nycphils wrote:I still think the team won't contend before Utley fades

I mean, my biases aside, they're not that far from contending right now, with $50M+ on the DL. Who are you scared of? The '27 Yankees aren't walking through that door

But even if they were, it's not like they're gonna cut payroll to $50M and play all kids. Or that we have a can't-miss 2B in the wings, as much as I like Cesar

That's fair, but I don't expect the NL East to continue to suck as bad as it does this year (and by the way we are still pretty far behind). Howard will continue to be an anchor and it isn't clear how the '14/'15 phillies will contend - in my opinion you need several stars and few if any holes in the lineup to have a good offense, and SS/C/RF and possibly 1B and CF are at serious risk for being lineup holes, with only Dom and maybe Utley if he hangs on and is healthy and in a perfect world Franco as stars.

Pitching wise, the starters could be anywhere from mediocre (if Lee breaks down, etc.) to great- very hard to say. YMMV - no one knows what will happen, of course.

The return on Utley in a trade isn't going to be a franchise changer.

If Utley "hangs on"? He's having a great year. Even this year Howard mashed righties, and Ruf/Frandsen can help vs LHP. Brown looks for real. I see them adding an impact bat in RF, especially if Rollins is gone but maybe either way. I'm bullish on Asche/Frandsen actually. Revere can chip in atop the order or maybe Hernandez steals his spot.

Lee, Hamels, and Halladay back on a reasonable deal or a good free agent replacement, with two of Kendrick, Pettibone, Morgan/Martin. Papelbon (or a replacement like Balfour or Madson). Cross your fingers with Adams (we're due for some good luck with this kind of thing eventually, as well as the "try a bunch of young relief arms and a few will be good" notion.)

I dunno, I think that team would be legit this year and next. It's gonna take some smart moves here and there, but I think the difficulty of staying in the mix these next few years is being overstated

p.s. I've had two tequila

Why would Halladay sign a cheap deal? He's said time and time again that his priority is to win, and he viewed Philadelphia as a vehicle to winning. It no longer is.

nycphils wrote:I do not - as much as he's my favorite player on the team - understand a 3 year deal at $15M/YR. Makes very little sense to me.

The strategy is to give as many multi-year contracts as possible to veterans in their decline years, especially if the veteran in question was on a Phillies championship team. It's my understanding the Rube is currently in talks with Mike Schmidt and Bake McBride to take over 3B and RF for the next few years.

I am a pretty optimistic fan. Grotewold has me lapped. I think we are going to see an ugly year or two. It might be a necessity. This franchise has no business turning into what the 76ers did for years.

JFLNYC wrote:

nycphils wrote:I do not - as much as he's my favorite player on the team - understand a 3 year deal at $15M/YR. Makes very little sense to me.

The strategy is to give as many multi-year contracts as possible to veterans in their decline years, especially if the veteran in question was on a Phillies championship team. It's my understanding the Rube is currently in talks with Mike Schmidt and Bake McBride to take over 3B and RF for the next few years.

I think a handful of posters have shown that Utley is still one of the best second baseman in baseball. Who do you all suggest play there instead?

usctrojans31 wrote:Why would Halladay sign a cheap deal? He's said time and time again that his priority is to win, and he viewed Philadelphia as a vehicle to winning. It no longer is.

Likes Phillies players and org, can sleep in his own bed in Feb and March, maybe feels bad he was out the past two years? We'll see.

They believe they can contend next year, I think with cause. If that's your premise, you want Utley back. He won't break the budget and is a better option than anyone else they could feasibly get.

heyman says they're close to getting someone named chris dickerson from the o's

Heyman just tweeted that Chris Dickerson is close to getting traded to the Phillies. We're doing it.

We are trading for Chris Dickerson. Uhh?

What a retarded idea.

Hopefully we traded Delmon young.

The end of the Mini Mart era, I would suppose.

Total guess but I'm going to predict that we gave up Aumont for him.

OK. Generally not the kind of guy that you trade for since you can just sign him to a minor league deal at the end of the season, but not a bad 4th/5th OF type. I'm good with it as long as we gave up less than nothing

Guy is a crappy player, mayberry light, can't field worth a shit. Yeah do something so you appear busy douchebag.