Kuzul

In 2012, the Philadelphia Phillies are a known commodity.

Sans a few bullpen arms and the possible emergence of Domonic Brown in the outfield, you’ve seen the type of play to expect from the core players of this Phillies squad. 

The starting pitching is going to be excellent, spearheaded by Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels.

The offense is going to be inconsistent, but sufficient enough to win a lot of ballgames. 

The defense is going to be rock solid, as always.

And with the considerable age of this roster, the injury bug is going to be hard at work all season long. 

Ruben Amaro has constructed a group of guys that gel together perfectly, and balance each others strengths and weaknesses excellently. So, what happens if one of those guys, for whatever reason, is pulled from the mix? Certainly the bevy of bench depth helps this problem, but you can’t expect Michael Martinez to fill in for Chase Utley as if he had never left. 

There are a few players on this Phillies team that truly carry them to the degree of success that they have achieved in recent seasons. They are the most valuable pieces to the puzzle of success in Philadelphia. 

This list will view who is most valuable based on how easily they could be filled in for if need be, and how capably their contributions could be replaced by another player on the roster. 

The question then arises—who is going to be the most valuable player to the Phillies in 2012?

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Since its opening season, in 2004, Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has completely changed the face of the Phillies organization.

In 2003, the Phillies ranked 24th in the MLB in attendance. After the inception of Citizens Bank Park in 2004, they rose all the way to fourth. The Phillies have now led all of baseball in attendance for the past three seasons. They are now working on a 204-game sellout streak going into the 2012 season. The stadium sells out every single night, and the atmosphere is perpetually electric.

Not only does this state-of-the-art, $336 million stadium draw in massive crowds, but it supplies them with everything that a baseball fan could possibly dream of. 

The Philadelphia Phillies have created a model of success for other teams to follow in Major League Baseball. Over the past decade, they have gone from the basement of the National League to a perennial powerhouse. This turnaround all began with the introduction of the baseball paradise that is Citizens Bank Park

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