital for a three-game set against the annual basement dwellers in the National League East, who shocked the baseball world last December by inking Werth to a mammoth contract.

How will the fans respond to Werth and this unique situation? Is Werth the villain?  What about the hero? He probably isn’t either, but somewhere in between—the average Joe who left one job for another worth more money.  

Can anyone really fault Jayson Werth for signing with the Nationals? It’s not very likely he’ll see another World Series or championship parade any time soon, nor will he have the same protection in the lineup as he did with MVPs Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins.

But playing in Washington gives Jayson Werth two things he never had in Philadelphia—the chance to show off his talents without limits and buckets full of cold, hard cash.

In Philadelphia, there were many times it seemed Werth was pressing, swinging too hard trying to hit the ball a mile when a single would do. He struck out far too often, killed many a rally and hit for a near-record-low batting average with runners in scoring position.

For a player with better than 650 plate appearances and an average just shy of .300 in a lineup that scored more than 750 runs, his 85 RBI were an embarrassment. But fans will never forget the player who swiped second, third and home in a single inning, or the one who made outstanding defensive plays in the outfield, saving runs and games many times. He was a sometimes brilliant player who, more often than not, was mind-bogglingly frustrating.

It’s a double-edged sword for fans: Do we root and cheer for what he did for the Phillies for four years or do we boo the player who turned won tens of guaranteed millions of dollars and left to play for a division rival (if the Nationals can actually be called that)?

It’s not exactly a situation the Phillies—or any other baseball team—haven’t faced before. Free agency has brought the era when players stayed with one team for life to a screeching halt. We watch our favorite players leave for greener pastures all the time.

I remember being at the Vet the day Darren Daulton (my favorite player at the time, who had been traded away) returned and hit a home run with the Florida Marlins on his way to a World Series championship in 1997.

Curt Schilling was also dealt away during the summer of 2000, after nine years of being unable to help make the Phillies a regular contender. Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand left as free agents after successful stints with the team.

However, none of those players’ departures, nor any other in the free-agency era, ranks with Jayson Werth’s. The Phillies wanted to keep Rowand—they offered him as much as they felt he was worth and Rowand turned it down for two more guaranteed years in San Francisco. At the time, the Phillies had an abundance of outfielders, even if they weren’t sure any of them would be a suitable replacement in center field.

When Burrell left, he was riding high. His hit leading off the seventh inning of Game 5 of the 2008 World Series produced the game-winning run that propelled the parade down Broad Street. But we all knew the end was near.

After nine years of mostly underachieving seasons and with a fanbase that treated Burrell differently than any other player in its history, Pat Burrell had run out gas. He could still hit home runs but he just wasn’t the same player he once was.

All of last season, the question of whether or not Jayson Werth would return to the Phillies was on every fan’s mind. Would they be willing to hand out a contract that would suit Werth, or was the bank closed after all the deals and extensions they had given over the past few years?

They were willing to pay him a substantial amount of money—a reported guaranteed offer of $48 million over three years with a fourth-year option that would have brought the total package to over $60 million. Over $60 million. That’s an awful lot of money, more than enough for most of us to live on comfortably the rest of our lives.

However, we are not all professional baseball players, people who live a high-class and expensive lifestyle. When Jayosn Werth hired Scott Boras last year, it was a sign that he was looking for the biggest deal, even if it wouldn’t happen in Philadelphia.  When the Nationals came in and offered $126 million, all guaranteed for seven years, for a player who’s never really been a superstar, it would have been foolish to turn it down.

It’s difficult for most of use to understand what $60 million is—it’s near impossible to completely understand what more than double that is. We all have dreams. A vacation home in Hawaii, private jets and more. But for the majority of us, they’re still dreams, while for major league players they are attainable options.

And while Werth could have lived off the $60 million the Phillies offered him, that extra $66 million will come in handy. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but 10, 20 years after he’s retired he can still live the high lifestyle he’s become accustomed to. 

For for the record, his $60 million contract would have, at the end of the day, put about half that in his pocket—taxes and commissions to Boras. His $126 million contract will put in his pocket what the overall Phillies offer was.

I don’t know how most Phillies fans will react. Werth has been booed and cheered in the game so far. When he caught the fly ball off Placido Polanco’s bat he was booed, and when Polanco returned the favor and threw him out at first base in the bottom of the first inning, the fans cheered.  

Personally, I will miss Jayson Werth in a Phillies uniform. He was the most talented player on the team, even if the production didn’t always say that. However, I will never fault Werth for taking the money, and no one should. Any of us would have done the same, given the circumstances. 

An extra 10 or 15 percent and you could make the argument that Werth should have stayed—he could have potentially made a lot more money in World Series shares with the Phillies.

But with a guaranteed contract of better than twice what the Phillies offered, there is no way to reasonably turn that down, even if he’ll spend the majority of those seven seasons playing for a team that loses 100 or more games a year. The odds are the Nationals won’t be baseball’s worst team much longer however.

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Philadelphia Phillies: A Lineup Full of Questions

Charlie Manuel’s got a lot of decisions to make.  The Phillies’ offense could be in trouble. 

After losing Jayson Werth in the offseason and then Chase Utley once Spring Training started, there seems to be little, if any protection for Ryan Howard in the Phillies’ lineup. Manual will have to juggle players in, out and around Howard to provide him with protection and help pick up the slack when he fails to deliver. 

Over the past few years the biggest topic debated within the Phillies’ lineup is whether or not Jimmy Rollins should remain in the leadoff spot.  His low on base percentage and propensity to try and be a power hitter has worn on fans who want to see a true “table setter” at the top of the lineup. 

Charlie Manuel has shown his stubbornness; his unwillingness to remove Brad Lidge from the closer role in 2009 may have cost them a championship.  His inability to adapt his lineup in 2011 may do the same. 

Here is a look at the Phillies’—could and should be—lineup to start the season.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 8 Bold Predictions for a Season of Brilliance

If the Phillies were playing poker they’d use the phrase “All-in” for the 2011 season.  After failing to win the World Series for the second season in a row in 2010, and falling to the San Franciso Giants in the NLCS, Phillies ownership decided to stretch its budget and bring back the post-season star who never wanted to leave in the first place.  With Cliff Lee joining an already stacked rotation the Phillies find themselves as the favorites to get back to baseball’s biggest stage—and this time they expect to bring the trophy back to Philadelphia!!

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