8 Reasons to Believe in Ryan Howard, Chase Utley This Season

As of this writing, the Phillies are three games under .500 and nine games out of first place.  Roy Halladay is on the disabled list, Cliff Lee does not have a win yet.  

Bleak stuff.  

And here comes a slideshow on why you should hold out hope for Ryan Howard and Chase Utley not for 2013, but for THIS SEASON.  There is a risk to sounding like the purser on the Titanic in putting this together.  

That’s not lost on me, but indulge me anyway.

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MLB Trade Rumors: Why Hunter Pence Is the Best Player on the Market

The Philadelphia Phillies certainly got off to a slow start this season, and while their play has improved as of late, they still find themselves in the cellar of the NL East, nearly 10 games back of the surprising Washington Nationals.

It’s a long season, so you’d be hard pressed to say the Phillies are out of it, but some analysts, like ESPN’s Buster Olney, seem to think the team will be aggressive sellers when the deadline approaches.

Should they opt to unload some of their talent in favor of high-ceiling prospects, Hunter Pence’s name will no doubt be a name that comes up as he is one of the best young players in the game that may be up for grabs.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Should the Philadelphia Phillies Pursue Ben Sheets?

Ben Sheets might be trying to make a comeback again.

According to Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors, the 33-year-old right-handed pitcher threw for scouts from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the New York Yankees, the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Philadelphia Phillies are in need of some type of spark, and Ben Sheets might be able to provide that for a very low price.

The low price would come from the fact that he hasn’t pitched since 2010. He has been incredibly susceptible to injury throughout his career, and that has cost him a substantial portion of his career up until this point.

While it may seem risky to sign a pitcher with such a questionable past, the low cost would help mitigate that risk.

From the reward standpoint, Sheets has been a very effective pitcher when he has been healthy. Even though he has a sub.500 (90-92) career record, his career ERA is 3.97.

His record is less than ideal simply because he pitched most of his career for the Milwaukee Brewers when they were not very strong contenders.

It very well could be a good thing for the Philadelphia Phillies to take this risk. Quite frankly, they need to do something.

However, their hands are somewhat tied by their already high payroll. Therefore, they need to find someone who has the potential to make a large impact at a low price.

If Sheets is able to put together some of the strong ERAs he had channeled in the past, he would definitely be worth a look from the Philadelphia Phillies. If it doesn’t work out, then the financial loss would be relatively small. Why not take a risk?

 

Whether you think I know everything or nothing about Major League Baseball, you should follow me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook and keep in touch. I love hearing what you all have to say!

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Steve Carlton Couldn’t Make the Philadelphia Phillies the Second Time Around

Steve Carlton refused to give in.  He never gave in when he was the best pitcher in the game and he wasn’t giving in now. Carlton was trying to make the Philadelphia Phillies nine months after they had released him on June 24, 1986.

There were some moments during spring training in 1987 when it appeared that the old Carlton was returning, but he was generally ineffective. He didn’t make the Phillies the second time around, but the first time had been fantastic.

Carlton was traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Phillies in exchange for Rick Wise in February 1972. It was one of the great trades in history for the Phillies. Only Grover Cleveland Alexander had ever been a greater pitcher for the Phillies than Carlton.

In his first season in Philadelphia, Carlton had one of the greatest seasons any pitcher ever had. He was 27-10 for a team that finished last with a 59-97 record. Carlton accounted for 46 percent of his team’s wins.

As a comparison, the 2001 Seattle Mariners won 116 games. Jamie Moyer, who was ancient even then, won 20 games. To win 46 percent of the Mariners’ games, Moyer would have had to win 53 games. Shades of Old Hoss Radbourn.

From 1972-84, Carlton was a top-flight pitcher. Actually, he probably was the best pitcher in the game most of those seasons.

During those years, he was 236-145 with a 3.01 ERA, a 1.23 ERA+ and a 1.190 WHIP. In 1980, he beat the Kansas City Royals twice in the World Series.

Following the 1984 season, Carlton struggled. After the Phillies released him, he played, with little success, for the San Francisco Giants, the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Indians and the Minnesota Twins.

At the age of 43, Carlton was forced to pack it in. His former teammate with the Phillies, Bill Campbell, said that most players couldn’t summarily retire. The reason was that it would be terrible to wake up one morning and realize that you still might be able to play.

Carlton won 329 games in his career, which is more than Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Randy Johnson and the greatest left-hander of all, Lefty Grove.

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25 Draft Picks the Philadelphia Phillies Have the Best Odds of Signing

There’s nothing quite like Major League Baseball’s amateur draft, for all parties involved.

For high school players, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime and the biggest decision you may ever make. It’s an emotional high but also a time to weigh the risks: Do you get your professional career starter and forgo a college education, or spend time in college to refine your skills? 

For college players, it is the reward after all of the hard work. Guys spend three to four years in college working their tails off, not only playing baseball, but studying as well. Being drafted is like coming full circle; the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, if you will.

But the oft-forgotten beneficiary of the MLB draft is the organization. Take for instance, the Philadelphia Phillies. This is a club that used the draft to add hitters and pitchers from both the college and high school level and restock their farm system.

A farm once described as “barren” could be roaring back to life with just 40 selections of some of the most promising players throughout the country.

But it’s all meaningless unless the player comes to terms with the club—in this instance, the Phillies—on his first professional contract.

Some players are more likely to sign than others. It should go without saying that a college senior has more urgency to sign that a high school senior with an opportunity to go to college. Then again, a strong college commitment could draw a player away from a team.

This list will attempt to signal out which of the Phillies’ top draft picks from this season have the greatest potential to sign a contract.

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MLB Trade Deadline: Why the Philadelphia Phillies Should Trade Cole Hamels

The Philadelphia Phillies are in last place in the NL East and aren’t likely to re-sign Cole Hamels this offseason. So, why not trade him at the deadline?

Hamels has been an integral piece in the Phillies’ success over the past few seasons, and was the breakout star of their World Series run in 2008.

But Hamels will be seeking a huge contract this offseason, on par with or greater than the seven figure deals of his teammates Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay.

The Phillies already sport the second-highest payroll in the MLB at $174 million for 2012, and will not be able to add another $20 million to the books in 2013 for Hamels. So why not just deal him at the deadline and get some top flight prospects in return?

Here are four reasons why dealing Hamels at the trade deadline is the best move Philadelphia in the long run.

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5 Things the Media Doesn’t Get About the Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies have received much media attention for the past few years due to their win totals, streak of division titles and postseason success.

This season, not so much.

Dating back to spring training, the Phils have been in the news more for injuries and how many games back they are in the standings than they have for somehow staying afloat despite missing key parts of their lineup and pitching staff.

And as this season has proven thus far, a last place team with a payroll in excess of $170 million is bound to receive its share of criticism, with few members escaping blame.

However, there are certain aspects of the Phillies that the media seems to misunderstand.

Yes, the Phillies haven’t won a World Series since Ruben Amaro Jr. took over as general manager, but would they have had the success that they had following the 2008 season without his moves?  Yes, Charlie Manuel has made some questionable decisions, but have you seen some of the lineups he’s had to work with this season?  And yes, Ryan Howard’s contract pays him a lot of money for a player who strikes out over 150 times a season, but should he still be considered overpaid?

No one besides the front office, coaching staff and players can know for sure what goes on before and after the games, but some attempts by the media make it seem like they don’t quite have the pulse of the team.

Here are five things the media doesn’t get about the Phillies.

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Phillie Phanatic Being Sued by Woman for Pool-Throwing Fiasco

The Phillie Phanatic has been a very bad boy.

At least that is what one woman is claiming after the Phanatic allegedly tossed her in a pool and caused her severe bodily harm. 

Oh boy.

I will walk a fine line in this article, so forgive me if I teeter over the precipice. I am being balanced on one side by my hatred for grown men in mascot uniforms generally creeping me out. On the other is my skepticism of the claim. 

Like a nice steak dinner, let’s work on the meat of this thing first. 

The Philadelphia Daily News picked up a report from the Courthouse News Services on a woman who is undoubtedly frustrated with mascots, pools and being thrown by one into the other right about now. 

Suzanne Peirce alleges the Phillie Phanatic, a great big green thing that tries to take people’s minds off Chase Utley, picked her up, as well as the lounge chair she was resting on, and threw them both in a nearby pool. 

The suit alleges the Phanatic lost his mind on July 17th, 2010 as Peirce was enjoying her sister’s wedding at The Golden Inn in Avalon. 

Let me state that Peirce’s claims are quite serious. 

Peirce claims she hurt just about everything in the incident, including suffering “severe and permanent injuries to her head, neck, back, body, arms and legs, bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and tissues …” and more. The pool did have water in it, attorney Aaron Denker said, though Peirce was tossed in the shallow end.

As for who is being sued, Peirce is targeting Tom Burgoyne, Matt Mehler and anyone else who may have been wearing the Phanatic suit. 

In fact, I am sure she would lob a suit at anyone who dressed up as the Phillie Phanatic for Halloween if she could. 

The report continues: 

A Phillies spokeswoman said the team was aware of the lawsuit and does not believe the Phanatic engaged in wrongful conduct…

The lawsuit does not mention specific dollar amounts, but claims Peirce has spent large sums of money on medicine and medical attention and has also suffered from “humiliation and loss of life’s pleasures.”

Let me dial it back just a bit, because if Peirce was indeed hurt as much as she claims, she deserves every penny she is after. 

I just can’t fathom a situation where ligaments, bones, muscles and emotions were irreparably destroyed by being thrown into a pool. 

If so, I need to sue my father, brother, friends and every last person who has thrown my fat ass into a pool over the years. 

As for the Phanatic, he seems to be doing just fine, as his performance recently with Paula Abdul suggests. 

For those not wanting to test the waters (pun intended), please walk the other way if you see the Phanatic walking down the street. 

And for the love of all that is holy, run if you happen to be next to a pool. 

 

Follow me on Twitter for a humdinger of a time. 

Follow @gabezal

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Philadelphia Phillies: 4 Reasons Why the Time Is Now to Call Up Domonic Brown

I used to collect football and baseball cards pretty religiously when I was a kid.  

I would scrap together whatever money I could, fishing between couch cushions and doing odd jobs for the neighbors, to buy a pack for a few bucks.  Every once in a while, I’d see an individual card that I felt like was a must have.

Usually, that card was either an Eagle, like Randall Cunningham, a Phillie, like Darren Daulton, or a rookie with promise, because they’re the ones that end up being worth money.

Before they ever play a game, those rookie cards have value.  I remember buying a Curtis Enis rookie card way back when, and it immediately became the crown jewel of my collection.  You remember Enis—Penn State guy, drafted by the Bears, and few months later we realized all that “muscle” was really fat? It was worth 10 dollars, which is a lot when you’re seven.

Then, Enis took the field.  The next year, that card was worth three bucks.  The following year, it was down to a dollar.  Today, I’d be surprised if it’s worth a dime.

The value peaked based on promise, not performance.  

Now, it would be really mean to compare Domonic Brown to Curtis Enis—by all accounts one of the biggest busts in NFL history.  Still, though, I have a suspicion that Ruben Amaro Jr. sees him that way, to a degree.

Amaro knows what Brown is today—a toolsy prospect who has yet to prove himself on the big stage. 

He knows that, today, he could use Brown to bring in an impact player should the Phillies decide to buy at the deadline.

He also knows that, if the team goes into rebuilding mode, selling Brown as a cornerstone of the future would be a pretty easy proposition to a fanbase force-fed tales of his impending greatness.

That is why Brown is not a Phillie on June 12, 2012.  The moment he takes the field in what may be his last shot to show he can play in Major League Baseball, he loses his identity as a sky-is-the-limit-prospect.  Instead, he will be judged as any other player—by his performance.  

That’s a scary idea for a team will so few sure things going forward, seemingly fewer everyday.

Nevertheless, Brown should be the Phillies left fielder soon.  Like tomorrow.  Even if it makes his rookie card lose value.  

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Re-Ranking Philadelphia Phillies’ Top 25 Prospects After the 2012 MLB Draft

After trading away most of their top prospects in blockbuster deals over the last few seasons, the Philadelphia Phillies went into the 2012 amateur draft with one goal in mind: Add top talent back into the system.

Of course, that’s not an easy thing to do when you don’t own a single selection in the draft’s first round. The Phillies wouldn’t choose a player until the 40th overall selection as compensation for losing Ryan Madson.

Even then, the Phillies didn’t do what we expected them to. It seems as though they never do. Instead of selecting a college player with a clear path to the MLB, they select a high school pitcher with a high ceiling by the name of Shane Watson.

Then they selected another high school player. And another. And yet another. They would continue to select high school players as their first five selections in the draft, blowing their pre-draft strategy to smithereens.

Then again, the Phillies’ real strategy for the last couple of seasons has been to draft the player they believed to be the best available. That’s how they wind up with so many high school players.

But there is an obvious risk in drafting high school players. Nine times out of 10, they come into the organization as a project. Their tools are extremely raw, and though they may possess a ton of that natural, raw talent, it will likely take years to develop it into an MLB skill-set.

That’s why there are just two players from this year’s draft class cracking my top 25. The Phillies didn’t draft any clear-cut, top prospects this year. That’s not to say it was a bad draft. They selected a boatload of potential, but few players have the current skill set to be considered a top prospect, at least, in my opinion.

So with a crop of new players ready to come into the system, it’s time to re-rank the Phillies’ top 25 prospects.

That comes with a caveat of sorts: This list is my own opinion and not affiliated with any other prospect lists. For help with evaluation, I referred to the greatest source for Phillies’ prospect information on the web, Phuture Phillies. 

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