Phillies Acquire Lidge

The Philadelphia Phillies made the first big offseason move that wasn't a player opting out. In a five player deal with the Houston Astros and former GM Ed Wade, the Phillies acquired Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett for Michael Bourn, Geoff Geary, and Mike Costanzo. The move will allow the Phillies to move former starter-turned-closer Brett Myers back to the rotation, despite his preference of staying in the bullpen. The Phillies, in essence, killed two birds with one stone. A proven closer, Lidge will help solidify what was Philadelphia's Achilles Heal last season - relief pitching and finishing games. Myers also moves back into the rotation and, barring a free agent signing, the 2008 starting rotation is set. Myers will slid in behind young gun Cole Hamels as the second starter giving the Phillies a solid 1-2 punch. Following Hamels and Myers will be Kyle Kendrick, Jamie Moyer, and, unfortunately, Adam Eaton (unless he has a setback from offseason surgery). The Phillies may be interested in Japanese pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, former Twin (and Phillie) Carlos Silva, or resign Kyle Lohse. The chances of signing another SP is slim with the acquisition of Lidge but may be useful considering the injuries Phillies SPs experienced in 2007.

With the rotation set for now, the Phillies can continue looking for more middle and long relief pitching. Hopefully they will strike an accord with free agent J.C. Romero and also bring in David Riske, Scott Linebrink, Troy Percival, or Kerry Wood. The other area of need is third base. The Phillies would be content going into the season with a Wes Helms/Greg Dobbs platoon. However, Dobbs may see an increase in playing time in right field if Aaron Rowand leaves via free agency, especially now that Bourn is gone. This leaves Helms and newly acquired Bruntlett as the main options at third. It is unlikely the Phillies grab Mike Lowell, who will more than likely resign with Boston or travel to the Bronx and play for the Evil Empire. Other options include trading for Colorado's Garrett Atkins (who the Rockies are now saying is unavailable) or signing Mike Lamb. There is no chance the Phillies sign Alex Rodriguez or trade for Miguel Cabrera. Sorry folks.

The most intriguing possibility is another trade with the White Sox. As A Citizen's Blog mentions, obtaining SP Jon Garland and 3B Joe Crede aren't out of the realm of possibility. It would probably take three above average minor leaguers to snatch these players from the South Side. A Citizen's Blog mentions Greg Golson, Jeremy Slayden, J.D. Durbin, J.A. Happ or Kyle Drabek. I don't think they should trade Kendrick in this package. If the Phils acquire Garland and Crede (and lose Rowand in free agency) the starting lineup and five-man rotation would be:



This is obviously going to change. The Phillies will carry more than 6 RPs and who knows if Romero will resign or if the Phils will actually utilize Mateo. But you get the idea. I hate to lose Rowand and Bourn but this team is already improved on paper. They have 2 reliable starters already and if they obtain Crede and Garland they are much more formidable than the team that came out of nowhere to win the NL East in 2007.

Goal: NL Wild Card/College Fantasy Football

The Phillies have been abysmal recently, dropping 4 in a row and 6 of 7. Their usually reliable offense has been only average (less than 4 runs/game). The pitching has been terrible, even for the Phillies. This became excruciatingly evident last night when Brett Myers blew the save, giving up 2 solo HRs in the top of the 9th. The Phils lost 4-3. The loss last night dropped Philadelphia 7 games behind the Mets in the NL East (tied with Atlanta for 2nd) and 4 games behind San Diego for the NL Wild Card. The Wild Card is the Phillies only hope now. They were within 3 games of the Mets less than 10 days ago and now find themselves in a hole that they can't get out of. Now they must hope the Padres, Dodgers, and Braves all struggle over the last 6 weeks of the season AND the Phillies must regain the form they had during the 3 weeks following the All-Star game. It is now Wild Card or Bust.


In other news, I recently found a new fantasy sport for me, College Fantasy Football. It's an interesting idea. Since Fantasy Football is so huge, and College Football is as well, why not combine them? So I joined 3 leagues on CBSSports.com and recently drafted. It's pretty much the same as NFL Fantasy Football except you draft entire positions for a team. I recently selected West Virginia Mountaineers RB with the 1st overall pick in 1 of my leagues. I guarantee myself Steve Slaton but also any other RB/FB that they may use. If any WVU RB scores, I get the points. I should also mention that CBS allows you to choose the pool of players you'd like to use. A lot of the leagues I saw chose 3 or 4 conferences while others selected all available. I prefer using all conferences because there are dominant fantasy players everywhere. In fact, I'm in a league that excluded the Big East and WAC so there was no chance for Darren McFadden, Steve Slaton, Pat White, Brian Brohm, Colt Brennan, etc. They are some of the top college fantasy producers! It's crazy to exclude them because they play in inferior conferences (which they both are). But the players are amazing (even if I do hate WVU)! But I am looking forward to the college season to start in less than a week and this will even add to my anxiety. Now the random CFB games I watch may mean something!

Blown Save: Me

So I was wrong. Instead of 7-3 Phillies, it was 4-2 Marlins. My bad. But I was right about Kyle Kendrick. He went 7 innings, gave up 6 hits, 2 earned runs, and had 1 K and BB. But Brett Myers couldn't keep it together and he gets saddled with the loss. This is terrible for the teams motivation and morale heading into a huge series against the Braves.