I saw Savage make a leaping catch in ’62 at Connie Mack Stadium’s ad-adorned left field wall (334 down line) on a Bob Aspromonte drive in one game of a twi-nighter; caught ball at top of well-timed leap, landed on his butt on gray warning track cinders to a long standing ovation.  Ted had a nice rookie year for Phils but fell off after that; ultimately, carved out a 9 yr. journeyman’s career. 

Hisle, another outfield talent, showed early promise (20 & 56 rookie year; good speed & some power, solid baserunner) but sputtered with Phils (a lot of Ks); became a solid RBI man with Twins and Brewers (including 96, 115 & 119); had a fine overall 14 yr. career.  Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

not sure we’ll get to 315 comments on it…

My desktop wallpaper has changed.  It was Charlie and Dallas hugging at the mound.  Prior to that, an old black and white of Harry and Whitey.  Now, as of minutes ago, the shot from SI.com, with new Phil Roy “Doc” Halladay and a Sal Maglie stare right in front of the lens.

I have no doubt we will see a late afternoon presser just in time to allow local TV news a chance to provide instant coverage.

Done deal, baby.  Lets go DOC!

When the fine print settles from one of the biggest trades in the history of pitching-kind, I know exactly what people will be asking for at least the next 88 years:
Were the Phillies really thinking sanely when they traded away Cliff Lee? Or had they just squirted too much Cheese Whiz on their cheesesteaks?
Well, I’ve heard the logic explained to me: They can’t afford a $160-million payroll. And they had to replenish their system.
OK, let’s get this part out of the way fast: The first point is a myth. They could have unloaded Joe Blanton — who’s headed for $7-8 million in arbitration — and barely affected their payroll. So it wasn’t about the money.
 
This was about keeping their farm system stocked in the wake of deals for Lee and Halladay that cost them seven of their top 10 prospects — and six of their top SEVEN heading into last season — according to Baseball America.
So was that mission really accomplished — by essentially swapping Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor and Travis d’Arnaud for Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies and J.C. Ramirez?
I decided to ask North America’s foremost authority on topics like that, all-knowing Baseball America co-editor-in-chief John Manuel. That would be the same John Manuel who just ranked the Phillies’ system as the fourth-best in baseball a mere two weeks ago.
Let’s take this one item at a time:
Would the Phillies still be ranked as the No. 4 system in baseball?
“I would say they are no longer No. 4,” Manuel said. “A big, big reason they were [No.] 4 was having a trio of close-to-the-majors guys in Taylor, Drabek and [Domonic] Brown who could be impact guys. They just lost two, and the one with the highest upside [Brown] is the least ready, especially defensively. Now their system still has talent, and I like the Mariners additions such as Aumont (No. 4 in the M’s list), Gillies (No. and Ramirez (No. 18). But none of those guys is Drabek. At the upper levels, Philadelphia doesn’t have a guy who projects to be more than a fourth or fifth starter anymore, and many scouts think Mike Stutes, Vance Worley, Antonio Bastardo — all their top Double-A-and-up pitchers — are best suited as relievers on a championship team. And that’s clearly what Philly aspires to be and has been the last three seasons.”
What would the Phillies’ top-10 prospect list look like?
Just a couple of weeks ago, Baseball America ranked the Phillies’ top 10 this way: 1) Brown, 2) Drabek, 3) Taylor, 4) d’Arnaud, 5) RHP Trevor May, 6) OF Anthony Gose, 7) C Sebastian Valle, RHP Jarred Cosart, 9) LHP Antonio Bastardo, 10) OF Domingo Santana.
So they’ve now subtracted three of the top four. And Manuel said he wouldn’t place any of the Seattle imports that high. Which tells us something.
“If I had to re-do my top 10, Brown would obviously be 1,” Manuel said. “But with 2-3-4 gone, I might skip Anthony Gose up to [No.] 2, have Trevor May 3, Valle 4. Cosart is now 5, followed by Aumont at 6. Now that’s probably lower than [fellow Baseball America prospect guru)] Jim Callis would have Aumont, but I really like Cosart, Valle and May. Valle was having a big winter in Mexico as one of the youngest players there, showing a lot of power. I suppose Aumont really could go anywhere from 3-to-6, but I feel pretty firm on Gose at 2. The people I have talked to since doing the Phils’ top 10 all thought I had Gose too low.”
The rest of Manuel’s top 10: Bastardo 7th, Gillies at No. 8, Santana 9th and a healthy debate about who’s 10th — tools-laden outfielder Jiwan James or radar-gun hero Scott Mathieson, who is just making it back from his second Tommy John surgery.
So how much damage have the Phillies done to their system with this trade?
The most replaceable guys in this deal, by all accounts, were Taylor and d’Arnaud. And Manuel agreed. In Taylor’s case, “they have Brown, plus a plethora of A-ball outfielders led by Gose,” he said. “So they can spare Taylor.” And with the emergence of the onrushing 19-year-old Valle, along with Carlos Ruiz‘s step-up to be a top-tier catcher, “they could spare d’Arnaud,” Manuel said.
But Drabek? “Well, that’s the tough one,” Manuel went on. “I really was on his bandwagon because of the athleticism and increased maturity. Trevor May and Jarred Cosart are now their top starting-pitching prospects. [But] May hasn’t pitched above A-ball, and Cosart hasn’t gotten out of rookie ball. Compare that to last year, when their top pitching prospects were [Carlos] Carrasco (who had double-A experience), Drabek (strong Hawaii Winter showing and first-round/big-league-bloodlines pedigree), Happ (who had MLB experience at the time) and Knapp (biggest arm in the system).
“Three of those guys are gone, obviously,” Manuel said. “So they have lost some true impact arms, and Ramirez and Aumont don’t make up for it. I haven’t spoken to the Phils, but I wonder if they’ll try Aumont in the rotation again. Ramirez is hard to evaluate because of (his hitter’s-paradise ’09 home park in) High Desert. … But it sounds like most scouts see him eventually as a reliever, not as a starter.”
So with Drabek outahere, what starter in their system would be the first call-up in 2010?
If the Phillies left one major hole in their Farm Land with this trade, it would be this: Kyle Drabek was going to pitch in the big leagues next year. He was ticketed for a May-June-July ETA if somebody got hurt or Jamie Moyer discovered he really was 47.
But now, with Drabek gone, a huge question is who assumes that vital Next Call-up role. Kyle Kendrick? Drew Carpenter? Stutes? None projects to be a top-of-the-rotation or even middle-rotation force. Or Bastardo? Right now, he’d be their top lefthanded reliever entering the season.
“Stutes has a chance,” Manuel said, “because he has a plus slider, but he doesn’t really have a weapon for LH hitters, doesn’t change speeds effectively enough. Other options include Yohan Flande, whose breaking ball is short but who has had some Double-A success, and don’t forget Joe Savery.
“I think Savery’s an option for them if he can become — I can’t believe I’m saying this — J.A. Happ Lite. That’s the template he has to follow. He does pitch downhill, but he doesn’t have Happ’s command. I have long been a Savery fan. Loved him in college. Excellent competitor. But his arm just isn’t the same as it once was. I think Bastardo is the most likely guy, despite the opening in the ‘pen for him and the need. Sergio Escalona might have to come through in the ‘pen to free him up for that role.”
Last question: Are the Phillies still a top-five system? And if not, howmuch have they dropped
“They’re top 10,” Manuel said, “because they have athletes that other organizations lack. I might be more bullish on them than others, but their athleticism stands out among the orgs that I do (Twins, Phillies, Yankees) and among the ones that I’ve looked at so far.”
So to sum this up, even after this trade, this is still an organization with a ton of high-end prospects. But the Phillies clearly are not the same organization after this trade that they were before it, Roy Halladay or no Roy Halladay.
You just have to wonder if one of these mornings, their GM, Ruben Amaro Jr., is going to wake up and scream: “I did WHAT? I traded Cliff Lee? Oh nooooo.”

Yeah, whats up with Bob not copying and pasting?  Must be spam from the world wide leader to get us to join.