Weekly Recap

Well, there's good news for Ryan Howard and decidedly bad news for the Philadelphia Phillies as Miguel Cabrera has reportedly signed an 8-year, $153 million deal with the Tigers. Despite being 4 years older, Howard will almost certainly demand that that deal be a starting point for any future long-term negotiations with the Phillies. What does this mean for the Phillies? Well, lilkely it means that the Phillies will end up having to choose between signing either Cole Hamels or Ryan Howard long term and they will go with Hamels. That means that Howard could be on the trading block after this year. Of course, they could also open up their wallets and admit that as a team in the 6th largest media market in the country with a new favorable stadium lease and 3 million plus in attendance they can afford to sign both to long-term deals. I personally doubt that will happen though.

In other news, the Phillies rotation and bullpen situation has become much clearer in the past couple of days. Francisco Rosario has been placed on the DL and will not open the season on the roster. Travis Blackley has likely pitched himself out of the rotation and Eaton has continued to be solid in his last couple of starts. As it stands now, this will likely be our starting rotation and bullpen:

Starters:

1. Brett Myers
2. Cole Hamels
3. Jamie Moyer
4. Kyle Kendrick
5. Adam Eaton

Bullpen:

RHP Clay Condrey
RHP Ryan Madson
RHP Chad Durbin
LHP JC Romero
RHP Tom Gordon
CP Brad Lidge

On paper, both are slightly better than the beginning of 2007. That is, assuming there are no injuries of course. The bullpen, if Lidge is solid, looks much better on paper.

In the field the Phillies will field an impressive lineup and a very solid bench and it will likely come down to staying healthy and performing up to the level that they are all capable of for the Phillies to repeat as NL East champs.

Closing Notes: CP B. Lidge pitched in another minor-league game and his velocity (without radar guns) was estimated around 91 MPH. Otherwise he was very solid. However, he needs to get his velocity back to the 95-97 range to be effective against major league hitters and to help make his slider more effective.

Prediction right now: 2008 Record: 90-72