Well, I’m a little late, but baseball season is back and hopefully so is Heads or Tails. In my last post I mentioned that it was going to be an “interesting off season” for the Philadelphia Phillies. And boy was it. So let’s break it down.
Free Agency
As I had expected Jayson Werth, Jamie Moyer, and Mike Sweeney did not re-sign with the Phillies. Much to the dismay of Phillies fans, Werth signed a 7 year $127 MM deal with NL East rival Washington. Moyer sustained a serious injury while pitching during the winter and will miss all of the 2011 season. Sweeney has yet to find a team for the 2011 season but has expressed that he is interested in playing.
The Phil’s offered a minor league deal to Sweeney, but he has insisted on signing a major league deal with a contender. The other free agent on the Phil’s squad was Chad Durbin. I had speculated that the Phil’s would bring him back to ensure the long role of the bullpen would be locked up. They unfortunately did not. Durbin signed just last week with the Cleveland Indians.
Philadelphia did however make the biggest splash in free agency. After much speculation of Cliff Lee signing with the Yankees and the Rangers, the Phillies came out of nowhere and scooped him up for a five-year $125 MM deal. The five years is unusually long for the Phillies to go with a pitcher (who normally stand solid on a three year contract limit for pitchers), but Ruben Amaro Jr. was intent on correcting his mistake of letting Lee go in the first place.
Spring Training
There has been a lot of news coming out of Clearwater this year. Here are some of the most prominent story lines of the spring.
Chase Utley – Chase Utley has been diagnosed with tendinitis in his right knee. At first, this didn’t seem like a big deal. Now, a month into spring training, Utley has yet to play in a game and has received a cortisone shot. It is looking more and more like this injury is a bit more serious than was originally anticipated. When talking about the injury, Utley went as far as talking about “the big picture” of his career.
The four aces – Without a doubt one of the most talked about topics in baseball is the four aces the Phillies have acquired. There has been talks of them being the best rotation of all time and countless nicknames (Phab Four, R2C2 and on and on). Time will tell just how good the rotation is and if they can live up to the hype.
Charlie Manuel’s Contract – This is no longer an issue. Manuel signed a two year extension with the Phil’s last week ensuring that he will be the skipper in Philadelphia until he is at least 69 years old. Manuel has had an amazing run with the Phil’s and will be looking to continue that this year as they are the favorites to win the National League.
In addition to that the Phil’s re-upped Ruben Amaro Jr.’s contract adding on four more years. RAJ has been extraordinarily aggressive since stepping into the General Manager position after Pat Gillick retired.
Huge Expectations
With the addition of Cliff Lee to an already powerful group of starting pitchers, the Phillies are the favorites to win the National league. The offense will have to do their part too. Especially if Chase Utley misses a prolonged period of time due to injury. They will also have to make up for the loss of a right handed bat in the middle of the lineup (Werth).
Prediction
I believe the Phil’s could win 100 games this year. They finished the 2010 season with the best record in baseball. They could potentially do that again this season. It should definitely be a fun season.
