Would fans spend years belittling Pat Burrell for his perennial under-performance, only to scoff at the idea of trading him for a two-time World Series-winning, first ballot Hall of Famer and the greatest RBI producer of his generation when such rumors surface.
Original Story: http://huggingharoldreynolds.blogspot.co....

July 22, 2008Pat Gillick, Senior Vice President & General ManagerPhiladelphia PhilliesCitizens Bank ParkOne Citizens Bank WayPhiladelphia, PA 19148-5249Dear Mr. Gillick,With the recent trade for Joe Blanton from the Oakland Athletics, it has become apparent that the Phillies are not going to   more...
Original Story: http://www.hotstovephilly.com/2008/07/22....

Although Jon Atwood made some good points in Strike While the Iron is Hot. Trade Howard Now, I am of a different mindset. Trading Ryan Howard might be one of the worst things the Phillies can do.Howard is the premier power hitter in all of Major League Baseball. Players like him come once in a   more...
Original Story: http://www.hotstovephilly.com/2008/07/18....

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   more...
Original Story: http://www.hotstovephilly.com/2008/07/30....

Left hander Cole Hamels allowed a pair of home runs in a 6-3 loss to St. Louis on Friday night. The staff "ace" fell to 9-7 on the season, while his ERA rose to 3.37.Normally, I don't like to take win/loss record into account when measuring the success or failure of a pitcher, but in the case of   more...
Original Story: http://pcpsports.com/.

After another loss to the Florida Marlins courtesy a Jorge Cantu walk-off bases loaded single, three Phillies expressed emotions, all of it anger.
Original Story: http://crashburnalley.com/?p=171.

This past week started very poorly for the Phillies but ended on a high note.Coming off a tough series with the Florida Marlins in which the Fightin Phils lost the final two games, including a gem thrown by ace Cole Hamels, the Phillies rolled into Flushing hoping to put some distance between them   more...
Original Story: http://www.hotstovephilly.com/2008/07/29....

As the Phillies run out of South Florida with their tail between their legs, they head to New York in a first place tie with the Mets, and the surging Marlins only half-a-game behind them. Not exactly where you thought the Phillies would be when just five weeks ago they found themselves four games   more...
Original Story: http://www.hotstovephilly.com/2008/07/21....

Last night, the Phillies outsmarted the Mets and scored six runs in the top of the ninth inning against the New York Mets bullpen, which squandered an eight-inning, two-run performance from Johan Santana.Phillies fans know what that looks like. Twice this season, the Phillies were shut out despite   more...
Original Story: http://crashburnalley.com/?p=174.

There is a new look to the Closer Report this week with expanded coverage of bullpen situations around baseball and rankings for the top fantasy closers and middle relievers. This week AccuScore analyst looks at the All-Star relievers, and has a problem with the selection of one player in   more...
Original Story: http://dallas.accuscore.com/articles/mlb....

WASHINGTON - There will be no Manny Ramirez or Ron Mahay or Jack Taschner or John Grabow in a Phillies uniform this weekend in St. Louis. The Phillies had said for some time that they hoped to add a lefthanded relief pitcher and a righthanded bat before yesterday's 4 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline,   more...
Original Story: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20....

The Phillies have placed reliever Tom Gordon on the 15-day disabled list with right elbow inflammation. Gordon, who last appeared in Saturday's game against the Mets imploded, allowing all three inherited runners to score (the tying run on a wild pitch), as the Phillies lost 9-4.This isn't the   more...
Original Story: http://www.hotstovephilly.com/2008/07/07....

Lidge's contract runs about the same length as some of the other core players: Chase Utley is signed through 2013, Jimmy Rollins is signed through 2011, Ryan Howard is under control (arbitration) until after the 2011 season, and Cole Hamels is under control until after the 2012 season. So, the   more...
Original Story: http://crashburnalley.com/?p=162.

After leading the Phillies to an impressive victory over the Red Sox in the first game of the series, Cole Hamels suggested that a Red Sox/Phillies World Series is destined to happen. Hamels said that the Phillies could compete with the Red Sox "any day of the week". He should have rephrased that   more...
Original Story: http://allthingsphillysports.blogspot.co....

One week ago, I wrote a post about how difficult the coming week was going to be for the Phillies. I figured it would be quite an accomplishment if the Phils could win half their games against the two best teams in the American League, the Red Sox and Angels. Well, as we all know by now, the   more...
Original Story: http://allthingsphillysports.blogspot.co....