Headache in a Suitcase said:
the thing that gets me about the whole "the phillies will be great this year" thing is that people have been saying it for a few years now, and it never happens.
they sucked for the majority of last year, despite howard's bombs, and then got hot for a month to make it interesting for the wild card in the terrible NL.
there main issues going into the offseason were bullpen and someone to protect howard. they did neither.
maybe they will finally turn the corner this year and be that good team that people havae been saying the're gonna be for the past 3-4 years. i'll wait till they prove it on the field first.
the NL east is gonna be awful again this year... florida and washington are not good. teams are gonna go on runs, just like last year, because they're going to get to play washington 6 out of 12 games. go 5-1 vs. the awful nationals, go 3-3 against whoever else you're playing and bing... 8-4 record over two weeks... they're on a hot streak!
For the past four years, the hype has been there to a certain extent. Acutally, in 2003 it was at its highest when they made their first big signing of Jim Thome. There was a lot of hype, and, oddly enough, I think it was the worst season they've had since the Bowa era started.
In 2004, there was hype that I contested, for they had no starting pitching. Again, I ignored any hype for 2005 and 2006. I could see they didn't have it. I was very surprised by how well they did, but still, the result was what I thought it would be: no playoff appearance.
This year, I thought that, since we had done well last year, we had a core group that was close. We needed, I thought, a five hitter, a good starter, and a few new relievers. Unfortunately, we only got one of those three. I will admit my mistake here: After 8 years of the Ed Wade era, an actualy big move for a player that I liked got me into the hype. Seeing a move that I liked, I got swept up in it.
The problem with the Phillies is that they are too keen on trying to prove their moves. They feel the need to prove that Ryan Madson is worthwhile, that Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand (and this season I'm willing to bet Adam Eaton) are worth the contracts they signed for. I'm sure they aren't the only team that does this; I've seen it before, it's more common then one would think. But the Phils spent many years with poor evaluation of talent, thus are now trying to prove the value of things that aren't there.
So, there. My rant is over. Maybe things will improve when Lieber and Garcia return. Maybe. I doubt it. Without another bat and at least two more bullpen arms, I don't think they have it.