Last night after the Eagles fell to the Detroit Lions in embarrassing fashion, a stat started circling that was mind-boggling. Phillies fans watched their team lose 99 games last season, a record so poor that it earned the team the first overall pick in the 2016 amateur draft (and Rule 5 draft, too). Could any Philadelphia team possibly be worse than the Phillies?
ESPN Stats and Info released this stat last night that puts the Phillies tops in the City of Brotherly Love:
In 2015, the Philly team (4 major pro sports) with the best win pct is the Phillies, who had worst record in MLB pic.twitter.com/88UHqCoBV9
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 27, 2015
The Phillies might be in the best position for future success, too.
The Flyers are only underway in any type of rebuild. Flyers general manager Ron Hextall refrained from making typical moves: accumulating high-priced veterans in hopes of immediate success. The Flyers are scuffling, and may have to wait out some of their large contracts before being good once again.
The Eagles head coach is not getting much out of the players that the general manager selected. Of course, the head coach is also the general manager. With two years left on his deal after this one, Chip Kelly may have one more year to instantly turn things around or he's out. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has shown patience in the past with head coach Andy Reid, so a quick decision seems unlike.
The Sixers are in perpetual tank mode. After tanking an entire season only to get mostly-injured Joel Embiid, a whole extra year has been added to their rebuild. Their most recent first round draft pick is getting into fights outside of bars, and the team remains winless. The hashtag "#trusttheprocess" no longer seems to be working in Philadelphia in terms of getting fans on board. Yes, the Sixers will get another lottery pick this season, but what if the team picks third once again and misses an impact player yet again?
The Phillies, meanwhile, have already bottomed out. The Phillies have some nice young players to look forward to; starting pitcher Aaron Nola and Maikel Franco are already in place. Jerad Eikhoff looks like a solid big league pitcher. The minor leagues are full of exciting names such as J.P. Crawford, Roman Quinn, Jake Thompson, Nick Williams, Andrew Knapp, Jorge Alfaro, and many others who are legitimate big league prospects. 2016 might be about letting last year's stars from AA Reading get some experience at AAA against some pitchers who have big league experience, but it should not last forever.
AA Reading should be good again, and the Phillies have the number one pick in the draft, some money to sign international players, and probably will have one more year of a high draft pick.
Things are looking up for the Phillies. Give thanks.
