MLB Rumors: Philadelphia Phillies Could Be Fated for Fire Sale at Trade Deadline

The Philadelphia Phillies are floundering at the bottom of the National League East and may find themselves among the sellers at the MLB trade deadline on July 31 if their fortunes don’t shift soon.

According to Jim Salisbury of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. is acutely aware of the team’s struggles and will strongly consider offloading big-name players to replenish a depleted farm system should the current pattern of impotence continue:

“July is so far ahead. We just have to get on track. But if July comes and we’re playing like this, we’ll be sellers. How we play now will determine whether we’ll be buyers or sellers in July.”

At this point, the prospects for improvement aren’t exactly promising. The starting pitching is still phenomenal, as one might expect from a rotation that features Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels at the top, and the defense is still relatively strong.

But the offense has been subpar, to say the least.

The absences of swinging stars Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in the everyday lineup have considerably hurt Philadelphia’s production at the plate, to the point where they now rank as a merely middle-of-the-pack offense in the NL. Utley is due back soon but, as ESPN’s Buster Olney points out, he shouldn’t be counted on to save the day, especially at the age of 33 and given his lengthy history of injuries.

Howard, on the other hand, could prove to be a bigger help to a Phillies team that’s slugging just .370 so far, with all of 22 home runs in 32 games. Unfortunately, Howard’s timetable for a return is much more uncertain than Utley’s, given the more severe nature of the Achilles injury he suffered in the final at-bat of last year’s NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals.

In the meantime, the Phillies should be able to skate by, so long as the likes of Hunter Pence, Carlos Ruiz, Shane Victorino and Placido Polanco can continue producing at the plate.

The bigger concern for Amaro and the Phils rests with their bullpen, which has thus far compiled a worst-in-the-majors ERA of 5.47. Jonathan Papelbon has settled into the closer’s role as expected (3.00 ERA, nine saves), but has seen the rest of the reserve arms—Jose Contreras (8.59 ERA), Kyle Kendrick (7.32 ERA), Mike Stutes (on the DL) and Chad Qualls (three blown saves in his last four outings)—crumble around him.

Bullpen arms are a dime a dozen, but with their minor league system devoid of quality prospects and a payroll pressing up against the upcoming salary tax threshold, the Phillies may not have the flexibility or the leverage to pursue many options, if any.

That’s not to say that the Phillies are necessarily doomed for a fire sale just yet. As bad as a 14-18 start and a five-game deficit in the division may seem, it’s still only May and the NL East, while seemingly replete with quality teams, lacks a single dominant force capable of running away with the crown.

Still, if the Phils don’t get their act together within the next month or two, don’t be surprised if names such as Hamels, Victorino, Pence and Joe Blanton start popping up amidst the rumor mill more frequently, with an eye toward a fresh start in the City of Brotherly Love.

 

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Philadelphia Phillies: 3 Players Who Must Step Up in 2012

The 2012 MLB season is barely underway (thanks to the Oakland A’s and the Seattle Mariners in Japan), and the Philadelphia Phillies are already all over the spectrum. On the one hand, manager Charlie Manuel still has a ton of talent at his disposal, particularly with a trio of aces (Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels) and an All-Star closer (Jonathan Papelbon) on the mound. Those hurlers will be expected to carry the Fightins to another National League East crown and (fingers crossed) a World Series title.

On the other hand, the injury bug seems to have made an all-too-comfortable home at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla., where it’s bitten the Phillies in a big way. To be fair, Ryan Howard’s long-term absence was already expected after the All-Star first baseman pulled up lame with a torn Achilles tendon on the final out of the team’s NLDS loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

The same could be said, in a way, for Chase Utley, who’s expected to start the season on the disabled list on account of his bad knees.

With Howard and Utley sidelined indefinitely, the Phillies will need these three guys to step up big, in the batter’s box and in the field if they’re to bring another pennant to the City of Brotherly Love before their window of opportunity slams shut.

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Ryan Howard Injury: Torn Achilles Sends Phillies into Uncertain Offseason

St. Louis Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter insulted the Philadelphia Phillies with a complete-game shutout in Game 5 of the NLDS. Ryan Howard closed it out with the injury, one that adds a dose of uncertainty to an offseason that came sooner than anyone expected.

The Phillies’ slugging first baseman limped out of the batter’s box and crumpled to the ground with a ruptured Achilles tendon after bouncing out in the final plate appearance of a 1-0 defeat to seal his team’s fate. Howard managed only two hits in 19 at-bats in the series, with a home run, six RBI and six strikeouts to boot.

As unfortunate as Howard’s injury is in the immediate term, it only further compounds the team’s concerns about its aging lineup heading into 2012. 

This was supposed to be the Phillies’ season. They came into 2011 as the oldest team in the Majors, with the deepest starting rotation in recent memory, behind Cy Young winners Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, World Series MVP Cole Hamels and former Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt.

Their everyday lineup was getting old, but still sported two former NL MVPs in Howard and shortstop Jimmy Rollins, along with Hall-of-Fame second baseman Chase Utley and All-Star center fielder Shane Victorino, also known as “The Flyin’ Hawaiian.”

The deadline addition of herky-jerky outfielder Hunter Pence appeared to calcify their chances of bringing another ring to the City of Brotherly Love.

Instead, the Phillies find themselves without anything to show for their club-record 102 regular season wins or their $172 million payroll, the second-highest in all of baseball.

The starting staff will be back but general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. will have some tough decisions to make, as Rollins and relievers Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson are all set to test the free agent market this winter.

And then there’s Howard. He figures to be out at least six months with his torn Achilles, a figure that would put him out of commission until after spring training. Howard led Philadelphia in homers (33) and RBI (116) this season but hit only .253 with 172 whiffs.

The numbers of Howard’s that really concern the Phillies at this point, though, are those related to his age and his contract. Howard will turn 32 in November, an age that’s typically pretty good for power but not necessarily for recovering from serious injuries.

And definitely not a good number for Philadelphia, given that the team has him signed through 2017 at an average of just over $23 million per season. That commitment, along with the long-term money guaranteed to the 34-year-old Halladay, the 33-year-old Lee and the 32-year-old Utley, among others, leaves the Phillies strapped for cash to invest in new, younger hitters to fill out Charlie Manuel’s batting order.

An order that, despite being replete with big names, ranked only seventh in the NL in runs scored and OPS and managed only 10 runs over the final four games of the series against the Cards.

What’s more, in acquiring the likes of Halladay, Lee, Oswalt and Pence over the years, the Phillies have exhausted their stock of minor league talent in anticipation of contending for World Series titles in the immediate term.

Which brings us back to Howard, a farm-raised talent who’s long padded his stats against mediocre bullpen arms to mask his struggles staring down top-tier pitching. As poorly as Howard has played at times, the Phillies need him to be the thumper in the middle of their aging lineup, to carry a less-than-officious offense in support of an ace-laden rotation.

If Howard is hobbled by his Achilles for too long, the Phillies may find themselves well behind in the race for the NL East, behind ladder-climbing clubs like the Braves, the Marlins and perhaps even the Nationals.

Much less the the pursuit of another World Series championship.

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