Phillies Offseason Preview; Rollins on Block?

The World Champion Phillies are going to have to make a lot of decisions in the upcoming offseason. They will have to make moves that will keep the team not only financially stable, but also good enough to keep expectations high. Ken Mandel of MLB.com has outlined the decisions the Phillies have to make. [MLB.com]

CONTRACT ISSUES

Free agents: OF Pat Burrell; LHP Jamie Moyer; LHP Scott Eyre; RHP Tom Gordon; INF Tadahito Iguchi; RHP Rudy Seanez; OF So Taguchi.

Eligible for arbitration: 1B Ryan Howard; LHP Cole Hamels; OF Shane Victorino; OF Jayson Werth; RHP Joe Blanton; RHP Ryan Madson; INF/OF Greg Dobbs; RHP Chad Durbin; RHP Clay Condrey; INF Eric Bruntlett.

Club options: Tom Gordon, RHP, $4 million (declined); So Taguchi, OF, $1.25 million (declined).

Non-tender possibilities: None.

It will be an interesting offseason for the Phillies. They have a number of players that are expected to see annual raises and then you have to consider signing both Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels long-term.

There have been some other shocking rumors as well that could really play into the Phillies offseason.

- Giants beat writer, Andrew Baggerly seems to feel that the Phillies will listen to offers for shortstop Jimmy Rollins.

- Curt Schilling appears to be open to returning to the Phillies if they're interested. [Daily News]

- Ut oh! Scott Boras is comparing Ryan Madson to Mariano Rivera circa 1996 when Rivera was the set up man for John Wetteland. [Daily News]

For more rumors on the Phillies, head on over to MLB Trade Rumors and continue to check in here.

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Fightin' Phils!

Hey Pedro, I guess the Phillies are your daddy. After trailing 7-0 in the 4th, the Phillies were able to beat the Mets 8-7 in a 13 inning thriller.

After the poor start by Jamie Moyer, the Phillies started their slow climb. In the bottom of the 4th, Pedro Feliz hit a sac fly to score in Shane Victorino. They then tacked on 4 runs in the 5th with 2 run homers by Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard.

In the 8th, Carlos Ruiz scored on a J-Roll single and in the 9th, Eric Bruntlett came through with the clutch pinch hit double that drove in Jayson Werth from 1st. The bull pen did amazing all night to keep the Mets from taking the game back.

After scoreless innings through the extra frames, Shane Victorino led off the 13th with a triple. New York immediately walked both Werth and Bruntlett to get to pinch hitter Brett Myers. It was obvious the Phillies didn't want him swinging to chance hitting into a double play so he struck out looking with a full count.

With one out and the bases loaded, Chris Coste comes up after pinch hitting in the 8th to stay in. He was 3-3 at the time coming in and he made it 4-4 with the game winning base hit that sailed way over Carlos Beltran's head.

With that win, the Phillies leap frogged the Mets to take a .5 division lead. They play tonight as Kyle Kendrick and Johan Santana face eachother. I'll be at the game tonight cheering hard for the Fightins'.

Game note: Rollins continued his hot bat going 5-7 with 3 RBIs, a double and home run.

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Payback's A Bitch

After going to LA and getting swept by the Dodgers last week in 4 games, the fans in Philly feared a repeat or another dismal performance versus LA. Well the outcome was much different. The Phillies capped a 4 game sweep at home of the Dodgers with a 5-0 win Monday night.

Taking the mound for the Phillies was Brett Myers, who followed up his shut out win versus Washington with 7 scoreless innings against LA. He went 7, giving up 9 hits and 3 walks. He also struck out 8. His curve ball has truly become nasty again and the velocity on his fastball is back. He is now freezing and fooling hitters with both pitches, something Phillies fans are happy to see again.

Jimmy Rollins, who entered the game batting .087 (4-for-46) since calling Philadelphia fans "front-runners", had a single, double and triple, and drove in two runs. He showed a lot of hustle scoring on a double play and on an infield grounder from 2nd.

Jayson Werth also had a great game as he drove in a run himself. But that was over shadowed by his great plays in the field, including him running down a line drive hit by Manny Ramirez in the 7th with bases loaded and the Phillies only up 3-0. He basically saved the game.

The Phillies open tonight's 2 game series with the Mets. The Phillies can come out of this series either 1.5 up or .5 and 2.5 games back. I would love to see the first out come. But it won't be easy as tonight the Phillies be facing Pedro Martinez (4-3; 4.97) tonight and Johan Santana (12-7; 2.64) tomorrow. The will be putting Jamie Moyer (11-7; 3.54) and Kyle Kendrick (11-7; 4.87) on the mounds for both nights.

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Back to Normal

These guys are pathetic. Phillies lost 8-3 to San Diego as Kyle Kendrick surrendered 5-run 4th inning. He went 3.2, giving up 6 runs on 6 hits and 5 walks. He is starting to show is true colors and be the below average pitcher he is. He lacks an out-pitch and it's catching up to him.

Jimmy Rollins continued to play like shit. I won't even get on his case because I exhausted my opinion enough. The Mets beat Pittsburgh to move 2 games ahead of Philadelphia.

Ace Cole Hamels (9-8, 3.32) is pitching tonight versus Cha Baek (4-7, 5.20).

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So, We're Front Runners?...oh, and peace Flash.

If you haven't heard yet, Jimmy Rollins called the entire city of Philadelphia "front-runners" as fans during his appearence on The Best Damn Sports Show. Watch the video here.

He compared us to St. Louis, really? Jimmy have you seen how many rings St. Louis has won? Ten to our one. 17 NL pennants to our 5. No wonder why Jimmy? The Cardinals have fucking won and made it to the big dance A LOT. No wonder they their fans are always supportive...they're always winning. The Phillies have 10,000 LOSSES!

Sorry if you have your panties in a bunch because people boo you when you don't run at a ground ball. You Jimmy, should just about never be involved in a double play, let alone being thrown out at first by a few steps in a double play. Remember that Philadelphia is always behind the team and the players who give their best effort, but when you're clearly not, you're going to get booed. We want perfection. We know everyone is human, but we do not want to see dumb fundamentals and dumb mistakes that even 12 year old little leaguers would not make night in and night out.

We don't want to see you give up and blow away the division. We're tired of watching the team strike out constantly night in and night out.

And speaking of imperfection, Tom Gordon is done for the year. The bullpen surrendered the loss last night and it has definitely not been good as they lack a real set-up man. Too many guys pitching out of their normal roles is going to kill this team in the long run.

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Phillies Earn 2nd Straight Sweep in Atlanta

As Justin would say: "Cole Hamels will win a Cy Young this year and 10 Cole Hamels in his career."

Hamels (9-5) was filthy in his outing versus Atlanta, pitching 8.2 innings, giving up 1 run in the 9th, a double by Brian McCann that scored Chipper Jones. He allowed 5 hits total and 1 walk, a .81 WHIP. He also struck out 7. King Cole's ERA improved to 3.22. Tom Gordon pitched the last out, earning his 2nd save.

Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Pedro Feliz all had solo home runs. Utley leads the league with 24 and Howard has 22 on the season. Those were the only hits for Utley and Howard. Pat Burrell went 2-4 with a double. Feliz went 3-4 with a homer and 2 RBIs, driving in Burrell and himself. Jimmy Rollins had a triple in the 3rd.

The offense got an early run in the first with Utley's solo shot. In the fourth, Feliz singled to drive in Burrell. In the 6th, Howard homered and in the 7th, Feliz had his shot.

The Phillies (47-39) have won 3 straight since their dry spell in June. They start a 4 game series tomorrow night versus the Mets (41-43). They face 4 pitchers capable of shutting down this offense. Being back in the comfort of their own park should settle the offense back in. No Hamels in the series could be huge. Probables for the series are:

7/4: J. Santana (7-7, 3.01), J. Happ (0-0, -.--)
7/5: J. Maine (8-6, 3.86), J. Moyer (7-6, 4.13)
7/6: O. Perez (6-5, 4.98), K. Kendrick (8-3, 4.58)
7/7: P. Martinez (2-2, 7.39), A. Eaton (3-6, 4.79)

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Charlie Hustle?

Article taken from Comcast Sportsnet:

In Thursday's 5-0 win over the Reds, Jimmy Rollins at the plate and Carlos Ruiz on second base, the reigning National League MVP lifted a popup into shallow left field. Janish appeared to have called off leftfielder Jay Bruce, but failed to make the catch, taking a stab at the ball before it fell to the grass. The error allowed the first run of the game to score, but perhaps had a more significant impact. After Janish’s blunder, Rollins was still stationed on first base because he wasn’t hustling out of the batter’s box.

He didn’t take the field in the top of the fourth as Manuel sent Eric Bruntlett out in Rollins’ place. Bruntlett ended up making a diving stop in the eighth inning on a grounder off the bat of Jay Bruce that preserved Hamels’ shutout.

“Jimmy and I took care of that,” Manuel said. “That’s a done issue.”

Upon being asked about Rollins in a variety of ways after the game, Manuel repeated the phrase, “I don’t have to talk about it,” three times before finally walking out.

Once he was yanked, Rollins remained in the dugout for the rest of the game. Not hustling on balls assumed to be an out is something Manuel had talked to Rollins about before.

“He’s the manager and that’s what he had to do,” Rollins said. “He has two rules: Be on time and hustle. I broke one [Thursday].”

As for not running the ball out, Rollins had no explanation.

“I just didn’t do it. It happens every once in awhile,” he said. “It shouldn’t happen, but I’m not disappointed in myself. I know better. I’ve just got to go out there and make sure I don’t do it again. It’s something to learn from.”

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Rollins Sparks Phils in Return

The Phillies beat the Giants 7-4.

After Cole Hamels gave up three runs in the fourth inning and the Phils went down 4-1, many gave up and turned off the TV (I won't mention any names). It seemed the Phillies were going to play down to a weak opponent again.

That was not the case. Jimmy Rollins hit a two-out, two-run homer to bring the Philies within 4-3. The Phillies tied the game up in the sixth off an RBI fielder's choice grounder by Carlos Ruiz.

Then in the eighth, the Phillies scored off of Rollins' and Gregg Dobb's RBI doubles, giving them 3 runs. Brad Lidge pitched another scoreless ninth, giving up one hit and striking out three.

Notable Phils:

Rollins - 3-5 with 1 run, 3 RBI's, double, HR
Hamels (4-3) - 7 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
Lidge (S, 9) - 1 IP, 1 H, 3K

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Rollins has been Activated

Jimmy Rollins has been activated and will bat in the leadoff spot tonight against the San Francisco Giants.

[Philadelphia Phillies]

This is very good news for the Phillies who will finally have speed back to their lineup with now the additions of Victorino and Rollins. Hopefully, having Rollins and Victorino at the top of the lineup will make Ryan Howard click a little. More people on base in front of him may help things out, but we'll see.

Hamels against Misch tonight.

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Jimmy Rollins Broken Ankle...False?

Jimmy Rollins is scheduled to take batting practice today in Clearwater today. He is eligible to come of the DL on May 5. Also, Kris Benson pitched to hitters yesterday and will throw an extended spring-training game on Saturday.[Philadelpha Inquirer]

This is good news for the Phllies, whom by no means can continue to ride the bats of Pat Burrell and Chase Utley all year. They really need someone else to step up. Greg Dobbs and Jayson Werth have provided some power, but all fingers are pointing toward the Jolly Man, number 6.

Speaking of Howard, he was given the day off today/benched. The time off helped him out last year and hopefully it does the same this year. He is currently on pace for 236 strike-outs. Jamie Moyer is on the mound today for the Phils.

Live Box Score

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Rollins Injury May be Worse

According to Off the Record with Micah Warren, Jimmy Rollins has a broken bone in his ankle.

As you already know, Jimmy Rollins was placed on the DL on August 20th, a move that should have taken place immediately after his injury. It was absolutely stupid for the team to keep him on the bench when you could tell he was struggling to swing.

If it is indeed a broken ankle, Rollins could miss up to 6 weeks and that would be an absolute huge hole the Phillies will have to fill - defensively, on the base-paths, and at the plate. The Phillies are staying mum on the situation, so understand that this is a possibility, but don't believe it until it is official.

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Rollins Only Cares About Winning

Jimmy Rollins does and says all the right things. In an off-season where both Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels have been upset with their contract situations, Phil Sheridan wrote an article on Jimmy Rollins desire to improve the number in the win column before the money in his pocket.

"I knew what I was signing when I signed it," Rollins said. "At the time, we weren't even negotiating on a new deal.

"I knew there was a chance I would play better and the Phillies would be getting a little bit of a bargain," Rollins said. "But there was also a chance I wouldn't produce as much. I knew the market could change after I signed it. I knew all that when I signed."

You really have to admire a guy like Jimmy Rollins who is a class act on and off the field. Hopefully the rest of the young guys in the clubhouse take note.

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100 games?

Maybe it is because of all the MVP-Hoopla, but Jimmy Rollins is now predicting that the Philadelphia Phillies will win 100 games next year.

"We'll win probably 100 games . . . 100 games will get us to the playoffs," Rollins told Comcast SportsNet last night, when asked for his forecast for next season.

"There's going to be fireworks, I know that much . . . and I plan on another celebration, but not just one," the MVP added. "I don't plan on giving up that title of NL East champions, I know that much. I don't know if we can make a run like the Braves did [14 straight division titles], but we've started."

Well, he added probably this time. We'll see what happens. I enjoy the optimism. Make it happen.

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Interview with J-Roll

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And the winner is....

Jimmy Rollins

2007 NL MVP

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Rollins M-V-P?

The National League Most Valuable Player award will be announced tomorrow, November 20th. Do you think it will be Jimmy Rollins? For those who do not know, the voting was finished before the one-game playoff game between the Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres.

The one big knock on Rollins is the fact the Phillies had other MVP candidates on the team in Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. If the voters include defense and intangibles, Rollins wins easily. If the the voters look at overall offensive numbers, the winner is Holliday. If the voters look at home/away splits, the winner is Rollins.

Tommy LaSorda thinks Rollins should win, I do too, bias aside.

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