Spring training is upon us and this year we are the team to beat.
Our rotation is probably the best we've had in quite awhile. Hamels is quite simply one of the best pitchers in baseball. Myers may be a bit of a head case but this is a contract year for him. As such I expect great things from him. I'd rate this the best 1/2 punch in the division. Moyer may be a bit of a question mark given his age, but don't tell him that! While I was against the Blanton trade last year I will admit it does help us mightily this year. For the final spot we have Park/Happ/Eaton/Kendrick/Carrasco all battling it out. From what I understand Carrasco probably needs at least half a year in the minors before he is ready. Park is probably better suited to relief work at this point as well. Although I'm not sure the Phillies know that. I think Happ will probably get the 5th spot, but nothing is certain at this point.
On the field the only major changes are that Ibanez has replaced Burrell. While Ibanez may have a horrible contract his play is equal to Burrell's so we aren't really losing anything except money. I am concerned about how Manuel will balance this lineup though. Our only source of RH power is Jayson Werth. I'm sure AbreuTime can vouch for how much I
Jayson ******* Werth, but he isn't going to carry this team all by himself.
Our bullpen is pretty well set with Lidge and Madson at the top. Our biggest issue is with left handed relievers. With Romero suspended 50 games and Zagurski still questionable (he had Tommy John surgery on April 3rd last year) we really should go after either Ohman or Beimel. There really isn't any reason not to as they can easily be flipped should we get back both Romero and Zagurski midseason.
In other news Ruben Amaro is a ******ed monkey masquerading as an incompetent GM. Seriously. He not only didn't offer arb to Burrell but then proceeded to sign the worst LF option available to the highest contract (well Manny will certainly get more, but he hasn't signed yet). He then locks up Howards arbitration years. Ibanez is a mistake that even
Sabean Ed Wade wouldn't make! Howard is only mildly ******ed as he probably won't fall off the cliff till his last year anyway. But if he does fall off a cliff this year or next I intend to make a voodoo doll of Amaro and fill it with catnip.