Phils World Series hopes most likely washed away

This one hurts. Bad. Much more than usual. You know the feeling all too well. That punch in the gut that usually occurs near the end of September of every baseball season when the Phillies playoff hopes are once again nothing but the faint hopes of the Delaware Valley faithful. Oddly enough, Phillies fans were thankfully spared from those feelings last fall, although they were only preempted by a week or so after game three of the 2007 NLDS.

Unfortunately, the same feeling that this town knows all too well returned this year a little earlier than expected: around 9:00pm this evening to be exact. That is when the Milwaukee Brewers(?) had reached a tentative deal (all this means is that the paperwork has not been signed) to acquire the coveted C.C. Sabathia from the Cleveland Indians and two lower-level minor leaguers for a package that includes top prospect Matt LaPorta and other minor leaguers. Right then, at that precise moment, the World Series dreams of the Philadelphia Phillies were in all likelihood washed away for the 2008 season. However, before I dive completely head first into the Sabathia sweepstakes leading up to today's trade, the current state of the team must be evaluated.

To say it has been a week of mixed emotions for the Philadelphia Phillies is a vast understatement. After starting the week sweeping the floundering Atlanta Braves at Turner Field, the Phillies came home Friday only to see their "phantom offense" vanish yet again. Since their 20 run outburst in St. Louis on June 13th, the Phillies have scored only 48 runs. While their starting pitching has been solid, the bullpen has now lost two games in a row and may finally be showing signs of exhaustion. With only one left handed reliever in the bullpen, J.C. Romero is clearly getting exposed, and let's not even discuss Tom Gordon because frankly, the punchline is getting old. The same can be said for Brett Myers, whose start at AAA Lehigh last week was ANYTHING but encouraging, it was more embarrassing. That's why it is most likely no coincidence that the Phillies signed All-Star closer Brad Lidge today to a reported 3-year, $37 million dollar deal, and that Myers name had been reported in trade rumors involving Sabathia as recently as last week. Lidge's signing means two things:
1. He is the Phillies closer for the next three years, a role which Myers clearly coveted, and 2. Myers better learn how to become a starter again and FAST because the Phillies are not paying him $12 million to be a setup man despite Gordon's shoulder issues.

Then there is today's near three hour rain delay that culminated with the Phils losing a heart breaker to the hated Mets 4-2 at Citizens Bank Park. Is it just me, or did everyone know that Ryan Howard would go down on three strikes once play resumed? Howard is indeed an enigma: One minute looking like a sure fire superstar, the next minute looking like he has NEVER seen a major league pitch in his life. Which one will show up? Your guess is as good as anybody's. You have to love the clutch hitting of outfielder Jason Werth, who tied the game at 2-2 with a dramtic two out, two strike home run when all hope seemed lost (off of Billy Wagner too,I might add), but you would love the team even more if Carlos Ruiz rediscovered how to hit a fastball that possibly could have won them the game in the bottom of the tenth inning. Ruiz, who played so well last year and was the Phillies leading hitter in the NLDS, has Howard's batting average, but about fifty five less runs batted in. Ruiz's lackluster performance this season ruins any chance of the Phillies dealing catching prospect Lou Marson to any contending teams for pitching or any other need that the Phillies look to improve on by the trade deadline. Free agents Geoff Jenkins and So Tagucchi have been major disappointments. And to completely end the weekend on a sour note, it is looking more and more like Pat Burrell won't make the cut for his first All-Star game appearance. The numbers don't lie: Burrell is leading all NL outfielders in home runs and rbi (and no, I'm not just saying this to sell some shirts- Pat Gillick really should make an effort to sign Burrell before this season ends). Sure, C.C. Sabathia can't cure all of the Phillies woes, but good pitching always trumps good hitting, and the Phillies offense could actually breathe for a minute with a horse like Sabathia on the mound as opposed to being in a 5-0 hole before the bats even step to the plate. That's why the Angels will probably win the World Series if they acquire Matt Holliday from Colorado. Their offense is not as good as the Phillies, but their pitching makes the current Phillies starters look like the starting five of the 1989 squad (you wouldn't remember the names even if I mentioned them). Watching this team is almost like watching those awesome Eagles teams of the early 2000's: you knew they would make the playoffs, but their glaring weaknesses would come back to haunt them once they got there.

Although the Phillies have holes, and they were documented in a pretty convincing manner in the last paragraph, they probably are going to win the NL East again barring a major collapse. Florida, while remaining competitive in a horrendous National League, is not a division winning team. The Mets have won two straight in our own backyard, but zebras never change their stripes. Once they start losing again, it's going to be every rat for himself aboard that sinking ship that they call a baseball team. Atlanta is decimated, with Jeff Bennett and Manny Acosta joining the already crowded disabled list that the 4077 couldn't even nurse back to health, and Washington is well.......Washington.

The playoffs, well that's another story. Just look at these possible scenarios in the first round of the NLDS: Game 1: Hammels vs. Zambrano. Game 2: Myers (Hail Mary, full of grace!) vs. Dempster. If that's not painful enough, let's go to Milwaukee: Game 1. Hammels vs. Sabathia. Game 2: Myers (Our Father, who art in heaven!) vs. Sheets. I would rather ride the X2 at Six Flags about 60 times than encounter these match ups. In layman's terms: this would be downright terrifying. Also lost here in the mix is the legacy of Phillies GM Pat Gillick. Gillick, who by all accounts will be leaving the Phillies at the end of the 2008 baseball season, was desperately trying to land Sabathia and deservedly so. Not only for the team, but so he can go out a winner. Despite this loss, Gillick will still do his best to land another starter before July 31st. Truth be told, there maybe nobody really worth getting. Do you really want to trade with our old buddy Ed Wade for Roy Oswalt and his bum hip? That truly has Freddy Garcia part two written all over it. A.J. Burnett has been on the disabled list more than he's actually pitched, we've already "experienced" Paul Byrd, Randy Wolf knows Citizens Bank Park but has never pitched a playoff game, and Greg Maddux is just a Mickey Morandini line drive off his shin from adding another loss to his 11-14 career postseason record.

Lost in the shuffle is the fact that Sabathia's arrival makes the Milwaukee Brewers legitimate World Series contenders since the days of Harvey's Wallbangers! Back then, John Mellencamp was known as John Cougar, Moses Malone was still on the Houston Rockets, Laverne and Shirley was still on prime time, Robin Williams was simply known as Mork, and Snoopy's Snow Cone Machine was all the rage! You get the point. Despite these useless bits of pop culture knowledge used to express my point of view, it doesn't erase the fact that for some reason, it is remarkably annoying that the Brewers were the ones to land Sabathia. The team hasn't sniffed first place all year, and only recently have they started to show any signs of productivity. There was even talk of manager Ned Yost losing his job in June. This is a team whose market was so small that it couldn't even resign lifelong Brewer Paul Molitor after the 1992 season. Molitor went on to Toronto and promptly became the World Series MVP for a team who beat this other team who really should have won that World Series, but that's neither here nor there. The chances of the Brewers knocking the Cardinals out of the NL Wild Card went from decent to excellent. I will even go as far as to say that the Brewers could seriously give most AL teams a run for their money if they represent the National League in this year's fall classic. Of course if it's not the Cubs year...........

So as the early morning comes upon us, I end this article with overall numbness and a feeling of missed opportunity. It's a feeling that Phillies fans are too familiar with, but this one really stings and probably will for years to come. You really thought things were going to be different this year. With the exception of the World Series years of 1983 and 1993, this is probably the year that the Phillies can actually win a World Series if everything falls into place. Now it makes things a little harder if not near impossible. The worst part about all of this is, you can't even blame ownership for this one. There is nobody to really vent our frustrations to. Montgomery and Co. actually shelled out quite a bit of money today. To top it off, they were in serious contention to try and make things happen and publicly made no bones about it. Baseball insiders don't lie: the Phillies were in this thing until the very end. That's what makes this hurt even more. They one year they seemingly want to bring home a winner, they still can't get things done. And despite their presumptuous hard efforts (I can't believe I'm actually writing that about the ownership, or whoever gives Gillick the green light to do what he does), the results will probably be the same as the last 28 October's in this cursed town: no World Series trophy. Not to completely be the voice of doom and gloom, anything can happen in the playoffs(see 2006 Cardinals), and a few breaks here and there can be the difference in a crucial win or a heartbreaking loss no matter how good or bad your team is. C.C. Sabathia doesn't guarantee any team a World Series ring, but it would have put the Phillies a hell of a lot closer to where they wanna go as opposed to where they will most likely wind up. I will still follow the Phillies every game until whenever their curtain falls this year, but part of the fun is indeed gone. And one has to get the feeling that yet another missed opportunity for the greatest nucleus in the club's history along with their fans has to wait for (REPEAT AFTER ME) another year. Yeah, this one's gonna hurt for a long time.

And you can't even take it out on ownership.