This is what ESPN.com’s Buster Olney has just written about the Phillies:
If the Phillies think Odubel Herrara (photo above) could be someone who can help them in the years ahead, they should play him … if they believe Darin Ruf could be a guy who could help them for the next three or four years, what’s the point of running out Ryan Howard into the regular season. If they think Ken Giles is their closer of the future, there isn’t much point in keeping Jonathan Papelbon in the role.
If you are in Ruben Amaro’s shoes, why not go deep into the discussions of various ideas? If the Red Sox want the Phillies to take on a quarter or a third of the money owed to Hamels, why not play out the conversation and ask, “OK, if we carry the responsibility of some of that salary, what do we get in return? What prospects would you give us?”
As written here before: The Phillies have money. Lots of it. What they lack is talent. And if the Phillies can essentially buy a better package of prospects from the Red Sox or some other team by paying down dollars owed to Hamels or Lee, why not do it? Because by the time the Phillies are competitive again, Lee will be gone and Hamels would likely be on the downslope of his career.
The Phillies were slow to recognize the team needed to be rebuilt, and so far they’ve been slow in the turnover. They need to push this, to move forward.
Read the entire piece:
