As I and many others watched the end of game six of the NLCS, the look on the Phillies fans faces said it all leading up to the final nonchalant Ryan Howard strike-out( who amazingly finished second in strike-outs for the team). This was not the same Philadelphia team that thundered into the playoffs pushing the Braves to the brink of play-off elimination touting a formidable pitching rotation. While the rotation did their their job, the offense sputtered through the young, but talented Reds and completely fizzled out against the Giants. Was the writing on the wall it was not to be? Yes, I seen it in game four. J-Roll and Victorino weren't effective as lead-offs in the least. Ross Gload did nothing at the plate and Ryan Howard failed to drive in an RBI. Ruiz gave us what we expected and Jayson Werth gave us one last memorable plate appearance before he rides off into the sunset. Utley had a down post-season, but it would be hard to replicate last year's performance. Ultimately, the Phils relied too much on a strong rotation.
The 2011 Phils will be much different as Domonic Brown will replace Jayson Werth and platoon with Ben Francisco(should he be offered a contract). There is also a possibility Jose Contreras will cost the Phils too much. Jamie Moyer, Mike Sweeney, J.C. Romero and Greg Dobbs will almost certainly be axed and Kyle Kendrick maybe non-tendered. In oder to remain competitive, Howard should take a pay-cut and free up some money to retain talent. Another scenario brought up a few ago, is if the Phils could trade Joe Blanton and Raul Ibanez and make a pass for Cliff Lee. Still won't solve their offensive woes, but will help buy someone to fix such.
This will conclude my 2010 season writings, but be on the look-out for the 2010-11 off-season posts.
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Sunday, October 24, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
End of 2010: Boston Red Sox
It didn't take us Sox fans long to bang our heads. Mike Cameron provided plenty of that before the Sox had lost most of its guts by mid-summer. Then the drama with Jacoby Ellsbury took the rest of the summer along with the losses of Youk and Pedey. Josh Beckett was barely on the mound and when he was, wasn't very effective. John Lackey was the biggest bust the Sox have spent on in years(even despite the wasted signing of Carlos Delgado who never saw the light of the majors). Dice-K continued his streak of inconsistency( please trade him) from the 2008-2009-2010 season. I'm still unsure if I should hate Bill Hall, but it's looking like he won't be back next season from the rumblings I've heard. We saw the end of a fine career by "Iron" Mike Lowell and quite possibly the final time for Jason Varitek. I don't even wanna talk about Paps, let's just leave it at that.
The silver lining is in all..could you ask for better performances by Jon Lester(who should be the AL Cy Young winner) or Clay Buchholz? Everytime they took the mound, RSN smiled with joy and on the offensive side hoped to see Beltre or a revived Ortiz go long over the Monstah. Marco Scutaro wasn't bad either(which I had really doubted him along with Lackey). The cast of characters in the OF (Nava, McDonald, Kalish, Drew) gave us a break when we we're hurting and helped us win some games. Best of all though, we gave the Yankees and Rays a run for their money until the bitter end.
2011 will be much different. Catcher has yet to be decided with Victor Martinez seemingly inching closer to FA, Varitek may not be back and Saltamacchia was just re0signed to a minor league deal. The power will return to the Sox line-up with healthy Ellsbury's, Youk's, and Pedroia's. Missing from this maybe Adrian Beltre who hits the open market and will sign somewhere else. Who knows though? Werth or Crawford could be in the cards for us. The Sox will need to re-build the bullpen, which was a glaring weakness and decide if Jonathan Papelbon can be trusted to close em out. Here's to 2011!
http://www.sportsjabber.net
The silver lining is in all..could you ask for better performances by Jon Lester(who should be the AL Cy Young winner) or Clay Buchholz? Everytime they took the mound, RSN smiled with joy and on the offensive side hoped to see Beltre or a revived Ortiz go long over the Monstah. Marco Scutaro wasn't bad either(which I had really doubted him along with Lackey). The cast of characters in the OF (Nava, McDonald, Kalish, Drew) gave us a break when we we're hurting and helped us win some games. Best of all though, we gave the Yankees and Rays a run for their money until the bitter end.
2011 will be much different. Catcher has yet to be decided with Victor Martinez seemingly inching closer to FA, Varitek may not be back and Saltamacchia was just re0signed to a minor league deal. The power will return to the Sox line-up with healthy Ellsbury's, Youk's, and Pedroia's. Missing from this maybe Adrian Beltre who hits the open market and will sign somewhere else. Who knows though? Werth or Crawford could be in the cards for us. The Sox will need to re-build the bullpen, which was a glaring weakness and decide if Jonathan Papelbon can be trusted to close em out. Here's to 2011!
http://www.sportsjabber.net
Sunday, October 3, 2010
End of 2010: New York Mets
It's now a reality the Mets will once again be looking to a new season for redemption. While many fans gave up weeks ago, the reality is today is the final day of 2010 regular season and yet another Mets loss 2-1 to the Nats. The Mets really never got off the ground losing Johan Santana, trading away a re-surgent Jeff Francoeur, the K-Rod "incident", endless Oliver Perez incidents, What is Jerry Manuel thinking?, and the is Mike Pelfrey for real? Carlos Beltran came back after what seemed like a decade out of the line-up. However, the rumor is that he and two other members of the team are causing trouble in the clubhouse.
The Mets did have some bright spots though mainly on the pitching side. R.A. Dickey turned out to be one of the biggest bargains of the year and Jon Niese was another stand-out. The Mets can hope they re-sign Hasanori Takahashi, who pitched admirably this season. Jose Reyes provided some flash in hopes of receiving a new contract and David Wright was the offensive MVP.
The future is uncertain at this time. Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel(possibly) won't be back. Rumored by the great Peter Gammons, the Red Sox maybe interested in trading Daisuke Matsuzaka for Carlos Beltran. Jose Reyes's future is undetermined until a new GM is installed, despite desiring a long-term deal. Pedro Feliciano has a potential for a new home, as well as K-Rod. More on this as it unfolds and be on the look-out next for the Red Sox 2010 wrap-up.
The Mets did have some bright spots though mainly on the pitching side. R.A. Dickey turned out to be one of the biggest bargains of the year and Jon Niese was another stand-out. The Mets can hope they re-sign Hasanori Takahashi, who pitched admirably this season. Jose Reyes provided some flash in hopes of receiving a new contract and David Wright was the offensive MVP.
The future is uncertain at this time. Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel(possibly) won't be back. Rumored by the great Peter Gammons, the Red Sox maybe interested in trading Daisuke Matsuzaka for Carlos Beltran. Jose Reyes's future is undetermined until a new GM is installed, despite desiring a long-term deal. Pedro Feliciano has a potential for a new home, as well as K-Rod. More on this as it unfolds and be on the look-out next for the Red Sox 2010 wrap-up.
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