PHILLY (Loosely Related to The Philadelphia Phillies)

Nice job of settling down after a rough first two innings by Velasquez tonight.

their run differential is pretty bad (-20 or something) despite being four games over .500

The Juggler said:

The Fixer said:

Jearlpam0925 said:

As long as his elbow doesn't explode, it's very exciting to know Nola will be an amazing #3 in the rotation.

Agreed, but it's also disconcerting that after trading hamels they still don't have a 1 or 2.

Mazara sure would look good in RF for the Phillies tonight.

Who's to say Nola doesn't develop into a 2? That was his ceiling after being drafted. He's certainly pitching like a 1 right now. Velasquez is demonstrating top of the rotation stuff too. Even if all these guys end up as a bunch of 3's with maybe a 2 sprinkled in, they still have tons of resources to sign or trade for a true ace. It's not like Lee and Halladay came up through the system. Oh, and they also have the first pick in the draft next month.

This team's in good shape...

I really don't think the team is in great shape. They have 3 pieces on their current roster. Crawford will be up soon. Really, that's it. For all of the trades they made I don't think they got enough of a return. Too much quantity and not enough quality.

All while we have to watch Hamels dominate for another team. I'd take that trade back in a heartbeat.

alfaro can't stay on the field and williams' approach sounds like he's a hacker and aloof in the field(that's coming mostly from Law, among others).

I understand that most analysts like the phils system more than I do. Other than Crawford, I like the guys they have at their lower levels more than the guys in the upper levels. Randolph sounds like he will be a beast.

Like I've said here before, the Phils system isn't as good as the Nationals or Braves. And the Mets have way more talent than the Phils when you consider their young MLB talent -- and Dom Smith may be better than any of the phils prospects.

Best thing the Phils have going for them is that they don't have much money tied up to players on their 40 man roster. That and the anchor playing 1B will be gone in a few months. Talent-wise I think their system is vastly overrated. The sum is greater than the parts.

As for the hamels trade, failing to get a superstar was my complaint at the time of the trade. Fact that Mazara (the guy they should have gotten) looks like a superstar only confirms my stance.

Yeah but Williams showed quite a bit of improvement last year. Cut his strikeouts down by 43 and walked 13 more times. That's not insignificant. Looking forward to seeing him this summer.

I'm more inclined to side with the vast majority opinion on what the Phils have done. Fingers crossed but I think the future looks bright.

The Juggler said:

Yeah but Williams showed quite a bit of improvement last year. Cut his strikeouts down by 43 and walked 13 more times. That's not insignificant. Looking forward to seeing him this summer.

I'm more inclined to side with the vast majority opinion on what the Phils have done. Fingers crossed but I think the future looks bright.

most of that improvement was early in the year. as the season played out he regressed back to his hacking ways, which has continued for the first month of this season (4 walks, 20 k's).

I hope I'm wrong. Not all guys with bad approaches fail to become solid players (jimmy rollins for example). That path is the exception rather than the norm though.

Also, can we just start calling Mark Appel - Luke Hocheaver II? Pretty safe at this point.

The Fixer said:

JK_Livin said:

I think people are looking for immediate results from these trades because of this surprising start. These kids are still pups. Let them develop.

I just don't think the players they got for hamels are very good. That's my issue. If you're gonna trade an ace pitcher in their prime who is signed to multiple years of below market value, then I think you need to get at least one star player in return. Phillies failed to do that. Keep in mind, they didn't HAVE to trade him when they did.

I think they got 3 players who could all eventually be significant contributors to a good team.

See I like the quantity over quality argument. Instead of putting all your eggs in one prospect's basket, you hedge your bet with multiple guys. There are no guarantees that any prospect, even top 5 guys (cough Dom Brown cough cough) will make it. Why not give your team a few more chances? Multiple assets is a good thing.

And Appel has pitched well so far. I like how they're keeping him in double A and kind of easing him into the system.



Edit---plus Eickoff. Haha. I keep forgetting he was in the Hamels trade. I figured anything you got from him was a bonus. He's looking like a mid rotation guy at this point.

The Fixer said:

The Juggler said:

The Fixer said:

JK_Livin said:

I think people are looking for immediate results from these trades because of this surprising start. These kids are still pups. Let them develop.

I just don't think the players they got for hamels are very good. That's my issue. If you're gonna trade an ace pitcher in their prime who is signed to multiple years of below market value, then I think you need to get at least one star player in return. Phillies failed to do that. Keep in mind, they didn't HAVE to trade him when they did.

I think they got 3 players who could all eventually be significant contributors to a good team.

See I like the quantity over quality argument. Instead of putting all your eggs in one prospect's basket, you hedge your bet with multiple guys. There are no guarantees that any prospect, even top 5 guys (cough Dom Brown cough cough) will make it. Why not give your team a few more chances? Multiple assets is a good thing.

And Appel has pitched well so far. I like how they're keeping him in double A and kind of easing him into the system.

they traded one of the best pitchers in mlb. I don't want guys who 'could be' contributors. Mazara was a lock to be a stud. Brinson could be. I didn't want Gallo or Alfaro or Thompson -- all maybes.

Hocheaver, I mean Appel got shelled in his last start. His WHIP is 1.50. He's gone six innings in only one of his starts. Not sure how that's good. Move him to the pen already, he's not a starter . Also he's not in AA

Like I said, there are plenty of intelligent baseball minds out there who disagree with your assessment of that trade. Law thinks the Phils made out real well. Most analysts also think The Phils fleeced the Houston too. Time will tell.

And Dom Brown was once a lock to be a stud too. I just like the fact that they have multiple lottery tickets.

pjhawks said:

The Juggler said:

The Fixer said:

The Juggler said:

The Fixer said:

JK_Livin said:

I think people are looking for immediate results from these trades because of this surprising start. These kids are still pups. Let them develop.

I just don't think the players they got for hamels are very good. That's my issue. If you're gonna trade an ace pitcher in their prime who is signed to multiple years of below market value, then I think you need to get at least one star player in return. Phillies failed to do that. Keep in mind, they didn't HAVE to trade him when they did.

I think they got 3 players who could all eventually be significant contributors to a good team.

See I like the quantity over quality argument. Instead of putting all your eggs in one prospect's basket, you hedge your bet with multiple guys. There are no guarantees that any prospect, even top 5 guys (cough Dom Brown cough cough) will make it. Why not give your team a few more chances? Multiple assets is a good thing.

And Appel has pitched well so far. I like how they're keeping him in double A and kind of easing him into the system.

they traded one of the best pitchers in mlb. I don't want guys who 'could be' contributors. Mazara was a lock to be a stud. Brinson could be. I didn't want Gallo or Alfaro or Thompson -- all maybes.

Hocheaver, I mean Appel got shelled in his last start. His WHIP is 1.50. He's gone six innings in only one of his starts. Not sure how that's good. Move him to the pen already, he's not a starter . Also he's not in AA

Like I said, there are plenty of intelligent baseball minds out there who disagree with your assessment of that trade. Law thinks the Phils made out real well. Most analysts also think The Phils fleeced the Houston too. Time will tell.

And Dom Brown was once a lock to be a stud too. I just like the fact that they have multiple lottery tickets.

the man was negative when the Phils were winning 95-100 games, do you really expect him to be positive now Juggler?

Its always iffy when talking about prospects. remember when a good portion of people didn't want to give up Kyle Drabek in a Roy Halladay trade? It's very difficult to project who is going to be a star in the majors outside of a few can't miss guys. I man Pat Burrell was the #2 pick. good major leaguer but not a stud by any stretch.

Right now you have to like what you see out of Nola, Vasquez, Eichoff, Franco, and Herrera on the MLB roster and hopefully Crawford by the latest the beginning of next season.

Pretty sure any team would take Pat Burrell's career regardless of where he was picked. .834 OPS over 12 years