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[geo21874]

At this point, you might as well let him ride it out with this core. Even if he did deserve to go now, it's not like you could bring someone else in and get results anytime soon. The core is too old to trade for quality prospects, and there aren't enough quality prospects to trade for star veterans. It's not as much a ringing endorsement of RAJ as it is saying that he got us into this "mess," let him worry about getting us out of it.

If it all comes crashing down two years from now, it will be fair to say it's time for a change, but I don't think bringing in a new GM now is going to change what will happen at that point.

Exactly. And next offseason would see a managerial change.

At this point I think you roll the dice and see what you have in Brown/Ruf. Assuming its close at the trade deadline you can make some moves by then if needed. Gotta say I'm liking the patience-approach

[Philsforever]

So I guess you are saying who cares about next year, lets call it a transition year and if we get lucky and keep it close we make a trade, if not then who cares we make changes next off-season


Since when have the Phillies Fans been ok with not competing for a championship? I thought the goal was to make a run every yr. My mistake.

I guess im ok with throwing a year away to develop 3 outfielders. I mean the core players are young and have a lot of time left. So whats 1 yr

[k_dol50]

It's not that I'm willing to throw next year to the wind. I've tried saying this a hundred different ways but here it is: with what is available, I'd rather take my chances with the younger guys. If there were major upgrades to be had that wouldn't cripple this franchise down the road (read: Cody Ross isn't a major upgrade, and Nick Swisher, if he is a major upgrade, would cripple this franchise down the road with the contract he's seeking), then I'd be all for making an addition. That type of player, unfortunately, doesn't exist on the market.

[geo21874]

^ seems you have no faith in the current roster if you're expecting Cody Ross to the savior

[Philsforever]

^but it did with Hamilton. And Amaro once again dropped the ball on an offensive player. I dare you to find a championship team that started the season with 1500 career abs in the entire outfield.

My point is, if we were the pirates or marlins i would be ok starting 3 inexperienced guys in the outfield. But if you want to eat dinner at the big boy table (Yanks, Redsox, Dodgers, Angels, Rangers) you dont settle for 3 inexperienced players.

[Philsforever]

^ seems you have no faith in the current roster if you're expecting Cody Ross to the savior

I have no faith in the current outfield as is. And anyone that does is extremely over valuing Ruf, Brown, and mayberry

[k_dol50]

^but it did with Hamilton. And Amaro once again dropped the ball on an offensive player. I dare you to find a championship team that started the season with 1500 career abs in the entire outfield.

I think that a 5 year $125 million deal for Hamilton would have been the very definition of a move that crippled this franchise.

[Philsforever]

I think that a 5 year $125 million deal for Hamilton would have been the very definition of a move that crippled this franchise.

But it was ok to give cliff lee same deal, and hamels 6yrs 144mil.

[geo21874]

How many $20M aav players can we afford?

[k_dol50]

But it was ok to give cliff lee same deal, and hamels 6yrs 144mil.

Look at how many games Hamilton has played the last few years. Compare that to the innings that Lee and Hamels pitched before they signed their deals. Also, Lee and Hamels signed below market contracts. I would love to have a guy with Hamilton's talent on this team, but his body has broken down during the last few seasons, and he's already in his thirties. It's very likely that by the end of that contract, he'll be playing less than Chase Utley has the last two years. When you're paying a guy that much and he can't get on the field, that is a crippling contract.

[CityofTreez]

But it was ok to give cliff lee same deal, and hamels 6yrs 144mil.

Yes. Phillies fans have been blessed with ridiculous offseasons where money is thrown around. When it doesn't happen (like this offseason) people start reaching and create less expectations. Dream big, but assume the worst. Our offseasons!

[Philsforever]

^ considering they raise ticket prices every year and sellout every game and have a new tv deal coming in 2 yrs (check out dodgers 6 billion) I would say as many as they wanted

[bball44016]

Andre Ethier is probably the worst possible guy we can get not names Adam Dunn.

If no one is in free agency they like for the outfield than be smart about the offseason. Its obvious he is happy with the starting pitching he has now so lets load up on the late inning guys. Plenty of reliable arms left in the market.

LHP-J.P Howell-Always tough on lefties he would have had an ERA under 2.00 if the long ball didn't haunt him.

Mike Gonzalez has a nice comeback year. Would especially be nice to have to take on some of the Nats lefties.

Righties

Buy Low high Reward

Takashi Saito - Yes awful in limited innings last year, he is old, and he has been injury prone the past couple years. However, his carer numbers don't lie and he still knows how to pitch when healthy. Has always handled leties tough too. During his dodger days he was as unhittable as it got.


Peter Moylan- Again when he is healthy he is reliable, a career 2.59 ERA out of the pen for his career.

Obviously it would be nice to go out and sign somebody like Soriano and have that kind of lights out bullpen the Braves used to kill us with. However i think with Adams and Papelbon we have a pretty good 8th to 9th.

Still plenty of quality guys left not mentioned that can step in the 7th, like Mark Lowe, Rauch, Brett Myers, Farnsworth, Matt Capps, Brian Wilson if teams wait to long.

There are some strong arms that can start coming off bad years too. Jonathan Sanchez, Francisco Liriano, Maybe 100 pretty good innings of Bedard. I would love to take a chance on Jair Jurrjens and see if that arm can get going again.

You can never have too many arms in the bullpen and that always seems to bite us in the backside. Lets turn it into a strength instead of a weakness.Save the big 3's arm and have a safety net for when 4 and 5 get rocked early.

RAJ traded the farm system so now he has to hit on some of these bad signings he has had over the years because as the team is getting older they are becoming a lot more noticeable.

[Philsforever]

Below market value, Hamels is 2nd highest paid lefty in history. As far as breaking down. Pitchers break down as much if not more then hitters. Lee missed 6 weeks last year if im not mistaken.

Im still waiting for someone to explain to me why the phillies have 1 power hitter when they play in a power hitters park?

[geo21874]

^ at this time they can't really afford it (they don't want to pay the lux tax), even with the tix price increase CBP is still one of the most affordable MLB sites

Besides Hamilton is no guarantee. How many rings did he win in Texas?