Kuzul

I’m about to do something unheard of in sports journalism.  I am going to write an entire article about Marcus Thames.  Yes, that Marcus Thames, the 33-year-old outfielder who hit .288 with 12 HR for the Yankees last year.  The one the Yankees haven’t re-signed.

Why am I writing about Thames?  Because he would be the perfect addition to the cash strapped Phillies roster.  We all know the Phillies lineup is too left-handed heavy.  We all know they need a right-handed bat that can platoon a little bit in the outfield and provide depth.

Why not Marcus Thames, a guy who has made a career of killing left handed pitching?  Thames has hit more than 25 HR twice in his career and is known as a left-handed specialist. 

He has limitations in the field, which hurt his value, but that would not be a huge deal for the Phillies.  If you platoon him in left field with Ibanez, I can’t imagine you are losing much defensively going from Ibanez to Thames.  You can also take him out late in games for defensive replacements if need be.

I know what you are thinking, this guy is way too excited about signing a journeyman outfielder.  Maybe so, but let me ask you, is there anyone else on the market that makes more sense than Thames? 

His strength, hitting left-handed pitching, is exactly what the Phillies need.  His contract will be in the Phillies’ range.  He has power, which will come out big time at the band box that is Citizens Bank Park.  His defense can’t possibly be worse than Raul Ibanez’s, so there won’t be much of a loss there.

How many other guys who have hit 25+ HRs twice in the last few years are available for so little money?  Not many.  I am here to tell you the Phillies should sign Thames because it makes too much sense not to.  You don’t have to give up anything to get him and he doesn’t demand a lot of salary.

Sounds like the perfect solution to me.

So please Phillies, make it happen. Thames in Phillies red in 2011!

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Well, the news has broken that Jayson Werth is officially a Washington National, reaching a seven year, 126 million dollar deal. 

As a Phillies fan, I was holding out hope that Werth would be in a Phillies uniform next season, but after looking at that deal, I am very happy the Phillies did not make such a drastic mistake and pay that much money for Werth.  The Nationals tied themselves down to a player who will be 38 years old when this contract expires and who has never shown he can be the star player by himself. 

Good luck to Werth. I hope he does well, but I have some doubts. 

Join me as I show you why not signing Werth is the best move the Phillies could have made.

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I am a Phillies fan and am one of the few people who has said from day one that Phillies manager Charlie Manuel is terrible.  I have said the Phillies have won despite his ineptitude because they have an extremely talented team.  When the Phillies lose, they lose because of him. When they win, they win despite of him.

Manuel is a hero to most people in Philadelphia. People love Charlie and think he is an amazing manager.  I always ask people what he does that is so amazing, and they say he won a World Series and wins games.  However, this is what people don’t understand.  He won a World Series because he has an immensely talented team.  He wins games for the same reason.

The Phillies’ success is solely because they are so good, and Manuel has not been able to screw it up in the past.  He has never been a good manager and it was exposed last year when he was badly out-strategized by Joe Girardi and it is being exposed again this year when he is being badly out-managed by Bruce Bochy, who is an excellent manager.

I have never seen a more evident example of Manuel’s poor abilities than in Game 4 of the NLCS.

First, the Phillies continue to pitch Cody Ross inside with fastballs.  It’s the only pitch he can hit; stop throwing it to him there!

Second, Charlie came out to get Joe Blanton in the fifth inning, then decided to leave him in to give up a hit to give the Giants another run when he should have pulled him for Contreras right then.

Third, he left Chad Durbin in way too long when he was getting shelled.

Fourth, he did not give Jimmy Rollins the bunt sign in an obvious bunt situation with a runner on second base and no one out in a tie game.

Fifth, he let Oswalt pitch the ninth inning.  While it would have been okay to pitch Oswalt if the game went to extra innings, he still had Romero in the bullpen and he should have went to Romero there (especially since Huff a lefty was at the plate).

Sixth, he left Bastardo in to face right handed hitters, when he should have just faced the lefty.

Seventh, the Phillies inexplicably sent Carlos Ruiz with one out in the 5th inning on a hard hit ball to center field, I know, Manuel isn’t the third base coach but it’s his coaching staff, so I believe he still gets part of the blame.

Finally, he did not double switch in the fifth inning and let Contreras pitch to only one batter.  He also could have let Contreras bat with two outs and no one on in the sixth. 

Charlie knew Blanton got chased early, so he could have left Contreras in to start the sixth inning. Had he done that, he may still have had more arms available in the ninth, like Ryan Madson. 

If Contreras pitched the sixth, Chad Durbin could have moved to the seventh, Antonio Bastardo/Madson doesn’t happen till the eighth and most likely Madson stays in to pitch the 9th. 

There are probably more examples I am forgetting.  The reality is that Manuel often leaves pitchers in too long, fails to double switch when he should and uses no strategy whatsoever in the everyday context of the game.

He is one of the worst managers in baseball, and gets away with being a moron because the Phillies are an extremely talented team.  Anyone could win with this team, and Manuel is trying his best to screw it up.

Manuel also missed a great chance to fire his team up in the first inning.  He should have been out of the dugout to argue a horrendous called third strike on Victorino on a pitch that was about a foot inside.  If I am Charlie Manuel in that situation, I argue that call and if I get ejected, I get ejected.  It would have sent a great message to the team that you have their back and probably fired up your team.  Lou Pinella would have been out of the dugout faster than Michael Johnson ran the 100 yard dash.

I have pointed out to people all the mistakes and dumb decisions Charlie makes on an almost regular basis.  People used to tell me I was crazy, but then they started paying attention and now most people I know agree with me.

Notice that I have not mentioned starting Blanton as a bad decision, because personally I think it was the right move, even though they lost.  I would rather have the big three on full rest than have them all on short rest, so to be fair, I don’t blame Manuel at all for that one.

He costs the Phillies about 10 wins a year with his poor managerial decisions, and he will likely cost them the NLCS with his stupidity as well.

The only good news is the Phillies have three very good pitchers in the next three games and they might pull it out. If they do, it will once again be in spite of Charlie.  Manuel does nothing to help this team win.

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Many experts are saying that the Phillies are in trouble in the NLCS against the Giants. Personally, I disagree.

If the Flyers taught the city of Philadelphia anything, it’s not over ’til it’s over. 

Many experts are also saying that the Phillies need to make a change in Game 4, and I agree with them; the Phillies do need to make a change, just not the change most experts are saying.

The experts are saying the Phillies should start Roy Halladay on three days rest instead of Joe Blanton.

As you probably saw in the article I wrote about A.J. Burnett, starting Halladay on three days rest would be the worst thing the Phillies could do. If they start Halladay, then that means Oswalt and Hamels have to go on three days rest too. 

Even if they lose Game 4, I would rather have the big three rested than have them pitch on three days. Pitching them on three days rest means the series is likely over.

However, I do think the Phillies need to make a change to the lineup in Game 4. That change is simple: insert Ben Francisco into the lineup in left field and bench Raul Ibanez. 

I understand Ibanez makes a huge amount of money (it’s a terrible contract and the Phillies are stuck with him), but the reality is Ibanez is absolutely killing the Phillies right now. He is 0-for-15 at the plate, with strikeouts in half of his at-bats, and he has hit into a double play (so he actually has made more than 15 outs); he also dropped a fly ball in Game 1 that had he caught, the Phillies would have won. 

I know it was a tough catch, but he was under it and should have made the play; any good fielding left fielder catches that ball.

See, that’s the problem: Ibanez is in the lineup for his bat, and if the bat isn’t hitting, then he shouldn’t be in the lineup. 

Francisco is faster and better defensively, and he can not do any worse at the plate. Even if Francisco goes 0-for-4, his defense still makes him a better start than Ibanez.

I have long been a fan of Francisco and a detractor of Ibanez. I have said since day one that Ibanez’s contract was ridiculous and that Francisco could put up the same numbers as Ibanez if given the playing time.

I will make it clear that I don’t like Raul Ibanez as a ballplayer. 

I think his hitting is average and he can’t field. As a Phillies fan, I dislike him because the $13-14 million a season he is making will be the main reason the Phillies lose Jayson Werth in the offseason.

If they had not signed Ibanez to that ridiculous deal, they could platoon Dominic Brown and Francisco in left field and the two combined would make about $1 million and probably give you equal or more production at the plate and better defense than Ibanez.

The nice part of this argument is Charlie Manuel can sit Ibanez down without making it look like he has lost faith in Raul.

See, the Giants are pitching lefty Madison Bumgarner in Game 4 this evening, and Manuel often sat Ibanez in favor of Francisco when a lefty was on the mound. This way, Manuel can hide behind the fact that he is making the move simply to get a right handed bat in the lineup and that it is not because he lost faith in Ibanez.

Thus, he can sit him down without making Ibanez look bad. He has a built in excuse already provided by the left handed pitching matchup. 

Gregg Doyel of CBS Sportsline wrote a great article about how Manuel may have already phoned it in on the Phillies because Charlie said that it was getting kind of late to be making moves. To that I say, Charlie, you are paid to manage the Phillies, and any manager can see a guy who is a below average fielder and is 0-for-15 at the plate shouldn’t be in the lineup. 

Look at Bruce Bochy, who sat down Andre Torres in favor of Aaron Rowand; Torres was only 0-for-8 in two games, and the series was tied. Good managers recognize when changes need to be made and have the guts to make them.

The next 24 hours will tell us a lot about Charlie Manuel’s ability to manage this team. If he sits Ibanez down, then the Phillies might still have a chance in this series.

If Charlie sticks with Ibanez, then his stubbornness may just cost the Phillies their chance at a third straight World Series appearance.

Here’s hoping Charlie does the right thing for the team and the city. Playing Ben Francisco tonight is really a no brainer.

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