Apter Hours Part IV: Phillies

Phillies: The talk of the city these past few years has been the Phillies and there is no reason to think that will change with Ruben Amaro's state of mind. The Phillies have been very active in the offseason by acquiring Halladay and adding Polanco and Schneider while avoiding arbitration after signing Chad Durbin to a one-year deal and agreeing to three-year deals with Joe Blanton, Shane Victorino and Carloz Ruiz worth $29 million, $22 million and $9 million respectively. They have also added some depth to their bullpen with the signing of Danys Baez and the most recent addition of Jose Contreras...pending a physical. The losses this team has had include the departure of Lee, Drabek and Taylor and most notably, Charlie Manuel's weight. he has dropped over 30lbs thanks to a diet.
Anyways...after acquiring Roy Halladay to fulfill his man crush, he continued what should be a legacy as the general manager of this team. While fans battled over the departure of Cliff Lee, it had to be done. People take the farm system for granted and you cannot have a successful team without a good system. The Phillies minor league teams have been some of the best in developing players this past decade and the team would not be where they are without the players that came up through their system. Rollins, Howard, Victorino, Hamels, Utley, Happ, and Madson. Excuse me if I forgot any...I know Myers played a big part but he is now on the ex-Phillie team in Houston with Ed Wade. If Wade would have gotten rid of those players when he was GM, who is to tell what the team would look like. Sure, you will have busts like Chris Roberson, Gavin Floyd (at least when he played here) and the newly acquired Brandon Duckworth. In this instance, you have to keep the young players stocked and that is the bottom line. Michael Taylor was MLB ready and will probably start in left or right field for the A's while Kyle Drabek will probably end up in the mid-season rotation with the Blue Jays. The players we restocked our farm with show promise, just like Drabek and Taylor did. Even though Drabek was coveted, you never know if they are going to be a bust until they play in the bigs. On to the team people watch.

The rotation as it stands will be Halladay, Hamels, Blanton, Happ and then any combo of Moyer, Kendrick or Contreras. The bullpen seems to be shaping a little. Lidge has had surgeries but hopefully will bounce back from a horrid '09 campaign. The big thing fans have to recognize is that they made it to the World Series with having to deal with Rollins being hurt for the first part of the year, Ibanez being out with a groin injury and of course, Lidge and his over seven earned run average and eleven blown saves to lead the league. If a team can get through that and still make the World Series, they are the class of the NL. The Phils have to deal with the additions to the other teams in their division. The Mets are sure to be dangerous when they are healthy and they added Jason Bay and the Braves look to have one of the best rotations in baseball. The Marlins seem to be that young team that always puts up a fight. I am not being a fan when I say this, but I believe that the NL is the Phillies to lose. They are the class of the league and with a rotation that includes Halladay and Hamels...they are a force to be reckoned with this year and for years to come.
The next question posing the front office is Jayson Werth. He has been a key contributor to this team in the clutch and has provided spark in the 2008 championship run and the NL Championship this past season. With one top outfield prospect gone in Taylor, the team managed to keep Dom Brown. He will more than likely start the season in Reading and hopefully be a force in Lehigh Valley by the end of the year. The issue is whether or not he will be ready to fill in an outfield spot when/if Werth is not resigned. The Phils could unload him before the deadline and deal with an outfield of Ibanez, Victorino and a platoon of Dobbs, Gload and maybe Dom Brown depending on the progression of their seasons. You could also include Mayberry in there. That is an idea but I think they will keep him through the season because he is not the kind of player you want to get rid of if you are in a playoff race. The biggest factor to this is the Ryan Howard situation. If Werth asks for Jason Bay type money, the team will not be able to have enough money to re-sign Howard after 2011. We all know he strikes out a lot but he is the powerhouse of this team and the Phils would not be a contender without him.
APTER THOUGHTS: I think there is still more to come for this team in the coming months. With the addition of Halladay, this team retains its championship caliber without question. The signings of Polanco and Brian Schneider will only help the team in depth when it comes to catching. I hope they decide to keep Werth all year, but it looks impossible to sign him when you have to look at resigning Howard in 2011 and that takes precedent. There is so much to say about this team but that is what I think for now...hopefully more good news in the coming weeks.