What's Next for the Phillies?

Saturday, November 7, 2009

CSNPhilly.com

The Phillies have already made a few moves early in the offseason, including the decision not to re-sign pitcher Brett Myers. Besides Pedro Feliz, who has a team option on his contract, every other regular is under the Phillies’ control heading into next season.

SI.com’s Joe Sheehan sees the Phils as set in every position except closer, where Brad Lidge must rebound from his disastrous season.

“Lidge could bounce back to be an average, maybe above-average closer, but his command issues and longball tendencies limit his upside and make his downside devastating to a team,” Sheehan said. “The Phillies not only cannot go another four months letting Lidge blow games, they have to bolster the 'pen around him, which this year included some moderately effective veterans but on the whole was unimpressive. Working a Kyle Drabek in through the bullpen, as they did Happ, would be one way to help the relief corps.”

Jimmy Rollins is also a problem for the Phillies, due to his inefficiency as a leadoff hitter.

“As was evident throughout the postseason, the Phillies need a leadoff man who gets on base, because their next four hitters are fantastic at moving runners around the bases with hits and power,” Sheehan said. “When Rollins reached base, the Phillies were successful, but it didn't happen enough. The Phillies cannot go another full season with a subpar OBP in the leadoff spot, and if Rollins doesn't bounce back, they'll have to move him down in the order permanently. With Rollins potentially a free agent after 2010, this is a situation that both player and team will have to handle carefully.”

Make or break
World Series performances weigh heavily on the reputations of players. Careers can be made or broken based on World Series numbers: such as those of Reggie Jackson (Mr. October) and Alex Rodriguez (Mr. May, pre-2009).

This year’s World Series saw several clutch and disappointing performances, both from marquee players and marginal ones.

Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports gives a breakdown of the reputations of several Phillies, and reasons for why it went up or down.

Charlie Manuel, Pedro Martinez, Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley, Cliff Lee and Jayson Werth impressed Brown.

Manuel: “Did what he could with a pitching staff lucky to get past Colorado and L.A.”

Pedro: “The last start, when it appeared he had nothing, could have gone better. But the man is pretty cool, and he’ll help someone in ’10.”

Ruiz: “Chooch led the Phillies’ regulars in batting and on-base percentage. The guy shows up every October.”

Utley: “Rumored to be playing hurt and quelling Knoblauch Syndrome, he was the best player on the field almost every game.”

Lee: “His first postseason: 4-0, 1.56.”

Werth: “An underrated player and a great athlete who seems to get better every year.”

In the down column are Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Cole Hamels.

Howard: “He batted .174 and struck out 13 times in 23 at-bats. If the Phillies were going to struggle on the mound, they were going to need Howard.”

Rollins: “Predicted the Phils in five or, if they’re nice, six. He batted .217.”

Hamels: “He never did quite get it together. A very important offseason lies ahead.”

Best to never win
Widely assumed to be the best player to never win a championship, Alex Rodriguez finally got a ring when the Yankees won the World Series. With the title now empty, The Sporting News’ Dan Levy looked around the sports world at what other great players are unlikely to join A-Rod.

There are some Philly connections on the list, starting in the NFL, where Levy sees former Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens ending his career ringless.

“As for T.O., he's clearly at the end of his career, and if his signing with Buffalo this year proved anything, it's that contending teams no longer think he's the missing piece to a championship puzzle,” Levy said, before mentioning Donovan McNabb as another possible contender.

Candidates in the NBA include “the T.O. of basketball”, Allen Iverson. Levy says that A.I.’s “refusal to be a role player will be his undoing. AI was the most dynamic player in the league, but when his Sixers team lost the 2001 NBA Finals, it was obvious that was his best, and last, chance.”

Answer man
Speaking of the Answer, he recently sat down with Yahoo! Sports’ Marc J. Spears to discuss a number of subjects, including his experience as a free agent. It was the first time in Iverson’s career he had been a free agent, and the guard did not find it to be enjoyable.

“It was horrible just not knowing where I was going to be or where my family was going to be – my kids and my wife not knowing,” Iverson said. “It was just a bad experience. It was an experience that I thought was going to be a good one, but it wasn’t. It was tough on me.”

As for those who feel The Answer has lost a step, Iverson remains ever-defiant.

“Just watch,” Iverson said. “Just watch. You know what’s crazy about that? I’ve averaged 27 points my whole career. You see All-Star players that let a couple years go by and then they make it again. But you never hear after they don’t make it one year that they lost a step. To the world, that one bad [last] season, 17-[points]-and five-[assists] mark, people hear that and say, “A.I. had an awful season.” But you have guys with 17-and-five making it to the All-Star Game and people saying they had the greatest season ever.”

Birds and 'Boys
Eagles-Cowboys is always a big matchup, even more so when both teams are battling for first place on Sunday Night Football.

SI.com’s Adam Duerson calls it this week’s Game of the Week, and gives three things you should know about the game.

Duerson expects Tony Romo to have a tough time against the Eagles, given his penchant for shrinking in big games.

“Romo's facing an uphill battle against a Philadelphia secondary that -- despite dramatic changes in the past 11 months -- has harassed opposing quarterbacks into a cumulative passer rating of 68.5 (fifth best among NFL secondaries) while limiting huge plays,” Duerson said. “The Cowboys have pulled off eight 40-plus yard plays all season; the Eagles have only allowed one. Something's gotta give.”

For the Eagles, big plays will once again be key – so long as they can keep the pressure of Donovan McNabb.

“Andy Reid's offense has scored on what STATS.com describes as "big plays" (plays of 20 yards or more) 12 times already,” Duerson said. “Projected out over 16 games, these Eagles are on pace to notch 27 such big-play scores this season. To put that into perspective, no Andy Reid-coached team has ever scored on big plays more than 18 times in a season. (His 2004 NFC champs only did it 13 times.) And only one team, the '00 Vikings, has scored on even 22 such plays this decade.”

Proper prediction?
Though the Eagles-Cowboys showdown at the Linc is not until Sunday night, the game has already been played out in the virtual world.

ESPN.com offered up the Madden 2010 simulation of the game, in which the Birds came out on top, 24-21.

Donovan McNabb led the way for the Eagles, throwing for 388 yards and two touchdowns. DeSean Jackson had four receptions for 124 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown catch.

Just as in real life, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo cost his team in the final seconds with a red zone fumble that the Eagles recovered to seal the win. Then again, Reggie Brown had eight catches for 99 yards so take the prediction for what it’s worth.

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