Phillies Off-Season

This might come as a shock to some of you, but Philadelphia sports fans have a tend to overreact. Judging by the fans reaction to the Phillies loss in the NLCS, you would think they lost 100 games this season.

Truth is, this is a team that didn't have a single every day player perform better than their average this season, except Carlos Ruiz. As Ruben Amaro said, if they Phillies had hit this season like they did in 2008 or 2009, they probably would have won 110 games. That's really not an exaggeration considering how terrible some of the team's hitting slumps were this season, and they still won a MLB high 97 games.

So where do the Phillies go from here? By some suggestions, they should trade Ryan Howard, trade Chase Utley, trade Jimmy Rollins, waive Raul Ibanez, keep Jayson Werth, and pretty much blow up the team. This is obviously ridiculous. Here's what's going to, or at least should, happen.

-The Phillies won't resign Jayson Werth
The writing's been on the wall with this one for a while. Before the Phillies started to get hot after the all-star break and acquired Roy Oswalt, Werth was very close to being traded. The Werth situation now is no different than the Pat Burrell situation after 2008. Now, Werth is a much better all-around player than Burrell, and coming off a better season than Burrell had in '08. And yes, the Phillies will miss the power that he brought from the right side. However, corner outfielder isn't the most difficult of positions to replace. Werth is a very good player, but I can guarantee he won't be worth (no pun intended) the kind of contract Scott Boras will get him from, most likely, the Red Sox.

- No one else of significance is leaving the team
Chase Utley is not getting traded. Ryan Howard is not getting traded. Raul Ibanez is not going anywhere, even if the Phillies probably want him to. The opening day lineup will be the same as last year's, minus Jayson Werth.
Everyone's mad at Howard because of how the NLCS ended. Yes, he should have swung, but that was a great pitch that definitely started outside and caught the outside corner. I have a feeling that after this debacle, Howard's going to come back better than ever next season.
Same can be said for Utley. He never could really get it going at the plate or in the field after injuries this season. But you know no one's going to work harder than him in the off season. He'll be ok.
The guy I'm most worried about is Rollins. He's been on the decline since his MVP season. However, 2011 will be the last year of his contract, so if he bounces back next season, great, if not, he'll be gone.

-What happens in LF and RF?
Ibanez will still get the lion's share of the stars in left field, unless he mirrors his performance from the first half of last season. Dom Brown will likely be the starting RF on opening day, but of course this leaves the Phillies with a ton of left handed bats. I'm still not convinced Ben Francisco is an everyday player, but I'd give him more starts in left and right next season. One guy that also needs to be considered is John Mayberry. He hit .267 with 15 HR, 67 RBI, and 20 SB in Triple A last season, which isn't exactly amazing, but as a right handed bat, I think he should get a shot to show what he can do in the majors.

-Keep Chad Durbin
Yes, that Chad Durbin who blew NLCS game 4. That aside, he's been a reliable right-handed reliever, and he's a guy worth keeping. JC Romero will most likely be gone, so the Phils will have to hope that Antonio Bastardo can be their main left-hander out of the pen, because there's not too much money left to find someone else.

-Have open competition for the 5th starter
Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels, and Blanton are locked in as the first four. The 5th starter is probably going to be Kendrick, but I hope the Phillies seriously consider Vance Worley. We know what we're going to get from Kendrick: a record around .500 with a 4.50 ERA. Worley might not be any better, but we're not sure that'll he be any worse either. The Phils should give him a shot to see if they have something with him. And sorry, Jamie Moyer will most likely not be back.

-Don't panic
The Phillies still have one of the top 2 rotations in the league (the Giants are up there), and we all know how this lineup can perform when at their best. I can't see another season where everyone in the lineup has a down year, along with all the injuries the team suffered through. They'll make it back to the playoffs next year, even if it's just on their pitching alone. Making it back to the World Series will depend on how the team hits in the playoffs. The Giants will probably enter 2011 as the NL favorites, and maybe that's a good thing for the Phils. They just didn't seem hungry this season like they have in the past few. As the "underdogs", hopefully we'll still be watching baseball at this point next year.