Utley and Polanco to DL
The injuries for the Phils this year have officially hit the ‘ridiculous’ point. It looks like Utley (sprained thumb) and Polanco will only be out 15 days each, but that makes 7 Phils currently on the DL (along with J.A. Happ, Carlos Ruiz, Ryan Madson, Chad Durbin, and Antonio Bastardo). And that 7 number doesn’t include lenghty DL stints from currently active players like Jimmy Rollins, Joe Blanton, Brad Lidge, and J.C. Romero.
Polanco and Utley hitting the DL at the same time is especially annoying because Polanco would have been a great fill-in at second base in Utley’s absence. Greg Dobbs has been re-called from Triple-A, along with utilityman Brian Bocock. Dobbs can expect to see a lot of time at third, along with Juan Castro and Wilson Valdez, with Castro and Valdez also splitting time at second. Charlie’s lineup for tonight: Victorino-Dobbs-Rollins-Howard-Werth-Ibanez-Schneider-Valdez-Blanton.
Cliff Lee
Cliff Lee is pitching in Yankee Stadium tonight, and the last time I saw him do that was in his Game 1 win in the World Series last year. It reminded me that the only two games the Phils won in that series were the ones he won. Obviously, Halladay can fill that role but, considering how well the Yankees have been this year, is the rest of our rotation good enough to beat them in October? How about this idea: we just offer Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, and J.C. Ramirez back to the Mariners for Lee. They’re not even close to contending, and they’re going to have a tough time re-signing him after the season. Now that he’s only a two-month rental, the price to trade should be lower, so wouldn’t taking those three prospects back make sense for them? And wouldn’t taking Lee for a two-month rental make sense for the Phils? After the season they could decide to keep him or Werth.
The Lebron James Saga
The Lebron Sweepstakes is getting PLENTY of press elsewhere, so I don’t think we have much to add here, but just one random thought I had today: Everyone is pointing to the meeting of Lebron, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh as evidence that the three of them are planning on teaming up in Miami. If that was really their plan, why would they even need to have the meeting? It seems much more likely that Wade is just recruiting them to Miami, and why wouldn’t he? I’m sure it’s an option that Lebron is considering, but I don’t for a second think that it’s a foregone conclusion. And, for the record, I really hope he doesn’t go there. Their fan base is basically non-existent, and I’d like to see some good, loyal (possibly long suffering) fans get the privilege of Lebron joining their team.
F the long-sufferers. We were there and no one gave a crap about us. Haha, just kidding. But, personally, I think I am much rooting for Wade, LeBron, and Bosh to play together. It wouldn’t quite the same, but it reminds me of the 2003-04 Lakers that didn’t actually win the title, but were so amazing to watch because they had 4 Hall of Famers (Shaq, Kobe, Karl Malone, and Gary Payton). I hate the Lakers and Malone and Payton were washed-up, but it was awesome to watch. Wade, LeBron, and Bosh are all in their primes and could create amazing basketball.
The problem with the Cliff Lee thing (and the part that is going to be monumentally irritating) is that Seattle took Amaro to the cleaners so bad last winter that they are probably going to get MORE for 2 months of Lee than they paid for a full year. Ugh…