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Originally Posted by SniperSB23
The Rockies went to the World Series in 2007, improved in the offseason and finished 14 games under .500 the next season. The NL is always so balanced without the elite teams so whoever gets hot down the stretch winds up in the World Series. The Phillies had a chance to completely offset that and become the elite National League team and opted for $15 million and some second rate prospects instead. It's a cheap move, plain and simple. They remain a top contender in the National League but they could have been THE contender.
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They will be the preseason favorite for the NL easily. And in the top 3 favs to win the Series out of all of baseball. Any team that goes to back to back WS is an elite team. We have some clutch hitters that love to be in the big spots. That seperates us from other contenders (like the Rockies)
I completely agree that trading Lee was a cheap move and should not have been done. But people keep forgetting that we do have the BEST pitcher in baseball now.
If we kept Lee and none of these trades happened nobody would be down on the Phillies. They made some moves that not only make us better next year but for the next 4 years. They did the right thing getting Halladay. If Lee needed to be sacrificed to get Halladay it was the right move. I really wish they would have man upped and paid Lee his 9 mil. But hey, I'm not going to be as greedy as Yankee fans.
Its not going to be easy to get to a 3rd straight World Series. I'm not sure if its been done with an NL team in the history of baseball.. and if it has it was 50+ years ago. But we are in the right position to make that run.
remember our lineup is still going to be:
Rollins, Polanco, Utley, Howard, Werth, Ibanez, Victorino, Ruiz. Best lineup in baseball. If they were smart they'd put Victorino in the leadoff spot and Rollins in the 7th spot but they have this thing with loyalty that sometimes goes too far (pitching Lidge in the WS).