I do know that the Phillies have scored fewer runs per game after they left than they did when they were here. And that the pitching got a whole lot better. I think it would be a mistake to conclude that trading away those two guys made the pitching better — I think it’s more reasonable to conclude that the pitching happened to get better after they left and it was not related to them.

I think the critical thing for the Phillies going into next year is to understand why they got better after they traded away Victorino and Pence. They did it in spite of their offense, not because of it. Their offense is worse since they traded away Victorino and Pence, just like you would expect. Their pitching is a whole lot better. And that’s unrelated, or close to unrelated, to Victorino and Pence and the guys who replaced them.