Philadelphia Phillies’ Best Case Scenario for 2013? Emulate the 2010 Phillies

The trouble Phillies fans have with the team they have now is that it is not the team they used to have.

The offensive numbers the Phillies used to put up are, in the context of what the team looks like going into the 2012 offseason, patently absurd.

Let’s start with Ryan Howard. You probably remember that Ryan Howard once hit 58 home runs in a season. He drove in 149 runs that year. He was the National League’s Most Valuable Player.

What you may not remember is that that year was 2006. The Phillies did not even make the playoffs in 2006. But Howard’s breakout season signaled a new era in Phillies’ baseball, an era where the team’s hitters would start making better use of the bandbox dimensions of Citizens’ Bank Park.

The Phillies made the playoffs in 2007 for the first time in fourteen seasons. Howard went off again, with 47 home runs and 136 RBI. Chase Utley had his true “here I am” campaign, hitting .332 with 22 home runs and 103 RBI despite missing 29 games (an omen, sadly.) They both had great years, but 2007 was Jimmy Rollins’ MVP season: .296, 30 home runs, 94 runs batted in and an astounding 139 runs scored.

In 2008, another 48 home runs and 146 RBI for Howard, another 33 home runs and 104 RBI for Utley. Rollins stole 47 bases. Video game stuff and a World Series title.

The Phillies fell short of a successful world championship defense in 2009, but the pennant was not all bad, and it certainly was not for a lack of offense. Howard had another monster season with 45 home runs and 141 RBI, Utley was in with 31 and 93.

And they started getting it from different places. Raul Ibanez hit 34 home runs and drove in 93. Jayson Werth (in the season that probably convinced the Washington Nationals to give him his current crazy contract) hit 36 home runs, drove in 99 runs, scored 98 more and stole 20 bases for good measure.

“Enough,” I hear you saying. “Yeah, that was all fun, but those guys are gone now.”

Yes, they are. Which is why, if you are going to hold out hope for the 2013 Phillies, you have to hope they can get it done the way the 2010 Phillies did.

The Phillies won 97 games in 2010, good enough to win the National League East by six games. By comparison, the Washington Nationals were slobbered over for winning 98 games this season. Unlike the prior four seasons, though, the 2010 Phillies could not rely on MVP candidates and breakout years. They had to patch it together.

Can they do something similar in 2013? Let’s see.

Howard hit .276 with 31 home runs and 108 RBI in 2010. The average probably will not be there, but given a full, healthy season, the counting stats should be very similar.

Utley hit .275 with 16 home runs and 65 RBI in 115 games in 2010. Granted, that might be the best he can do in 2013. But he is playing for his baseball life with his contract ending. If anyone is properly motivated on the 2013 Phillies, it is Utley.

Ibanez hit .275 with 16 home runs and 83 RBI in 2010. Can Darin Ruf give you something similar? Can Domonic Brown? Maybe not. But Delmon Young is a free agent after this season, he does not figure to break the bank, and his 2012 slash line was .267/18/74. Hmmm.

Rollins hit .243 in 2010 and missed almost half the regular season with injuries. He will be at least that good and, if 2012 is any indication, he will be much better.

The 2013 Phillies will miss Shane Victorino, sure. But Victorino‘s 2010 season was pretty mediocre: .259/18/69. If they do not break the bank on B.J. Upton, can the Phillies squeeze that out of a John Mayberry Jr./Domonic Brown platoon?

All that said, there are still two fairly significant components the 2010 team had that the 2013 as of this writing just does not. Werth was solid again with .296/27/95. And Placido Polanco had his last decent season, hitting a punchless-but-dependable .298.

The answer there may need to come from outside the organization. Chase Headley is on track to waste his prime with the San Diego Padres after going for .286/31/113 while playing half his games in cavernous Petco Park.

If the Phillies could find a way to extract Headley, they could count on him to replicate Werth‘s 2010 numbers and live with an inexpensive light-hitting right fielder or center fielder. Dexter Fowler?

And no, I am not going to address the pitching. All of the foregoing assumes that the Phillies will get something like 85-100 healthy, productive starts from Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay, and that Jonathan Papelbon will still be a reliable (if unspectacular) closer.

Why am I assuming that? Because save for Halladay’s anomaly of a season, none of them gave any reason to think they will not be what they have been. Questionable as Halladay was, he still won 11 of his 25 starts in 2012.

So no, the 2013 Phillies are never going to look like the offensive juggernauts of the end of the last decade.

But that does not mean they do not have one last run left with this team.

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25 Most Beloved Teammates in Philadelphia Phillies History

When the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series in 2008, they weren’t the best team in the game. That’s not a knock against a very good team. Just a fact. 

So when people look back at the 2008 season and try and figure out why they won, some are inclined to chalk it up to luck, but it was much more than that, and it began long before the ’08 season. 

What the Phillies had that season was good chemistry. They had been building the core of the club for years and you would think that the ’08 season was just a stepping stone, but it wasn’t. 

That team won the World Series because they knew how to play as a cohesive unit. Some of the best “clubhouse characters” in the game played on that team, from the enigmatic Jimmy Rollins to the silent leader Chase Utley.

In my personal opinion, it is immensely important to assemble a team that can mesh together. That’s why I wanted to take a look at some of the best and beloved “teammates” in Phillies history—guys who other people wanted to play with. 

Some of the results are surprising. Others you’d expect to see here. One thing is for certain—they’d make one hell of a team.

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Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees Share Troubling Similarities

Watching the disintegration of the 2012 New York Yankees in this postseason, aside from being sort of a joyful exercise for many, has brought back a lot of ugly recent postseason memories for Phillies fans.

The Yankees are down 0-3 to the Detroit Tigers in the American League Championship Series primarily because the offense that was second in the major leagues in runs scored during the regular season has scored one run in the past two games. That run came in the ninth inning of Game 3 on a solo home run from Derek Jeter‘s backup.

It is not as though the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles up in the Division Series, either. But for unexpected heroics from Raul Ibanez, the Yankees would not have reached the ALCS at all. The Yankees are hitting an even .200 as a team through eight playoff games. More shockingly, they are slugging an absurdly low .317.

To Phillies fans, this smacks of getting shut out at home in Game 5 of the 2011 National League Division Series to lose to the St. Louis Cardinals. And it is not far removed from scoring a scant two runs at home in a Game 6 loss in the 2010 National League Championship Series to the San Francisco Giants.

Big payroll teams failing to hit in the playoffs.

That is not all the Yankees and the Phillies have in common these days.

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Who Should Be the Philadelphia Phillies’ Opening Day Starter in 2013?

After an inconsistent 2012 season, the Philadelphia Phillies have a ton of questions going into next season. The Phillies have holes at third base, in their bullpen and every single outfield position is still up in the air.

One question most seem to be over looking is what will the order of the Phillies starting pitching rotation look like in 2013. Most importantly, who will be named the starting pitcher on opening day come April 1.

The Phillies will open the season on the road against the Atlanta Braves, another team who will be going through an abundant amount of changes come next season. Outfielder Michael Bourn is a prized free agent and third baseman Chipper Jones will be enjoying retirement.

Do the Phillies continue with their trend of the past few seasons and start Roy Halladay?

Halladay battled injuries since spring training and was never really the dominant force he had been in the past. He only started 25 games in 2012 and threw only 156.1 innings—his lowest totals since 2005. Halladay also posted his highest ERA since 2000 (4.49).

Hopefully a longer offseason will benefit Halladay and he can come back strong in 2013.

Another opening day starter option is Cliff Lee, who despite having a 6-9 record, pitched extremely well in 2012.

Lee finished seventh in the NL in innings pitched (211), fourth in strikeouts (207), ninth in ERA (3.16) and sixth in WHIP (1.11).

If Lee gets the nod, pitching coach Rich Dubee could go with a Lee, Halladay and Hamels rotation to split up his lefties.

The man I believe should start on opening is Cole Hamels, who is fresh off signing his six year, $144 million contract that will keep him in Phillies’ pinstripes until at least 2018. He is also coming off one of the best seasons of his career. Going 17-6 in 215.1 innings pitched with an ERA of 3.05.

Hamels finished in the Top Ten in almost every single NL pitching category. He was fifth in wins (17), sixth in innings pitched (215.1), third in strikeouts (216), eight in ERA (3.05), seventh in WHIP (1.12) and fourth in complete games with two.

Hamels has developed into one of the best left-handed pitchers in the game, and with Roy Halladay entering the tail end of his career, it is time for Hamels to take back the No. 1 spot in the Phillies’ rotation.

The next question Dubee will have to answer is who will man the second spot, Halladay or Lee? A tough decision to say the least, but the Phillies will most likely want to split the two up.

Vance Worley and Kyle Kendrick will most likely be the fourth and fifth starters baring an offseason trade. 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

25 Greatest Outfielders in Philadelphia Phillies History

Here are a couple of things that you will hear a lot about during the offseason: the Philadelphia Phillies and outfielders. 

Why? Well, there is just a mutual need. Gone are the days when the Phillies could pencil in a regular at all three outfield slots, and in are the days where the Phillies are in desperate need of a center fielder, are handing the reigns over to a guy who has been more potential than success at another spot and who knows what in the other. 

Kind of makes you want to look back at some of this organization’s better outfielders, doesn’t it? 

The Phillies are an interesting franchise insofar as that the majority of their greatest all-time position players are outfielders—including some recent names that make sense, some really old ones that may ring a bell and everything in between. 

So, who’s the greatest? Only one way to find out. 

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Predicting the Philadelphia Phillies’ Lineup in 2 Years

Entering an offseason with many question marks ahead, the Philadelphia Phillies have some holes to fill. They have a major outfield vacancy, specifically in center field. Their third base situation is also sketchy. And a veteran reliever or two certainly wouldn’t hurt after the younger relievers showed this past year that they can’t handle the workload by themselves.

All those holes will be filled in a matter of weeks. But what about two years from now? Where will the Phillies stand heading into…say, 2015?

Perhaps that’s a bit to far away to judge. Trades, free agency signings and the like are bound to happen, so what will be predicted in this slideshow and what will realistically occur are probably going to be very different from one another.

Some of the current Phillies under contract will still be around for 2015. Others will have moved on to other teams, while some may have even retired. There’s also prospects who could be promoted by then. Since both the players and even the manager could be different by 2015, who bats where, per se, will not be predicted; rather, who is playing where is what will be determined.

So, without further ado, here is the projected 2015 Opening Day lineup for the Philadelphia Phillies.

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Philadephia Phillies: 5 Less Outside-the-Box Trade Ideas

Earlier this week I wrote an article suggesting some very outside-the-box, crazy trade ideas.  Most centered around well-known players with expensive contracts, and I understood that all were unlikely to occur.  However, after the backlash I received—more than one person questioned what I was smoking—I’ve decided to attempt again, and this time give five possible trades that are not so outside-the-box.

In a couple of the trades I proposed in my earlier piece I suggested moving Ryan Howard.  The only way Howard gets moved, at this point in his career and with his contract, is for another bad contract.  That was the idea behind packaging him in a deal for Joe Mauer (his contract is even worse).  

Other than taking back an equally bad, or worse, contract, the Phillies are not going to move Ryan Howard.  And they probably shouldn’t.

The Phillies’ two best trade pieces, on their major league club, are pitchers Cliff Lee and Vance Worley.  While their minor league system has been gutted in recent years in an attempt to continue winning division titles, it is not completely barren.  

However, if they were to attempt to deal for a player like Chase Headley or Jacoby Ellsbury, it would probably rob them of what talent they have left in their minor league system.  

All that being said, the Phillies do have the pieces necessary to upgrade their team.  They may not make a franchise-altering move, but they have a chance to get someone who can help them.

Without anymore babbling, here are a few deals the Phillies could possibly make this winter.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Will Ryne Sandberg Replace Charlie Manuel in 2013?

Imagine you have had your present job, as a manager for a large local concern, for eight years.

The company you joined in 2005 had long been both a punching bag in its industry and a local laughingstock. Only by virtue of its effective monopoly in providing its product in the region had it even survived.

Your first year in the job, though, you turned a profit. You did it again the next year, and the year after that. In your fourth year running things, the company had one of the two greatest performances in its largely unremarkable 140-year history. You followed that success with another hugely profitable campaign.

In your eight years, you have overseen five of the company’s best performances. In fact, though shareholders were disappointed with 2009’s return, it was still one of the company’s six most successful efforts ever.

2010 and 2011 saw diminishing returns, but the business was still quite profitable despite surprising, late-year downturns that ultimately dinged the bottom line.

And then, in 2012, for the first time, you and the company only broke even. You have not been scapegoated for this outcome—not specifically. But the board which pays your salary and the shareholders have not exactly absolved you of responsibility for the return to mediocrity, either.

During a year-end press conference with your immediate supervisor, he introduced one of the company’s former employees, who left the company under regrettable circumstances. Universally, the former employee’s departure is seen by everyone involved with your company as a horrible error.

This former employee has been back with your company for the past two years working in the field. 

And now he is back in the home office. And he will be working alongside you next year.

That’s not good, is it?

The extended metaphor above, obviously, is that of Charlie Manuel‘s eight-year tenure as the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. Everyone who wants Manuel gone (and there are quite a few) plainly ignore the fact that in his first seven seasons running the team, these were the results: seven seasons better than .500, a World Championship, two pennants and five division titles.

Manuel presided over the longest extended run of success the Phillies have ever seen, by a long shot. Even the Danny Ozark teams of the late 1970s, which ultimately produced a champion under Dallas Green in 1980, were not this good.

But professional sports have little room for nostalgia. Manuel’s team, expected to win another division title with the second-highest payroll in baseball, only won half of its games.

So you could excuse Manuel for feeling a bit unsettled about having Ryne Sandberg, the Hall of Fame second baseman the Phillies gave away so long ago, introduced at a press conference presided over by Ruben Amaro Jr. early this month.

Not one of the three men said Sandberg is Manuel’s heir apparent. Probably because it is so obvious that it did not need to be spoken aloud. Manuel is under contract for more than $3 million in 2013, the last year of the contract extension he signed in March of 2011.

The big question for Manuel is whether he can survive the 2013 season with his job. The answer to that question will probably be decided by June 1, 2013. If the team starts fast and is in contention, he almost certainly will survive the season. 

The schedule-makers did Manuel some favors. The Phillies do open with three in Atlanta, but then they do not see the Braves again until July 5. Similarly, the Phillies do not see the Washington Nationals at all until May 24. So for seven weeks or so, Manuel will have a chance to compile wins against the likes of the Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets and Miami Marlins.

If the Phillies get to June 1 with the division lead or a solid hold on a wild-card spot, Manuel should be fine as far as finishing out his contract goes.

But it is still not going to be much fun, with his likely replacement watching and waiting all the while.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Grading the Contracts of All Philadelphia Phillies Players

The Philadelphia Phillies are preparing for a busy offseason. 

After heading into the 2011 season with the highest payroll in the National League, the Phillies got off to a lousy start—thanks in large part to injuries—and found themselves shedding salary at the trade deadline. 

The club couldn’t finish off an impressive comeback late in the season and instead faded into obscurity in the campaign’s final weeks, leaving fans calling for changes this winter. 

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. will be making some changes this winter, but maybe not as many as people would like. He just doesn’t have room under the luxury tax threshold for that. 

Sure, he could upgrade in center field by landing a big-ticket free agent. Maybe he could spend big bucks on a power bat. The bullpen was an area that crumbled last season, and the relievers that are out there could probably benefit from an experienced arm. And don’t forget about the third base situation. 

But if the Phillies make any of those moves, we are looking at an “either-or” type of deal. The Phillies could make a bunch of small changes or they could make one big change. They probably don’t have much money to spend. 

A quick look at the contracts already on the books for 2013 could shed some light on the reason why. 

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5 Philadelphia Phillies Pitching Prospects Who Could Make Their Debut in 2013

One of the brightest spots of the Philadelphia Phillies‘ organization is the depth of their pitching prospects.

From Low-A Lakewood all the way up to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, the Phillies have several promising arms, both in the bullpen and starters who will contribute to the major league club in the very near future. 

Once the Phillies decided to engage in a fire sale at this past season’s trade deadline, the Phillies wanted to add depth to their organization. They added a starting pitcher who was a former first-round draft pick to a minor league system filled with “Baby Aces.”

The Phillies’ scouting department has done a fantastic job in developing young talent and bringing in players who have the skill set to contribute at the major league level.

Here are five Phillies pitching prospects who have a chance to make their major league debut at some point during the 2013 season. 

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