In the last 10 games, the Phillies have gained… no ground on the Atlanta Braves. 10 games ago the Phillies were 7.5 games out of first place. Today, the Phillies are 7.5 games out of first place. But because the Phillies have had a stretch where they've beat Atlanta Braves starter Kris Medlen and the Washington Nationals' worst two starters, he may have changed his mind. With all the talk of selling off extraneous pieces, Buster Olney had an interesting tidbit this morning:
Other teams that have talked with Phillies GM Ruben Amaro lately say he's talking about buying, not selling.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 10, 2013
Uh oh.
The Phillies, if they wish they could contend, need the following:
- Right-handed set-up reliever
- Left-handed set-up reliever
- Right fielder who can field and run the bases, preferably a clean-up hitter and right-handed
- Starting pitcher that isn't going through growing pains like Jonathan Pettibone
What would all that cost? Probably a lot.
My sense of the Twitterverse and Facebook yesterday is that fans really do not trust Amaro to be the one to rebuild the Phillies. But do they trust him to buy pieces on this team?
Before people call the Phillies a "second-half team", please realize 14 of the 25 active players on the roster have not spent a second-half w/ the club.
The Phillies face two of the National League's top starters tonight and tomorrow night in Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmermann. They are extremely lucky that Chris Sale is pitching Thursday and not Friday. But after tomorrow night, fans may feel extremely differently about this Phillies team than today.
