The Phillies

That must be one hell of a payroll in Philly.

 

$142 million a year and climbing!

 

In light of such a big signing, some new odds for the 2011 season from Bodog.com:

Philadelphia Phillies: 7/2
Boston Red Sox: 5/1
New York Yankees: 6/1
San Francisco Giants: 12/1
Minnesota Twins: 18/1
St. Louis Cardinals: 18/1
Atlanta Braves: 20/1
Cincinnati Reds: 20/1
Colorado Rockies: 20/1
Tampa Bay Rays: 20/1
Texas Rangers: 20/1
Chicago White Sox: 25/1
Los Angeles Angels: 25/1
Detroit Tigers: 28/1
Los Angeles Dodgers: 30/1
San Diego Padres: 30/1
Chicago Cubs: 35/1
Florida Marlins: 35/1
New York Mets: 35/1
Oakland Athletics: 35/1
Toronto Blue Jays: 50/1
Milwaukee Brewers: 60/1
Washington Nationals: 65/1
Houston Astros: 70/1
Arizona Diamondbacks: 80/1
Baltimore Orioles: 80/1
Cleveland Indians: 80/1
Seattle Mariners: 100/1
Kansas City Royals: 125/1
Pittsburgh Pirates: 150/1

Phillies: Total Regular Season Wins in 2011:
Over/Under: 96

 

What were the Phillies odds last year I wonder?

 

Yeah the payroll is big, but when you have a streak of over 120+ sell outs, you can do things like that! FYI With the elimination of Werth, Romero, Dobbs & Moyer, the payroll shrunk enough for them to pull the trigger on the Lee deal! Jayson Werth or Cliff Lee?????? No brainer IMO! Werth will really miss not having Howard hitting in front of him in DC! If you look at the numbers for Ben Francisco (if he plays every day) he should be a suitable replacement for Werth. Don't expect D. Brown to be in Philly at the start of the year. AAA is where he will start the season, but he will get alot of at bats this spring. Gload to platoon with Francisco! Pitchers & Catchers report 2 months from today!!!!!!!!!

 

and howard will miss not having werth hitting behind him.

 

I really hated losing Werth but at 32 and getting that kind of money I can't blame him. Bo Sox paid appropriately for players in their prime while the dumb ass Yanks overpaid for declining players. It was funny to see them up the money on Mariano when Boston made false overtures merely to raise the money.

Sure the Phillies are an older team but they will be contenders for 2-3 years. Beef up the farm system in that period of time, move Blanton (to Detroit I have heard) for a right handed bat to platoon with Brown while Francisco platoons with Ibanez to get as much as we can out of him before his skills totally decay

 

The Phillies are paying Ibanez way too much money to platoon him! Maybe you make a trade that involves Ibanez and Kendrick!

 

Wouldn't you love to be traded to the Phillies right now?

 

Combine the 2010 results for Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee, and this is what you get:

Games: 126
Innings: 883.1
Hits: 773
Earned runs: 279
Walks (and this is the most incredible number): 164
Strikeouts: 808
Earned run average: 2.84
Average innings per start: About 7