Books
-The Eastern League in Baseball: A Statistical History, 1923-2005
-Baseball in the Classroom: Essays on Teaching the National Pastime
-Jews And Baseball: A History, 1871-1948
-Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero
-Pro
Football Prospectus 2006
-Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
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So you better start trading or you'll sink like a stone
December 12
2006
With the addition of Freddy Garcia and Adam Eaton and the re-signing of Jamie Moyer the Phillies have strengthened what was a weak rotation last season. But will it be enough? Their offense seems sure to be down next year, particularly in the outfield where they are going to have a tough time rebounding from the trade of Bobby Abreu and the loss of David Dellucci.
Here's the offensive output for the top two outfielders from each team in the NL East from last season, using OPS as the measure, for players that got more than 200 at-bats:
| Washington | New York | |||
| OPS | OPS | |||
| Soriano | 911 | Beltran | 982 | |
| Kearns | 830 | Chavez | 779 | |
| Florida | Atlanta | |||
| OPS | OPS | |||
| Willingham | 852 | A Jones | 894 | |
| C Ross | 724 | M Diaz | 839 | |
And if you included the top three Phillies on the list, it would look like this:
| Philadelphia | |
| OPS | |
| Dellucci | 899 |
| Burrell | 890 |
| Abreu | 861 |
Last year, the Phillies outfielder with the third-highest OPS posted a higher OPS than the second-best outfielder of every other team in the division. Two of those three guys are gone. If the guys still left were the ones that had played for the Phillies last year, here's how it would look:
| Philadelphia | |
| OPS | |
| Burrell | 890 |
| Victorino | 760 |
In that scenario, the Phillies second-best outfielder is producing less offense than the second-best outfielder of every team in the division except the Fish.
Darren Oliver will be an Angel. There but for the grade of God go we.
The Nats are trying to reach out to Ryan Church, who may have likeability issues.
The Phillies will invite 19 non-roster players to Spring Training, including their first-round draft pick from last year, Kyle Drabeck. Five of the 19 are catchers but the biggest opportunity for the players in this group may be for someone who can pitch out of the pen.
It's unlikely, but still possible, that Kevin Mench could return to Milwaukee. He is apparently a popular guy.
This article laments the lack of good center field options currently available and lists some possibilities for teams looking to trade. It's a short list.