JFLNYC wrote:Anyone going to change the thread title?

Grotewold wrote:

Ace Rothstein wrote:Forbes says Phillies are worth 893 million now, 5th most in baseball

A slip to mediocrity on the diamond last season when the team posted an 81-81 record saw the Phillies local television ratings get hammered. The team's average rating on CSN Philadelphia dropped, 39%, to 5.6, the sharpest drop in baseball, according to Nielsen. Prior to 2012, the Phillies television ratings had increased for nine consecutive seasons. Still, the Phillies are on the verge of signing a new local television deal that could be worth twice as much as their present deal with CSN. Another bright spot: the team remained second in merchandise sales behind the Yankees.

FTN wrote:

A slip to mediocrity on the diamond last season when the team posted an 81-81 record saw the Phillies local television ratings get hammered. The team's average rating on CSN Philadelphia dropped, 39%, to 5.6, the sharpest drop in baseball, according to Nielsen. Prior to 2012, the Phillies television ratings had increased for nine consecutive seasons. Still, the Phillies are on the verge of signing a new local television deal that could be worth twice as much as their present deal with CSN. Another bright spot: the team remained second in merchandise sales behind the Yankees.

thats a bummer.

phdave wrote:

FTN wrote:

A slip to mediocrity on the diamond last season when the team posted an 81-81 record saw the Phillies local television ratings get hammered. The team's average rating on CSN Philadelphia dropped, 39%, to 5.6, the sharpest drop in baseball, according to Nielsen. Prior to 2012, the Phillies television ratings had increased for nine consecutive seasons. Still, the Phillies are on the verge of signing a new local television deal that could be worth twice as much as their present deal with CSN. Another bright spot: the team remained second in merchandise sales behind the Yankees.

thats a bummer.

If only they gave themselves more payroll flexibility last year by trading Hamels and giving away Lee.

FTN wrote:

A slip to mediocrity on the diamond last season when the team posted an 81-81 record saw the Phillies local television ratings get hammered. The team's average rating on CSN Philadelphia dropped, 39%, to 5.6, the sharpest drop in baseball, according to Nielsen. Prior to 2012, the Phillies television ratings had increased for nine consecutive seasons. Still, the Phillies are on the verge of signing a new local television deal that could be worth twice as much as their present deal with CSN. Another bright spot: the team remained second in merchandise sales behind the Yankees.

thats a bummer.

cartersDad26 wrote:

FTN wrote:

A slip to mediocrity on the diamond last season when the team posted an 81-81 record saw the Phillies local television ratings get hammered. The team's average rating on CSN Philadelphia dropped, 39%, to 5.6, the sharpest drop in baseball, according to Nielsen. Prior to 2012, the Phillies television ratings had increased for nine consecutive seasons. Still, the Phillies are on the verge of signing a new local television deal that could be worth twice as much as their present deal with CSN. Another bright spot: the team remained second in merchandise sales behind the Yankees.

thats a bummer.

I knew we were going to be disappointed in the new TV deal. all the talk of billions and billions of dollars coming in never seemed very Philly to me.

1. Roy Halladay's ERA: over/under 3.50?

MK: Over. Halladay has run up against a rough combination of injury and age. Mostly injury, though. Last season came with a host of shoulder problems, kicking Halladay’s ERA over 3.00 for the first time since 2007 and coming with acorresponding drop (small, though it’s there) in strikeouts and rise in walks. He’s been awful this spring as well, with lost velocity and control. Halladay’s time as an elite pitcher might be at an end.

PS: I’m going to bet on him. I know it seems crazy right now, given what we’ve seen this spring, but Halladay can live with diminished velocity as long as he’s intact, and we keep hearing that despite the disastrous outings, he is in fact healthy. We aren’t going to see the otherworldly Halladay we were used to as recently as 2011, but rather someone who lives in the 3.40-3.50 range, painting the corners with guile and deception (hey, the Diamondbacks might want him!). Admittedly, some of this is a refusal to believe that a quality Halladay is a player of the past, but I do believe he can transform himself and remain effective. If it were 3.75 I’d feel more confident, but put me down for a yes on 3.50 or better, just the same.

2. Chase Utley’s and Ryan Howard’s combined games played: over/under 240?

MK: Howard suffered last season from a freak injury that I’m not sure is any kind of indicator of being injury prone. The injury report on Utley’s player card reads like a menu at a combination Italian/Chinese/Vegan/Bar-B-Que joint that serves burgers on the side. It wouldn’t shock me if Howard played 150 games. That leaves 91 for Utley. Even Chase Utley can play 91 games. I’ll go over.

PS: I’m also on board here, though I think it will be a bit more evenly split. Or rather, I think Utley will stay reasonably healthy, so even if Howard hits Matt’s 150 figure, Utley will push the pair well over the threshold by playing 130 games of his own. Mid-30s second basemen aren’t exactly a sound bet, but Utley has another full season in his knees, and it will come in 2013.

3. Domonic Brown is raking in the Grapefruit League, which matters very little, if at all. That said, is this the year?

MK: Sure, why not? Brown is only 25, and like Shaquille O’Neal, he’s had success at every level except the ones he’s not had success at. Brown is batting a prodigious .354/.414/.646 this spring, and according to Baseball-Reference’s quality-of-opponent metric, he’s faced something between Triple-A and major-league pitching quality. That’s not the same as doing it during the regular season, but it’s not nothing. (Also, some studies point to a correlation between slugging over 200 points higher during spring training and in-season improvement.) So, is this the year? Well, it’s a year. Maybe that’s good enough.

PS: I’m on board, too, but I’d like to point out that I was buying in prior to the Grapefruit League explosion. Since we’re in agreement here, I don’t have a ton to add to what Matt has outlined. One factor that led me toward Brown as someone to watch this winter was the fact that the door is wide open for him to get a full-blown chance to either sink or swim. The Phillies have jerked him around a bit to this point, with a pair of 56-game samples to show for the last two years. Unless he just completely implodes, he should get a chance to play nearly three times as many games this year.

phdave wrote:I got this pocket 2013 Phillies schedule at the Majestic store and there is a Budweiser ad with a player rounding the bases on what is supposed to be a walk off home run (the fake scoreboard says that in the back). Is this an actual player? I don't recognize who it is. It's probably just a fake picture.

1 wrote:

phdave wrote:I got this pocket 2013 Phillies schedule at the Majestic store and there is a Budweiser ad with a player rounding the bases on what is supposed to be a walk off home run (the fake scoreboard says that in the back). Is this an actual player? I don't recognize who it is. It's probably just a fake picture.

They've used the same generic player across the league for advertising for a few years now. "Walk off a winner", is it?

The Phillies have jerked him around a bit to this point, with a pair of 56-game samples to show for the last two years.

phdave wrote:

The Phillies have jerked him around a bit to this point, with a pair of 56-game samples to show for the last two years.

I'm so sick of this. He was injured both years.

swishnicholson wrote:

JFLNYC wrote:Anyone going to change the thread title?

We could still move up if we release more players.

Grotewold wrote:

swishnicholson wrote:

JFLNYC wrote:Anyone going to change the thread title?

We could still move up if we release more players.

Too late. Sports on Earth has us behind the Mets

The rotation was good enough to handle the declining level of play behind them last year; I think this is the season that particular camel's back breaks. Roy Halladay is no longer the pitcher he once was, and there's no shame to that; he should at least be able to put a season like last year's together, but he's no longer a staff ace. Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee are both still very good pitchers, ace quality -- especially Hamels -- but Kyle Kendrick and John Lannan at the back of the rotation will spell disaster. I see the unit being good to start the season, but as injuries take their toll on the team behind them and the Mets' young pitchers step up, I think the Mets will pass them both in overall quality of rotation and in the standings. Understand: this is nothing against Hamels or Lee. I just don't think the pieces around them will allow them succeed this year to the level they have in the past.