End of an Era?

Phils Make First Offseason Trade

The Phillies have made a trade with the Texas Rangers sending them outfield prospect Greg Golson for outfielder John Mayberry Jr. Golson was the Phils' first round pick in 2004, Mayberry was Texas' first round selection a year later.

Mayberry, a 6-6 230 pound outfielder, split time last season between Double-A and Triple-A, hit .264 with 20 HR's and 71 RBI. His father was former major leaguer John Mayberry Sr. who played with Houston, Kansas City, Toronto and New York (AL). 

Golson was at one time a top prospect for the Phils but has struggled recently and his stock has dropped. 

I think this was a good move for the Phils, especially watching Golson with my own eyes struggle after the September roster expansion. He has great speed, but that does a team no good when he can't get on base.

Mayberry is a power hitter with good size and I think he has a great shot at being a solid major league player someday; at least I hope so. 

BREAKING NEWS: Utley Scheduled Hip Surgery, Out 4-6 Months

Chase Utley will have hip surgery next week and will likely miss 4-6 months. 

He had been struggling with his hip all season, but the Phillies denied reports that anything was serious. 

Should his recovery be closer to six months, the Phils will need to choose an opening day second baseman. Most likely, it would be Eric Bruntlett but if minor league prospect Jason Donald has a good spring training, he could make his debut. Another option is signing Utley's former replacement, Tadahito Iguchi.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's see how the surgery turns out and then we can worry about a replacement.

Phils Interested in Ibanez?

The latest reports claim the Phillies are interested in free-agent outfielder Raul Ibanez. 

Ibanez has spent the past 13 seasons with the Mariners. He is coming off one of his best years hitting .293 with 23 HR's and 110 RBI. 

The recent interest in Ibanez comes as a surprise to me as I was convinced that the Phillies would pursue a right-handed hitter to create balance in the lineup. However, Ibanez hit .304 against left-handed pitching last season.

At 36 years old, Ibanez's speed and defensive skills have declined and, just like Pat, he may be replaced for defensive support in the 7th or 8th inning.

My advice to the Phillies is stay away from this guy. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy but despite his ability to hit the lefties, I still think they need that right-handed bat in the lineup to make the opposing manager think. This guy is too old and will bring flashbacks of Burrell in the outfield.

What ever happened to Magglio?

BREAKING NEWS: Pujols Wins MVP

NL MVP to be Announced this Afternoon

I apologize for neglecting the blog these past few days; I have been a little busy. Fortunately, there was not much complaining to do as the Sixers destroyed the OKC Thunder on Saturday night and the Flyers upset Montreal and beat Atlanta last night.

However, I was not so thrilled to see the Eagles tie a Bengals team that has won all of one game this season. I am not going to do my usual angry tirade about the Eagles, but I will just say what I have been saying all along: It is time for Andy Reid, Donovan "Choke" McNabb and Joe Banner to go.

But today the Baseball Writers' Association of America will announce its' National League Most Valuable Player award. Our boy Ryan Howard is one of the front runners to win, as is St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert "Winnie the" Pujols, as Chris Berman would say. 

This race is so close and there is certainly no definitive answer as to who will win. Let's analyze the two candidates:

Ryan Howard: .251 BA, 48 HR, 146 RBI, .543 SLG

Winnie: .357 BA, 44 HR, 116 RBI, .653 SLG

And as much as I would like to add "World Series Champion" to Howard's line, postseason attributes do not factor into MVP voting.

Prior to this season, everyone was talking about how Chase Utley would complete the three-peat as Phillies' MVP winners, but that will not be the case this year.

Clearly, Howard's average drags him down and as much as I am pulling for him on this one, I would not put my money on it. At least not a lot of it. 

A few days ago, I said the same things regarding Charlie Manuel and the NL Manager of the Year award, and unfortunately, I was correct.

But this time, I have a better feeling. As much as I feel that Pujols will take this award, I think Howard has a good shot; at least a better shot than Manuel did. 

I would guesstimate that Howard has about a 40% chance at winning and Pujols, a 57% chance. 

And how about some love for Manny? You can not deny what this guy did for his team so let's give him that last 3%.

I will post as soon as it is announced. Should be around 2 p.m. Stay tuned. 

A Miraculous Comeback

At one point, the Sixers trailed the Indiana Pacers 20-2. By the end of the first quarter, they trailed, 38-13.

It looked like the Sixers would have to tack another "L" into the loss column. But somehow, someway, they came together as a team and topped the Pacers 92-90.

Thaddeus Young had another huge game, leading the team with 25 points and completed the double double with 10 rebounds. Andre Miller also put on a nice performance with 19 points and really helped the team get things started on offense. 

*It was really cool seeing the Sixers' Kareem Rush come on the floor and actually be paired up with his brother, Brandon Rush, a forward for Indiana.

This was a great win for the Sixers, considering they had to overcome a huge deficit to pull it off. Hopefully, this was the spark the Sixers needed and will motivate them for their upcoming games.

The Sixers will host Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight at the Wachovia Center. Should be a good game as I am really looking forward to seeing Durant in action.