According to Ken Rosenthal, the Roy Oswalt deal to Philadelphia is official and the parameters are as such. Phillies Get: Roy Oswalt, $11 million Astros Get: LHP J.A. Happ, OF Anthony Gose, SS Jonathan Villar In addition, the Phillies raised the contract buy-out for Oswalt next year from $1 million to $2 million. I will have a full post up on Oswalt hopefully later tonight, but here are my first thoughts... People will say (and rightfully so) that the Phillies by far got the best … [Read more...]

I have a feeling this will be an interesting trade deadline. Instead of just putting everything into the comments field, I'm going to put any and all rumors I find here. Also, on our twitter account, I will be "retweeting" rumors from the Twitter accounts of Buster Olney, Ken Rosenthal, Jon Heyman, etc...  I will put some of those in here, but you can see them in our twitter feed on the left hand column. Feel free to post anything you find in the comments field. Most Recent Updates … [Read more...]

It's being reported that the Phillies will place Shane Victorino on the DL and bring up the top prospect in baseball, Domonic Brown. Brown is the Phillies most celebrated hitting prospect since Ryan Howard was called up 7 years ago (has it been that long!?). It's unclear whether he will be sent right back down after Vic gets back, but hopefully he can hit his way into the line-up full time. I'm pretty excited - how about you? I'm going to work on a "what should we expect" post on Brown … [Read more...]

Many of the Phillies bats who I lambasted in my last post came alive against the Rockies, and with them, a good deal of hope that the season can be salvaged. The Phillies now sit 4.5 out of the Braves, and 2.5 behind the Giants in the Wild Card (with only Cinci in between). 2010: 53-46 2009: 58-41 2008: 53-46 2007: 51-48 The Good News Jimmy Rollins was 9 for his last 21 before going 0-5 on a bruised foot yesterday. When he gets on base, this is a different team. Raul Ibanez is … [Read more...]

2010: 49-46 2009: 55-40 2008: 51-44 2007: 47-48 Last year, the Phillies were well into their summer hot streak at this time. Two years ago, they were about to drop down to 54-49 before taking off. And in 2007, this is the exact moment we went on a 5-game winning streak that would start our 42-25 finish. The season is not lost. But we're getting close. The Phillies are in this position because of the ugliest prolonged offensive stretch since the dark ages (1994-2000). The … [Read more...]

Not 24 hours after I somewhat sarcastically suggested on our twitter feed that Milt Thompson be fired, Thompson was indeed let go as the team's hitter instructor. I have 2 quick thoughts on this... I have absolutely no idea what affect hitting or pitching coaches have on the players. None. I don't think anyone really does. Leo Mazzone was regarded as the best pitching coach in the world in Atlanta, but couldn't do anything to improve the pitching in Baltimore. Right now Dave Duncan is … [Read more...]

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There are all sorts of strong indications that the Phillies are close to acquiring a starting pitcher. First, the somewhat strange demotion of Kyle Kendrick for the probably just as good/bad Andrew Carpenter. Then, Carpenter was not named as Kendrick's replacement in the rotation. When asked about this, Ruben Amaro said “I think we know exactly what we're going to do,” Amaro said. “I just choose not to tell you". And... “We have other balls in the air.” So - I guess … [Read more...]