Someone Wishes the Phillies Were Like the Braves

[nsacpi]

Revere seems to be in the proud Roger Cedeno tradition of guys who are so fast you just sort of assume they're able to play center field at a decent level as a result of raw speed, and then you actually watch them....

The Phillies, if run competently, are a dangerous organization. New(ish) stadium that can draw gobs of fans for a competitive club, huge television contract, big money. When Amaro says that he doesn't think he's in the right market for a long-term re-build, I don't think he's wrong. In fact, there's probably an argument that the Phillies should never be in a position where they're looking at a string of really bad years.

And yet Amaro has put them there somehow.

They gave away some very good young talent in the Pence trade.

But the Phillies are not the only big market team to have dug themselves into a hole. The Mets and Cubs have. The Yankees are a pretty mediocre team this year (-32 run differential) and they are a old team as well. The Red Sox had everything go right last year, but that was bracketed by a memorably bad season in 2012 and this year they have a losing record. They are also a pretty old team. But they have a better farm system than the Yankees.

[50PoundHead]

Speed, for what ever reason, is a tool that people absolutely fall in love with. I guess it dazzles you and you can't get it out of your mind.

If people feel for power like they feel for speed, Hessman would have been a superstar.

He wasn't?

MFII, agree totally on Revere. One of those guys who can outrun some of his mistakes (Kenny Lofton could do the same, but had better instincts so he wasn't forced to chase down everything), but is always diving when he shouldn't have to. Reminds me of an old scout's story. Pete Rose made a diving catch and one scout turned to the other and said something to the effect "Man, that Rose sure makes some great diving catches!" The other scout responded, "That's because he has to make diving catches. Every other OF in the league would have been standing under that fly waiting for it to come down."

PS to MFII, do you know the author Josh Ostergaard? He's written a book called "The Devil's Snake Curve" that was reviewed in The New York Times Book Review yesterday. The review said he was from Kansas City. Now I know you don't know everyone from Kansas City, but literary type that you are, I thought you may have heard of him.

Here's his Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Josh-Ostergaar...ne_cont_book_1