I may be stupid for having hope again, but I'm actually a bit optimistic about the Phillies' chances. They could have a surprisingly good staff with the addition of Freddy Garcia and Adam Eaton to Hamels, Myers, Lieber and Moyer. They just might surprise those Mets.
The Phillies always seem like they should be really good and then fizzle out for some reason. If they beat out the Mets it would definitely be a surprise though!
They're definitely in a rut where they seem to battle for the wild card until the last week of the season. The last year I was optimistic was 2003 when they brought in Millwood, Wagner and Thome, and they just couldn't put a hot streak together.
Unloading Abreu was a good thing as it freed up money, plus the guy doesn't play hard every day. His power disappeared and I think he's on the downside of a very nice career. Pat Burrell had a lot of potential, but strikes out far too much.
Ryan Howard pretty much single handedly carried the team into the play-off race last year after Abreu, Lidle, Bell and Cormier had been dealt. I like the moves that our new GM has made. It's certainly a different vision than Ed Wade.
