The Philly Phanatics

At the winter meetings for the MLB, the Philadelphia Phillies main goal was to land some pitching talent so Cole Hamels doesn't hurt himself carrying this pitching staff to a second consecutive Division Title. Oh, and getting Adam Eaton out of the rotation would not hurt either. Last year from June 13th until the end of the Division Series, Kyle Kendrick went 10-5 with a 3.87 ERA. Without him, the Phillies likely do not beat the Mets and their cocky fans out for the division title on the last day of the season. (Unless you include game 163 - Holliday didn't touch the plate, I don't care.) The Phillies, with their mediocre, injury-plagued bullpen, relied upon the rookie Kendrick to eat up innings all season. Of his 20 starts, Kendrick only had three outings where he did not last 6 innings. Down the final stretch of the season, the Phillies had a very thin bullpen where Myers, Romero, and Gordon were the only legitimate options in the late innings. (Mesa and Alfonseca shouldn't even count as pitchers, they were just gasoline to further ignite the inferno.) Kendrick gave them the innings necessary to keep that bullpen intact when it counted.

Kendrick has been rewarded by being mentioned in a trade rumor for Baltimore's left-handed ace Erik Bedard. Given the fact that Bedard was 12-2 during the same stretch that Kendrick was 10-4, many may view this as a good trade. But, don't be too hasty. The Orioles wouldn't dare give up their ace for a pitcher who never even pitched in AAA. No, they want more. That more is your favorite Rule 5 draftee turned starting center fielder. That's right, the Flyin' Hawaiian, Shane Victorino.

For the past few years, the Phils have had a glut of capable outfielders. Now you have had a firesale of outfielders. The only outfielders not involved in a trade rumor or possibly leaving the team via free agency are Jayson Werth and the consistently inconsistent Pat Burrell. Last season, the Phillies had Aaron Rowand who posted a career year, winning a Gold Glove in center field and competing for the batting title for most of the season. Those accolades do not even include the intangible contributions of the clubhouse leader. But he is likely to walk via free agency. Rowand will likely receive the same type of contract that Andruw Jones just received from the Dodgers ($18.2 million/year). Given the Phillies' management and their usual combination of stinginess and incompetence, there is only a small likelihood of Rowand being in center field at Citizens' Bank Park next season. Therefore, Shane Victorino is currently slated to be the team's center fielder of the future starting this season. In addition to the loss of Rowand, the Phillies recently traded away their other young outfield prospect Michael Bourn to Houston, where Bourn is a projected starter and lead-off hitter. This team's number of outfielders is thinning by the second (and not in a good way, they're keeping the futile ones) and now the Phillies are ready to give away their starting center fielder? Honestly, do you really want Pat Burrell, Jayson Werth and some mystery outfielder in center fielder, most likely prospect Chris Roberson, starting next year? Roberson's impressive MLB resume includes a whopping 85 games over two seasons, in which he has only managed 69 ABs. Maybe you really want to see this prospect improve upon his season high in RBIs next season. He's got a shot. He needs two RBIs to break his season high. That would be Rowand's RBI total in about 5 at bats.

This trade makes less sense than Ryan Franklin taking steroids. (Seriously, if you take 'roids, shouldn't you at least be...well...good?)

Why would you trade away this team's future center fielder and a future starter in this rotation that has proven himself to be clutch in the stretch run toward the playoffs for Erik Bedard who has had only one really good season in the majors. His 13-5 season last year brought his record to just slightly over .500 for his career.

So why are the Phillies seriously considering this deal? Is brain-dead a qualification to be a member of the Phillies front office? It looks like Ed-Wade syndrome has not yet left our front office.