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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Growing up, a lot of young men want to be a professional athlete.

With that comes countless hours in the backyard honing your sport and doing a play-by-play with you at the plate, the three-point line as the clock hits zero, or catching a winning touchdown pass in the Super Bowl.

After that comes the dreams of being a superstar in that sport and becoming one of its best.

Then, comes the speech you’ll give when you’re being inducted into the Hall of Fame. You got through countless drafts as a young kid, dreaming of how cool it would be to live in immortality.

For a few baseball players, that dream will become a reality in just a few short days. They will be announced as the 2012 Hall of Fame class for Major League Baseball, living what most kids dream of.

All through their playing days, some felt they were destined for greatness, while others feel honored to just get Hall consideration.

Undoubtedly, many big-league players will watch or listen to that announcement with much anticipation. Because for many, it’s a dream that they hope becomes a reality for them years down the road. Some, are shoo-ins, some we’re still not sure of.

Here’s a look at the top 10 players who are shoo-ins for the Hall of Fame at this point in their careers.

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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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The Philadelphia Phillies may want a word with their star pitcher Roy Halladay, who is apparently off saving lives in the Amazon. 

The 700 Level reports Halladay was in Brazil for a fishing trip when he went all Superman and saved a little boy from a dangerous anaconda. 

Now for the reality portion of this tall tale. Doc Halladay was allegedly on a fishing trip with buddies and the group towed home a boy in need. 

The local boy had been bitten by an anaconda but was able to fight of the extremely dangerous snake. The report comes from a blog entry written by fishing legend Skeet Reese. His photo can be seen below.

Halladay just finished off another fine year. I mean, it’s not saving lives, but a 2.35 ERA and 19 wins is pretty substantial pitching. Now we have to bring the fairy tale of Halladay with a machete in his teeth playing Indiana Jones to an end.  

Reese goes on to describe what is neither gruesome nor scary. It may be that Reese is such a bad ass that seeing a boy fending off an anaconda is no big deal. Trust me, if we ever needed to describe such an event, it would be littered with four-letter words. 

“We had plenty of wildlife encounters though. Along with the fishing, we decided to go hunting one night…Me and Doc Halladay even came across a local, sitting bare naked on a tree by the river. What we were able to figure out is that he was fishing in the river for tropical fish to sell for aquariums when he got attacked by an anaconda.

The snake apparently bit him on the ass but he was able to free himself before the snake wrapped him up. Instead the snake wrapped around his motor on the back of his little 14 foot dugout canoe and tore it off the back of his boat. Doc and I helped him gather his gear and flip the boat back over and then towed him home. You could definitely see the bite mark on his ass, but he was able to fight it off; amazing.”

So the story that began with a boy fighting off a killer beast has now grown into Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay tearing off his clothes and showing his superhero costume. 

I have no doubt that Halladay and his buddies played a crucial part in all this, but let’s get an award for this local that just thwarted death. I get squeamish when there is a spider on my wall. 

I am sure the Phillies front office considers this story a real hoot. All they need is for one of their best players to get eaten by a large animal. I think they are getting an email to send to Halladay that reads, “Stay away from Anacondas.” 

That will probably include watching the movie Anaconda. Which is just good life advice, actually. 

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The 2012 Philadelphia Phillies look strangely similar to the 2011 version. All of the biggest contributors to the team’s success will be back in the City of Brotherly Love for at least another season.

Of course, this logically leads to the question as to whether or not the same top performers will have equally productive seasons. That’s what I’m trying to address today.

Here are my statistical projections for each of the top-six players on the Philadelphia Phillies. This is kind of a power ranking because the top five are in order, but I am also predicting each of their individual stat lines.

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According to a multitude of reporters, the Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to terms with shortstop Jimmy Rollins on a three-year, $33 million contract with a vesting option for a fourth year worth the same. Rollins, the team’s longest-tenured member, seemingly waned from his previous demands of a five-year deal or a four-year contract with a fifth-year player option.

That’s great for the team, considering that Rollins doesn’t have five years left in the tank.

With Rollins back, this spells a few things. First and foremost, Freddy Galvis will not start for the Phillies anytime soon. He’ll be stuck in Triple-A Lehigh Valley for the next three or four years, yet he’ll still be only 24 years old should Rollins’ new contract stand for four years and call for Galvis to start following its conclusion.

Then again, the Phillies could also use Galvis as a trade chip in any sort of deal should one be necessary next July or even sometime in the next few years. His defense is superb and his offense is gradually improving, and should it climb even higher next season, he’ll be a hot commodity.

Whether Dontrelle Willis’ signing with the team was a courtship to bring Rollins back to the City of Brotherly Love is a question for another time, but it sure helps nevertheless. However, the biggest question remaining in the minds of Phillies fans is this: will the team extend Cole Hamels next?

Until Vance Worley worked himself into the Phillies rotation, Hamels was the team’s last homegrown player in the starting rotation as well as the rotation’s youngest member, which consisted of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Hamels, and Joe Blanton on Opening Day of last season.

All of those pitchers were acquired via trades or free agent signings except Hamels, and all were at least 30 years old except Hamels.

Now that Hamels is one of the premier starting southpaws in the game, it begs the question: what will it take for the team to keep him beyond next season?

Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. stated in an interview with NBC HardBallTalk’s Craig Calcaterra at last week’s Winter Meetings that the team would like to keep Hamels a lifelong Phillie, but that re-signing Rollins was his priority. Now that that’s come to pass, how much will Hamels extension talks heat up?

Hamels’ career numbers have been compared to those of Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim ace Jered Weaver, who signed a five-year, $85 million extension with his team late last season. But with Hamels being a lefty, his value automatically increases. and the fact that he’s an ace drives it up even further.

It’s been said that Hamels should command an extension comparable to Weaver’s, but with Hamels being one of the best starters in the 2013 free agent class alongside Matt Cain and Zack Greinke, he could command even more, possibly becoming a $20 million-a-year player.

There’s little doubt that Hamels will attain at least five years from the Phillies in an extension, but the price he’ll come at if extended is vague. Will he take a hometown discount and sign for an extension around the price of Weaver’s, or will he demand a contract worth an amount similar to one he’d make in free agency?

If the Phillies sign Hamels to an extension with an average annual value worth over $20 million, they would be the first team in major league history to have three starting pitchers on their roster making over $20 million a season. Will they offer that kind of contract to their organizational gem, or will they let the season play out first?

If I were Ruben Amaro, Jr., I’d lock him up now. He’s vastly improved since his 2009 fall and will continue to do so should he stay on his current track. If he does even better next year, imagine the money he’ll command in free agency next year. If the team wants to remain young and competitive beyond next year, they need to lock Hollywood Hamels up before it’s too late.

Here’s hoping Amaro knows what he’s doing.

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So, who would you choose as Philadelphia‘s Top 12 pro athletes? Who is your No. 1?

Indeed, how does one choose the best of the best who represent this sports-crazed town on our fields, rinks and courts? It is not an exact science, but I mostly considered the following three factors:

1) Current performance level

2) Overall contribution here

3) Popularity and/or buzz generated

After mulling it over, I decided on what I will call The Deserving Dozen—12 athletes who combine enough of the above criteria to compete for the title as Philly’s best.

In so doing, I was careful to have at least one representative of each of the four teams. Philadelphia Union fans, please accept my apologies.

As this is not an exact science, I have not shown the “scores” I tabulated for each.

So, feel free to similarly agree or disagree at its conclusion, even if you don’t show your work.

Let us begin.

One note: The pitcher (pictured) above made the list, but how high does Cliff Lee rank?

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Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers leads the way in our group of award winner from the first half of the 2011 Major League Baseball Season.

Baseball has suddenly become dominated by pitching as there are only seven players in the entire league with at least 20 home runs.  

It’s a fascinating statistic when you think just 10 years ago, Alex Rodriguez hit 52, Luis Gonzalez hit 57, Sammy Sosa hit 64, and Barry Bonds hit 73—the most home runs for a season in the history of baseball.

Now that we’ve officially reached the half-way point of the season, let’s take a look at the MVP’s and Cy Young Award winners of the first half.

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Roy Halladay spent 11 full seasons in Toronto (and a few starts in a 12th), so this game will be quite a homecoming.

Here is a guy who when he left Toronto took out a full-page ad in the newspaper to thank the fans and the organization for everything they had done for him.

He was loved by the fans while he was there, so this is probably a very emotional and happy time for him.

It is interesting to look at the impact he made on Toronto while he was there.

During his time in Toronto, Halladay posted 148 wins with a 3.43 overall ERA and a Cy Young in 2003 when he went 22-7 with nine complete games.

One of the most impressive numbers of that campaign was that he faced 1,071 batters that season

During his entire tenure in the American League, only one other pitcher even broke 1,000.

Tanyon Sturtze (remember him?) faced 1008 batters in 2002 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays

However, during that season, he led the American League in hits allowed and walks, so it is safe to say that he didn’t face that many batters by pitching really deep into games and dominating (he went 4-18 that season).

Anyway, back to Halladay in Toronto. Like he has shown in Philadelphia, he liked to finish games. He never quite hit 10 complete games, but he did throw nine in three separate campaigns.

In 2009, he had four shutouts in his nine complete games that year which is ironic because that is exactly what he did in his first year in Philly.

Now, Halladay returns as the opponent, and this is a matchup that definitely favors the Phillies.

He is pitching a season that is not all that different from his Cy Young campaign of 2003, as far as the statistics go.

He is 10-3 right now with a 2.40 ERA. He already has five complete games, although has yet to finish off a shutout.

The impact that he has made on this rotation has been phenomenal and the Phillies hope that he would be able to continue his success and perhaps grab his second straight National League Cy Young Award.

He is going to receive a huge ovation from the Toronto fans today if the reception he got when he delivered the lineup card yesterday was any indication. Hopefully for Halladay, though, it will be the Phillies fans cheering louder at the end of the day.

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Yet again, the Philadelphia Phillies’ hitting does not show up, only this time, it resulted in a 12th inning 2-1 loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Friday night.

Throwing eight innings, allowing only one run and one hit, Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels continued to show why he is a reliable starter for the team.

But although Hamels pitched a terrific game, he, along with other Phillies pitchers this season, didn’t receive the run support needed to capture the win.

Jimmy Rollins acquired two of the Phillies’ minuscule six hits, and he obtained the only Phillies run of the night.

The Phillies have averaged four runs per game so far this season, which seems pretty favorable when you consider that the Phillies have four aces in their starting pitching rotation who, when healthy, shouldn’t need more than four runs in support to win.

However, if the Phillies’ season up to this point is dissected, it is evident that if the Phillies could have compiled at least four RBI a game, they could have an additional 10 wins instead of losses.

The team has had unfortunate run-ins in the past with hitting slumps and cold streaks, so the team not generating run support isn’t anything new.

The Phillies have not scored more than two runs in three straight games, including this game.

If the Phillies’ hitters and pitchers don’t get on the same page and become a formidable cohesive unit, then the Phillies could see another team hoist the championship trophy for the second consecutive year.

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