Thursday, May 19, 2011
Posted: 6:44 p.m.
By John R. Finger
CSNPhilly.com
The tenets on building a successful baseball club according to the practices put in place by Pat Gillick are complex in their simplicity. The basic idea is to mix in some younger players with the veterans to ensure that everyone on the team doesnt get old all at once.
No one in the game is as patient anymore, Gillick told writer John Eisenberg for his book, From 33rd Street to Camden Yards. But you still have to have somewhat of a program of integrating younger people to your team, because if you dont, everyone gets old and collapses at the same time.
There are some trap doors in this approach, though. For one, just when is a player too old? Another is, just how much patience is the proper amount for a young player? Certainly that has a lot to do with the veterans on the club and whether or not they are too old.
Better yet, just what does all of this mean for the Phillies?
Last November when Shane Victorino turned 30, all eight of the 2010 Phillies position players were 30 or older. Eleven days after Victorinos birthday, Joe Blanton also turned 30, leaving only Cole Hamels as the only player amongst the core group under 30. But Hamels, only 27, already has five big-league seasons under his belt. He is a bona fide veteran.
MLB
In other words, the time is right now for the Phillies. You know that window of opportunity they talk about that opens only so often and closes quickly? Yep, the window has reached its apex and is beginning to make its slow descent. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. talked about being caught beneath the crush of it all collapsing at the same time when he traded Cliff Lee in December of 2009. It kind of made sense, too, considering the Phillies had traded seven of what they labeled prospects. The idea was to replenish the farm system in Gillick-like fashion so that those prospects could be sprinkled in appropriately.
Ah yes, but theres the other caveat what if the prospects arent any good? What then?
Thats where the real GMs separate themselves from the pack. Its one thing to throw money at the best players every winter, but its another all together to develop the talent and keep it together for a long time. The Braves did it with some consistency in the 90s when they put together a string of 14 straight division titles, but won only one World Series. The Phillies have a good base, too, considering that many of the main group of players came through the ranks together.
However, the question remains if someone like Domonic Brown is ready to be sprinkled into the mix right now, or if guys like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz and Victorino are going to collapse at the same time?
Meanwhile, the Phillies players seem to act old. Gone is the youthful exuberance the brimmed over the edges of the clubhouse when the team was fighting to take over the National League. These division titles and trips to the NLCS and World Series are old hat now. The attitude is business-like, very much the way it was with the Braves and the Yankees.
Added Manuel: Its kinda tough for me to be critical. Were still 10 games over .500 and still a half a game in first place. At the same time, our pitchers have been pitching good.
These Phillies go to work quietly and diligently like the veterans of the battles they are. Its pretty noticeable, too.
Weve been playing here for seven years since Ive been here, and our slogan is, We do it because we want to do it and not because we have to do it. I look at it sometimes and if theres anything wrongmaybe we need to want to do it a little bit better. Does that make sense? manager Charlie Manuel said, wondering about the pizazz that seems to be missing.
Maybe we should want to do it a little bit more. We can relax and play loose, but maybe we do need to enjoy it a little bit more, he added. I look at our ballpark and all of our fans here, and I cant imagine a hitter not wanting to walk into our ballpark and play. If Im not hurt, and I can possibly play in this yard, Id be out there playing. And I mean that. Thats putting everything aside. You have a full house, and this is just a good place to play.
They play like its a job and thats what Amaro is going to have to guard against when deciding which pieces to add to that rapidly aging core. The Giants victory in the World Series should have hammered that point home loud and clear.
Think about it like the Phillies, the Giants are built around pitching. Of the four pitchers the Giants used during the playoffs, Jonathan Sanchez is the oldest at age 28. Tim Lincecum had two Cy Young Awards before his 26th birthday and Matt Cain turned 26 just before last years playoffs began. Meanwhile, the Giants No. 5 starter, Barry Zito, is younger than Roy Halladay and has more career appearances.
The best part for the Giants is that they control all of their starting pitchers until 2012 when Zitos deal is up. Lincecum and Cain arent going anywhere any time soon.
The youth of the pitching staff isnt the only thing the Giants have going for them. Buster Posey, the 24-year-old catcher has carved out his spot behind the plate and could turn into another Johnny Bench. Better yet, the Giants have that mix of veterans and youth that very well could turn them into the dynasty that the Phillies were on the verge of becoming.
Of course they cant go out and give out another 7-year, 126 million contract like they gave to their albatross, Zito, though.
So how do the Phillies get better? How much will Chase Utley, 32, help when he returns? Or, not to pigeonhole just Utley, look at the offensive production during the playoffs. Did the combination of so many games over the 2008 and 2009 runs to the World Series contribute to the injuries and offensive malaise in 2010?
Maybe. Or maybe some of the Phillies need to get a little younger in time for the 2011 postseason. Hey, thats not as strange as it sounds. If the Phillies want to stave off the Giants in 2011, it seems like time to get healthy, fit and a little bit younger in time for the stretch run. Thats the plan Amaro says he has right now, especially as it pertains to the teams hitting (or lack thereof).
We really havent been out there looking for bats, Amaro said. Were more focused on our own club and trying to get our guys healthy.
If that happens baseball will go back to lasting until November in Philadelphia again.
E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com
Related: Phillies Notes: Madson holding down the ninthKendrick's stolen World Series ring recovered