1
2009
Phillies Making All The Right Moves
An article by 
Keith Hernandez says it all the time. Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the other team, and in this case the other team is the Philadelphia Phillies.
They made a brilliant off season move by replacing longtime Phillie and Mets nemesis Pat Burrell, with free agent outfielder Raul Ibanez who has been nothing short of spectacular. Ibanez has put together an MVP type season and leads the team in almost every offensive category despite missing time to the 15 day disabled list.
Their rookie starting pitcher, J.A. Happ, is the real deal and he has looked and played the part of a future ace. At 7-2 with a 2.97 ERA, it’s no wonder why every major league team wanted him in the off season. He has a killer arsenal of pitches at his disposal.
Their trade deadline deal for starting pitcher Cliff Lee may have just sewn up the division and another trip to the World Series too. MLB.com gives the scoop on his Phillies debut last night.
Cliff Lee, the 2008 American League Cy Young winner, made his eagerly anticipated Phillies debut after the Phillies acquired him and Francisco from the Indians in a trade Wednesday for prospects Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, Lou Marson and Jason Knapp.
Lee lived up to the hype. He threw a complete game, allowing four hits, one run and two walks and striking out six. He carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He went 2-for-4 with a double, which would have been a home run at Citizens Bank Park.
“I’m kind of glad I didn’t throw a no-hitter,” Lee said. “If I do that on the first try, I would have to be living up to some high expectations.”
I’m really glad he didn’t throw a no-hitter too, because it would have surely struck Mets fans right where it hurts.
Cliff Lee now forms a lethal 1-2 punch along with current ace Cole Hamels, and together they might help the Phillies win a second consecutive World Series.
Ruben Amaro Jr. has done an incredible job of building a championship caliber team with a farm system that has given them two MVP’s in Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, plus other solid players in Chase Utley and Ryan Madson.
He has made great acquisitions for gritty players like Jayson Werth, Pedro Feliz and Shane Victorino, who most considered marginal players at best.
You gotta give their whole organization credit from the hot dog vendors all the way to the man signing the checks. And while Phillies fans leave a lot to be desired, the Phillies organization is without question, a first class operation.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
Went to my first Mets game, a Mayors Trophy game at Shea, in '73. We beat the Yankees 8-4 and I was hooked. I marched in two Banner Day parades, and before the Grand Slam single, there was the "Hendu Can Do" grand slam - I was there. I've collected Mets memorabilia all my life and started Mets Merized Online to feed my addiction.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationals | 26 | 18 | .591 | - |
| Braves | 26 | 20 | .565 | 1.0 |
| Mets | 24 | 21 | .533 | 2.5 |
| Marlins | 24 | 21 | .533 | 2.5 |
| Phillies | 23 | 23 | .500 | 4.0 |
Last updated: 05/25/2012
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just shows and proves how inferior we have become as an orginazation in so little time just 4 months ago we were the favorite to come out of the nl east and possibly the whole national league.just what 2 months ago??we were a half game in front of them for first place?these injuries crippled us and our gm did absolutely nothing!!i understand we have guys hurt and you cant help that.but omar could of made some small little moves (eric hinske,ryan freel,scott hairston) guys who could play a bunch of positions and can bring major league caliber tools to the table to maybe help keep our heads above water.instead of our nick evans,fernando martinez,cory sullivan experiments.omar minaya has done a terrible job with this team and made us a laughing stock.he never gave us a chance to rebound once we had all these injuries.which were handled atrociously by our medical staff.so now us fans have what to look forward to??60 games left were 10 out in the division and 6.5 out of the wild card which basically the same team weve had for about 2 months since the injuries occured THANK YOU OMAR MINAYA FOR WORRYING MORE ABOUT A NEWS JOURNALIST TAKING YOUR PATHETIC PIECE OF GARBAGE FRIENDS’ JOB THAN TO HELP OUR BELOVED BASEBALL TEAM WIN GAMES.I HOPE AND PRAY EVERY NIGHT BEFORE I GO TO BED THAT YOU ARE UNEMPLOYED NEXT YEAR.YOUR A DISGRACE TO NEW YORK CITY.AND IF IM THROWING SOMEONE INTO THE FIRE TO BLAME SOMEONE FOR THIS YEAR THAN SO BE IT IM GUILTY,BUT HES TERRIBLE.
It’s very sad. The Phils mgmt has developed a first class team and organizaton. Ours is a laughingstock. So many things could have been done, but Omar chose to wait and see. The result is we have one of the worst teams in baseball. He is simply not earning his keep and needs to be canned.
The Philles are going to be NL East champs again this year, no two ways about it. They had a less than spectacular begining to the season, but they have put a lot of distance between them and everybody else and show no signs of slowing down. To bad.
Werth and Feliz were free agent signings, and Victorino was a Rule V draft pick. They didn’t come via trade.
Also Ruben Amaro Jr. has been GM for less than a year, so I’m not sure we can give him much credit building this team. Ibanez and Lee I guess are his.
Yes should have just said acquisitions, which I just edited. But Amaro has been Phillies Asst. GM for over a decade and had much to do with the minor leagues and he did a great job as compared to Bernazard. he also advised Gillick on all the deals that led to the current team. He was a natural to take over the team after Gillick retired.