Same Old Phils....

Yep, the Phils are still doing the same old thing.

There are a few good pitchers available that could really help the Phillies, like Hudson, Pedro, Carl Pavano, Jared Wright and Al Leiter even...

What do the Phils get? Oh, right,Jon Lieber...

I mean come on, I can see that it was right of them to pass on Pedro for that $$, but they could have gotten in on Hudson and offered some prospects, or even tried to talk to Al Leither.

I'm really tired of the Phils making moves to make it look like they are doing something, instead of improving this team. I feel that Wade has to go, and we have to get someone who is determined to make this team better.

I mean, at least try to get out there and talk to more guys than Jon Lieber...I mean come on, this guy only had like 3 or 4 winning seasons in his career. One was great, but then he was injured a whole season and wasn't anything special last season on a good team.

I think the Phillies really need more work still, what do you guys think?

The worst part about the Phillies is that they put a sub-par team on the field last year, cut their payroll by $10 million this year, and increased ticket prices by 20%. That is some RARE bullshit if you ask me!

They need to trade some of their "BIG" bats and get some speed. If they were going to sign Lieber they should have at least offered Milton arbitration or went after Pavano... EVERYONE knows that you win with Pitching. Thanks for Millwood for the last 2 years. Our problem is Wade and the GROUP ownership. We have no REAL leadership for this franchise.

Hmm... I find it hard to believe they cut by $10 million.

Last year it stood at $93 million, which is a lot, so even if they did cut they'd still have a pretty good payroll.

The problem for the Phillies is that they splurged on junk like Lieberthal and Burrell. Not to mention they don't get enough out of their star players.

I've heard numerous times on our sports radio talk station (WIP) up in Philly that the Phillies were trimming around $10 million off the payroll. We basically got rid of Milton, Millwood, and Polanco and only got Leiber in return.

But all of their big time contracts got built-in raises. They probably still have a few bucks left to get some bench/bullpen help.

I think they should try really hard to go after Matt Clement or Odalis Perez.

Why do they need a 6 man rotation? Not to be mean or anything, but... why?

We would have never had a shot at hudson, we didn't have what they wanted (a second baseman) to trade. Most of the money we got off of Millwood, Milton, and Polanco's contracts did indeed go to raises for other players. We didn't have a real shot at Leiter either, he really wanted to go to Florida. We didn't have the money for Pavano, and I'd rather have Leiber than Wright. Wright is too injury prone, and right now we can't afford another rash of injuries. Padilla and Wolf both made extended trips to the DL last year, and I want someone who we can count on to healthy throughout the year.

BTW, Clement just signed with the Red Sox.

Actually, that'd put us at 7. Myers, Floyd, Wolf, Lieber, Padilla, and Lidle are already up there. Either Myers or Floyd will be in the bull pen this year.

Yes, meaning that it would be 6 if they got Clement or Perez.

I didn't think of it that way. However, generally the sixth starter is only there for spot starts, or when another pitcher is injured. So, when someone goes down, whichever one is in the bullpen will be moved into the starting role. I see your point though, I just think of them as starters who happen to be in the bullpen at the moment.

aight.

I call the sixth pitcher the alternate. A lot of them don't see a lot of action except when they're needed in emergency start situations. If any of you watched the Braves last year, you'll know that Travis Smith was this guy.

The Phillies didn't have this guy last year, which killed us. That's why we called on so many piece of crap pitchers last year. I'm very happy we won't have that problem this year, but I think a 7th would be excessive.

Yeah I'm sure all of you remember the game Madson started.

Yeah, he was terrible. I wasn't too mad about his start though, because he had been doing so well in the bullpen. My biggest complaint was Wade waiting for us to fall out of the playoff hunt before he replaced Abott. That name still sends chills up my back.