This year's Phillies are a different bunch

April 3, 2006 | By Dennis Bakay | Discuss

Mike Lieberthal-the longest tenured Philadelphia athlete with the sparkling personality is still here-check

Charlie Manuel-the lovable, jocular manager who has captivated the area with his double-switch follies and love for “rastling” is still here-check.

Bobby Abreu-who is not bothered by the trade rumors is still here-check.

There is still no frontline starting pitcher in the rotation-check.

Ok, so what’s different about this Phillies team?

First off, there is a new GM at the helm and he’s not afraid to admit a mistake (see the Ryan Franklin demotion in favor of Gavin Floyd). Never would Ed Wade demote a free agent acquisition in favor of a rookie pitcher who could accrue innings towards arbitration. Never would a GM dare say his team isn’t good enough to win the division.
Doesn’t this sound refreshing?

Let's also take into account that Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Chase Utley are getting better everyday and look like they are ready to continue where they left off last season. These three important cogs to this growing machine look ready and it's only April.

To top it all off, the chemistry of this team has been altered in a good way. Kenny Lofton, a complainer’s complainer is gone. Jason Michaels, who brought new meaning to the term "police brutality" ALLEGEDLY is gone! Jim Thome, who seemed as though he aged overnight is gone. It turns out he’s having a great spring with the White Sox, but Ryan Howard had to stay. Howard looks like the “can’t miss” prototypical hitting prospect. Enter Aaron Rowand into the mix. He will bring that same tough as nails approach to the game that was reminiscent of Lenny Dykstra. Gavin Floyd and Ryan Madson will round out a rotation marred by inconsistency at the bottom last season. Lieber and Myers have another season under their belts, as does Lidle and things suddenly don’t seem so bad in Phillies Nation.

The X-factor of this team lies in the bullpen. If Tom Gordon can come close to holding to his form from his past two seasons in New York, without visiting the DL, then the closer spot suddenly isn’t too much of a downgrade from Wagner. Yes, Billy Wagner had a 1.51 ERA with 38 saves and 87 strikeouts in just over 78 innings, but Gordon averaged a 2.40 ERA with nearly a strikeout per inning over the past 2 seasons. Added to that, Arthur Rhodes should be a solid setup guy if healthy, as he had a 2.08 ERA and had 43 K’s in 43 innings. Rhodes is a big if, as he's been as familiar to the DL as a John is to the hookers at Hunt's Point. They are injury and age risks, but they aren’t a terrible downgrade from Wagner and Urbina. They go from elite to really solid in the bullpen.

This team has to see make two changes though. They will have to get a frontline pitcher and a new catcher even if this means carrying 3 catchers on the roster until Lieberthal finally packs his bags and gets out of town after the season’s end. And, that couldn’t come soon enough. The city’s longest tenured athlete is a chronic complainer and horrible defensive catcher. As far as his biggest contributions to the team go, his ineptitude for handling pitchers is rivaled only by his piss poor attitude towards the fans. His biggest contribution to the Phillies last year was the interview (after a game) in which he complained about the fans not giving support to a Phillies team that has chronically underachieved in recent years mind you. Lieberthal’s final comment in the interview epitomizes his past several seasons in which he received a long-term contract, when he said “whatever” in lethargic fashion. It would be in the Phillies best interests to dump Lieberthal and pay most of his salary to get him out of town. He is a big reason for the chronic underachieving on the team. I come from the school of thought where the catcher is as important to a baseball team as a quarterback, point guard, or a goalie; it’s the glue that holds that team together. Until Lieberthal is gone, or at the least phased out and replaced with a real leader and field general, a championship cannot be expected of this team. As the trade deadline nears the Phillies will have to do everything in their power to land that coveted young catcher they need.

It stands to reason that Pat Burrell or Bobby Abreu will get traded in order to land a top-notch starting pitcher. Following the offseason in which teams weren’t willing to give that up for either player they’ll have to include Cole Hamels in the mix in order to land one. Hamels is considered their best prospect, but is an injury risk. Now, that Gavin Floyd is in the mix, they should send Abreu and Hamels to a team like the Giants for one of their elite starters like Noah Lowry or Jason Schmidt. That would make sense considering they have Matt Cain waiting in the wings. Perhaps, the Phillies could send Abreu and Hamels to the Padres for Jake Peavy. They’d have to eat half of Abreu’s contract to entice the Padres since they aren’t big spenders. There are a plethora of options for the Phillies to pursue, and in my humble opinion those two players are their biggest chips.

It’s a long season so even if they stumble out of the gate as they did last year they can remain in contention until the end. This is unacceptable to Gillick though, so let’s not be surprised to see him make a move at catcher or for a pitcher by June. He said he wanted 5 more wins and right now this team isn’t good enough to win 5 more games than last year according to Gillick. I happen to agree. They will be better because of the mere addition of Rowand, betters backend starters in the rotation, and with Rollins, Utley, and Howard (now a full-time player too) getting better each day. But, their division is stronger. I see them winning 87 games as they’re currently constructed, which is not horrible, but not great either…it’s just good enough to compete, and that’s simply not good enough.