Offseason Prospectus #29: The Philadelphia Phillies

They’ve won two straight NL pennants.  They have easily the most lethal lineup in the National League and among the best in all of baseball.  Unwilling to rest on their laurels after losing to the Yankees in the ’09 World Series, management traded for and signed the game’s best starting pitcher and another All-Star caliber infielder.  You would think that Phillies fans wouldn’t have much to complain about.

But, of course, the most notoriously surly fan base in all of sports has found something to harp on this winter: Cliff Lee.  And, honestly, as envious as I am of the team they do have, I can’t blame them.  After Philadelphia acquired Roy Halladay this offseason, they immediately sent Lee to Seattle for a trio of decent prospects.  Their GM, Ruben Amaro, cited the need to restock the farm system, so that the team would remain competitive throughout the coming decade.  However, the Philly faithful had grown quite attached to Lee as he was their workhorse throughout the last three months of the season, including the playoffs, and they had to ask: Why not mortgage the future, if it gives us a better chance at bringing home a couple more rings right now?  With Lee and Halladay at the top, the Phillies would be balancing the NL’s best lineup with the NL’s best rotation, and have a tandem of former AL Cy Youngs which could intimidate even the megaliths in New York and Boston in a short series.

One of the dangers of the “Moneyball era,” in which teams are increasingly obsessed with youth and making wise long-term investments, is that teams are afraid to cash in all their chips and “go for it,” as such, they may miss out on dynastic opportunities.  The Phillies have a team that’s built to win now, with a core signed through at least the 2011 season.  It is very rare in this era to put together a team which can reach baseball’s pinnacle several years running.  2009 was the first time in eight seasons that a team repeated as its league’s champion.  The Yankees are the only team in the Wild Card era to make it three or more, and only two franchises – New York and Oakland – have accomplished that feat in the integration era (since ’47).  Returning to and especially winning another World Series in 2010 would be legacy-making moment for Philadelphia, and you can understand why fans might want that to take precedent over the future exploits of Phillippe Aumont…

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