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<\/p>\nLetters to the NL East, Part 4.<\/p>\n
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Dear Phillies,<\/p>\n
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Is Chase Utley enjoying his rocking chair? \u00a0Let me warn you now, you’re going to say “Once everyone gets healthy” a lot while the Mets and Braves distance themselves from you in the division.<\/p>\n
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Good job offering Cliff Lee the most money per year, and keeping him from the Yankees. \u00a0You see, they’d score runs for him. \u00a0I find it hard to believe that you are \u00a0better off with Lee than with Werth. \u00a0Ibanez’s power seems to be vanishing and he’s aging quickly. \u00a0Rollins hasn’t really been good in three years, he’s batting third in the lineup yet has a .258 AVG, and .320 OBP over the last three years. \u00a0You’re using whatever warm bodies you could find for right field and second base.<\/p>\n
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You’ve got great pitching, but none of them are good hitters. \u00a0Also, every year dozen<\/p>\n
s of great pitchers have sub-par years, get hurt, or get no run support. \u00a0Will Hamels rising walk rate make him ineffective? Will Oswalt’s back hold up? Roy Halladay threw 750 innings over the last three years, not including Spring Training. \u00a0That’s a lot of wear and tear on an arm.<\/p>\n
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Your a talented team, more talented than your fans deserve, but you don’t have a lot of depth and aren’t built to handle injuries. \u00a0But injuries happen, and if you play Wilson Valdez for any extended period of time you might as well shoot yourself in the foot now.<\/p>\n
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And that bullpen! No Lidge, you’ve got Contreras closing for now because you can’t trust Madson. \u00a0Contreras, who’s 10 among active pitchers in wild pitches and 20th in errors, is who you’re going to trust in pressure situations. \u00a0The bullpen wasn’t good last year and it doesn’t look any better. \u00a0What’s your plan? Burn out the starters and hope they hold up all season? \u00a0You can only push an arm so much before it breaks.<\/p>\n
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You know what they say…the bigger they are, the harder they fall.<\/p>\n
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Your Bitter Rival,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Optimistic Mets Fan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Letters to the NL East, Part 4. Dear Phillies, Is Chase Utley enjoying his rocking chair? \u00a0Let me warn you now, you’re going to say “Once everyone gets healthy” a lot while the Mets and Braves distance themselves from you in the division. Good job offering Cliff Lee the most money per year, … <\/p>\n