Phillies Front Office Enjoys Losing

ESPN.com's Buster Olney and Jayson Stark are reporting that the Florida Marlins are close to a deal with the Boston Red Sox to acquire Manny Ramirez. The deal reportedly involves Jeremy Hermida (or Josh Willingham), pitcher Ryan Tucker, and big time outfield prospect Mike Stanton. The Red Sox would also most likely continue paying part of Ramirez's remaining salary for this year.

I have previously stated that I do not think the Phillies should acquire Ramirez. That being said, I do think they should acquire him so the Marlins don't. Or at the very least, give up on the overrated prospects they are currently holding onto and get Matt Holliday or Jason Bay. The Phillies cannot let the Marlins, who are just a game and a half back, m ake such a significant upgrade without doing anything, particularly on a player that the Phillies are supposedly the front runner in acquiring.

Is it just me, or does it seem like the Phillies' front office isn't all that concerned with winning this year. The Milwaukee Brewers go out and get CC Sabathia, a player the Phillies pursued (To be fair, it has been reported that the Phillies didn't have enough prospects to even offer Cleveland), the Chicago Cubs acquired Rich Harden, and the Phillies go out and get Joe Blanton. I like Blanton, I think he is a decent young pitcher that will ultimately be a very good number three starter.

That being said, he is not Sabathia or Harden, and I would argue that the Phillies gave up just as much for Blanton as the Cubs gave up for Harden, Blanton's teammate in Oakland. In return for Harden and Chad Gaudin, Oakland received promising right-hander Sean Gallagher, outfielders Matt Murton and Eric Patterson, and minor-leaguer Josh Donaldson. The Phillies, on the other hand, gave up highly touted second baseman Adrian Cardenas, left hander Josh Outman, and outfielder Matt Spencer.

Gallagher, Murton and Patterson are highly touted prospects, as are Cardenas and Outman. The cubs gave up three prospects, but also received two players, one of them is arguably the best pitcher in the majors. The Phillies gave up two top prospects and only received Blanton. Why couldn't the Phillies trade Cardenas, Outman and Jason Donald for Harden?

This team just does not appear to be all that concerned with pulling the trigger on the difference maker trades. General Manager Pat Gillick has been sitting on a deal for Holliday and left-handed specialist Brian Fuentes from the Colorado Rockies for Shane Victorino and a couple minor league prospects, including J.A. Happ. Jason Bay has been on the trading block for over a month.

They are too concerned with keeping a hold of prospects that will either probably not play for the Phillies or have been way over hyped. The most highly touted prospect in the Phillies organization is right-hander Carlos Carrasco. Carrasco is the prospect most discussed in trade rumors, and most lamented over by those who argue the Phillies should hold on to their prospects. The way he has been discussed over the past month, you would think that Carrasco is the next Cole Hamels, while he is in fact at best a number two starter in the majors, and most likely a number three or four.

Shortstop Jason Donald is not going to play for the Phillies, at least not for five or six years. By all indications, Donald is not going to move over and play third base and with Jimmy Rollins winning MVPs at shortstop right now, there is little chance of Donald playing at Citizen's Bank Park too soon.

Happ is a prospect I like more than Carrasco. The expectations are lower for Happ, and therefore so is the stress. Happ is projected to be a decent middle of the rotation guy and has struggled on his way up to the big leagues. Happ is going to be a decent major league pitcher, but is not going to blow the doors off anywhere.

The prospect that I do think the Phillies need to guard and trade away only if the deal is especially sweet is catcher Lou Marson. With the current crop of Phillies' catchers struggling this season, Marson is perhaps the most important prospect in the organization.

This team is simply to evenly matched with the Mets and the Marlins to be able to pull away with this division. The Phillies do have prospects that other teams want, and chances are they are not going to be the next Hamels or Sabathia. The Phillies need to pull the trigger on a deal, whatever it is, to put this team over the top so that they can win now. It's just not going to happen.