WickNE

Well, well, well. Looky here, folks. What is going on in the world of Philly sports? From the looks of it, a veritable shit-ton of news, notes, and nuggets to discuss, so….

Let’s start this off the correct way…THE NFL IS BACK!! That’s right, folks. I have already informed the missus that from tomorrow until early February, I am busy. Training Camp is here and it starts tomorrow! The Eagles are prepared to get back to their NFL East-dominating ways and it all begins in mere hours. The dedicated EaglesFanCast crew is poring over the Training Camp schedule to pick a date to conduct an “on the scene” podcast show in Lehigh, so click on the link to stay informed!

Your hometown 76ers have decided to make due on their promise to spend those available salary cap dollars in a BIG way. Elton Brand? Are you kidding me? Since when does a pro team in Philadelphia lay out a 2-3 year rebuilding plan and have it go EXACTLY as they wanted? This just does not happen here. My Gawd, adding Brand to the mix should elevate this team to a serious Eastern Conference contender. I am not sure I like the idea of Iguodala moving to shooting guard to make room for Thaddeus Young at small forward, but hey, who am I to complain….WE GOT ELTON BRAND!!!

Which brings us, to the Phightin’s. Wow. Lots going on here lemme tell ya. Brett Myers getting sent down the minors might have been a good move, but seriously. He has lost on FOUR different levels now this year (Bigs, AAA, AA, A). Are we supposed to believe that he now “has his swagger back”, especially how he professed to crave the closer’s role and mere days later, found out that the Phils extended Brad Lidge for 3 years? Personally, at this point, I would love to see the Phils send Myers to Tampa as their closer (Florida is his home) and get one of their stud starting pitching prospects in return. The trade for Joe Blanton barely registered on the radar, if ony because it forced Adam “Drag the Warning Track” Eaton to a bullpen role, one he is clearly not built for. It is easy for me to spend other people’s money and suggest that Phils ownership should just eat the remaining money on Eaton’s contract and cut him loose. However, I am genuinely scared to death that he is going to go out to the ‘pen and start chirping about how unhappy he is and mess up what has so far been the best bullpen in the majors. If they could trade him for a bag of balls and a big-ass tub of sunflower seeds, I have three words for you…PULL…THE…TRIGGER.

Now, the Phils squander yet another terrific pitching performance by Cole Hamels against Florida yesterday, and ol’ Waddles blows his lid. I think that Manuel is MUCH smarter than many give him credit for, and it seems like every time he does this, the team responds in a big way. However, there is now a strong rumor floating around that the Phils are considering sending Shane Victorino, Carlos Carraso, J.A. Happ and Lou Marson to Colorado for Matt Holliday and Brian Fuentes. On the surface, that seems like a HUGE price for the Phillies to pay. But, it seems more and more like you just cannot count on pitching prospects and teams are placing way too high a value on them instead of using them to get better in the short term. Think about it for a second. Jayson Werth moves to centerfield and Holliday goes to right. Your top two-thirds of the batting order looks like this:

Rollins (S)
Werth (R)
Utley (L)
Holliday (R)
Howard (L)
Burrell (R)
__________
Scrub
Scrub
Automatic Out (Pitcher)

That is downright scary!! Holliday is signed through 2009. Brian Fuentes is a left-handed reliever (something the Phils need) who will be a free-agent after this season. Lou Marson’s path to the bigs is blocked by Jason Jaramillo. Victorino is a clubhouse favorite and a geniune 5-tool player, but he is due to get paid big time. With the cozy confines of The Bank, do you exchange Victorino’s speed for Holliday’s power? The feeling out of Reading is that stuff-wise, Carrasco is ready for the Bigs right now. It is his head they are worried about. Great, that is what we need up here. J.A. Happ showed some promise and he is a lefty, which is something you can never have enough of. This potential trade has a “win-win” feel to it and it might make our current pitchers automatically better by the up-tick on the offensive side of the ball.

Just a few thoughts and observations to get you through to our next post. That is all.