All Things Baseball

After a bit of a vacation, I'm back writing my baseball blog. I took a break to commit myself to finishing up law school well, especially my clinic where I was working as a public defender, but now it's all over (3 yrs of tuition, good bye!) and I can finally commit to my baseball blog....

... Which brings me to the unenviable task of having to address the Phillies. As Jayson Stark so eloquently put it in a recent ESPN column, this team is easily the most perplexing in the majors. Seems like everyone said that this team on paper was built to contend in the NL East. Of course, they said that we'd win the East last year. And Baseball Prospectus did their math and said we'd end up with 90+ wins. And the list goes on. But what's happened? We're in LAST... behind the Nationals? Behind the Mets? How? Why?

Is it the manager? I don't think so. If anything, this year tells us it's probably not the manager. Now, I'm glad Bowa is gone, b/c I don't even think there was the potential of improvement under his angry command, and I do wish the Phillies had hired Leyland instead of Manuel... but Charlie Manuel has been pretty good at keeping even keel throughout the struggles, and I think that is an important feature (just look at Andy Reid). And the guys Manuel brought in as assistant coaches seem to be doing their jobs - well, at least the pitching coach Dubee. Milt the hitting coach might need a little fire under his butt to get our guys going, but what do I know.

Is it the pitching? Well, our bullpen has been less than advertised. Randy Wolf looks lost. Padilla is still recovering from his lack of spring training. Lidle is still just Lidle. But Lieber has been superb, Myers has finally been the guy he's supposed to become, and we still have Floyd in the wings. So I'm not worried.

Is it the hitting? Short answer, yes but with conditions. Long answer, probably this is a major part of the problem. David Bell isn't producing. Burrell's production is too herky jerky and not consistent from game to game. Abreu has been cold, but that's normal for his Aprils. Thome has been non-existent, of course. Utley hasn't played enough games. Our CF position is atrocious, especially without Lofton (I never thought I'd say that!). Lieberthal has hit the wall. Rollins is still Rollins, for whatever that means.

Is it the atmosphere? For some unknown reason, YES. Absolutely. We have no one exciting. (Beltran anyone?) We have no one who's a true take charge leader. Rollins is nice for both, but not the answer. All we have are guys who are good but who like to keep quiet, it seems.

What can be done? Trade Polanco for one thing - it's addition by subtraction. Utley will play more, and Polanco's annoying attitude can be taken out. As for Howard, given Thome's situation, I'd say we actually have to keep this guy around. At least till June or so. Perhaps wait till then to trade Polanco too? I don't know. We can also trade Lidle - I'd rather have Floyd in there. Who to acquire? No idea. Our big chance was at Beltran last winter. I'm still depressed that we didn't make a full out effort to get him, and I don't buy the money thing. Can you imagine the OF of Abreu, Beltran, Burrell?

I'm obviously living in a fantasy world still, but this team needs a dose of fantasy for sure. At least us fans do.