Comments on: Donnellon: This Ain’t “Whatever It Takes”

By: Lewisauce

Lewisauce — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:28:08 +0000

I think the Mets are still in shock and turmoil from the end of last season, and that’s not an exaggeration on my part. They lost it at the end of last year because they didn’t have the character or heart to win what they should have won. Their nucleus hasn’t changed: still no heart, no character. Those primadonna crusty veterans are merely collecting paychecks, and their manager is running scared. Team chemistry doesn’t exist on the Mets. I say they are done. There will be no “Mets get hot” spurt this season. Their one shot would be if Pedro returns to his old Cy Young-winning days, and that ain’t happening. I think that team is toast — full stop.

Marlins aren’t there yet. Good team, but not there yet. Nats are a long way off.

The Braves are the second-best team in the division, in my opinion. That lineup is still pretty good (Chipper and Texiera alone) and will win them some games. Hudson’s all they got in the rotation as far as sure bets go, but that kid who pitched on Sunday seemed to me to be pretty good. Their bullpen will come around.

But we’re still the team to beat. The key is, of course, starting pitching. But I’ll save that talk for the various trade threads.

By: Gavin

Gavin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:41:27 +0000

I agree with you Geoff…..the Phils don’t have many glaring weaknesses. Wouldnt it be nice to see them dominate and just run away with it? No drama….that’d be sweet for a change. Is it possible?

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:08:16 +0000

The mantra should be “no excuses.” or “this is our time”

see i think wright needs to be the leader of the mets but hes not stepping up. theres too many crusty veterans in that locker room that are arrogant and lazy. and the manager isnt even close to being as good a people person as charlie is. charlie commands respect through his people management skills, and randolph really lacks that.

the braves do have a good offense. i really like mark texiera and wish the phillies had him. however, other than tim hudson who i also wouldnt mind having on my team, what do they have the their rotation? nothing..

the marlins are going to be very good next year and will be contenders for this division for some time in the future. but their pitching cant hold up and their young bats will cool off down the stretch. they have a nice young nucleus of players and you can tell they are in the upswing of another championship-contending cycle. but not this time, not on the phillies watch…

the nationals are pesky. theyll probably infuriate a contending team like theyve done to us in years past. however, this time, the phillies are too stacked. the nats will probably sabotage the braves or the marlins down the stretch. the phillies will have to deliver the knockout blow to whoever doesnt fall off the wagon.

its definitely not “over,” but the phillies are the best team in this division by far.

By: ryan

ryan — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:59:06 +0000

just read that on philly.com. i agree with sammy d completely. this team has nothing in common with 93 besides being frontrunners before the all-star break. other than that, the personalities and their backgrounds are completely different. these are players with high pedigrees who are homegrown and are delivering. not to mention they are all clean cut.

By: Gavin

Gavin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:46:32 +0000

BTW, what’s the Phillies “mantra” this year?

By: Gavin

Gavin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:45:13 +0000

Playing the devil’s advoctae here.

The Braves still have enough on offense to challenge. I’ll be surprised if their bullpen stays as bad as it is.

The Mutts have Santana and Fagner, and although I agree that they are relatively leaderless (exception David Wright), they still have the potential to get on a good run. I think we all agree that they are frontrunners……which means that if things are bad they are really bad, but if things get rolling they will tough. That’s a fact.

The Marlins have the talent to compete. Of course guys like Ross and Cantu will cool off, but the rest of that lineup should remain solid. They have live arms starting and in the pen. They have that upstart energy that the Phils had last year.

The Nationals……will decide the division winner just like they did last year when all 4 teams have to play them down the stretch.

Nothing is in the same stratosphere as a lock right now.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:34:29 +0000

This division is garbage. There is no excuse for them not to win this division easily. The Marlins are ok, theyll probably take a game here and there from them but the phillies should dominate that team. the braves are injury-riddled andtheir pitching, aside from tim hudson, is really bad. the nationals are the nationals and the mets are a bunch of heartless, leaderless primadonnas. phillies should be expected to humiliate the mets next time out., unless santana shuts them down. the rest of them are garbage.

no excuses. thsi team is expected to win this division easily and i think taht they will. the world series is a whole different animal though.

By: Gavin

Gavin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:29:22 +0000

The Phils have the same record right now that the 1995 team did at this point and we know how that finished up. The Phils are good and should do well all year, but lets not start comparing them to 93, 77, 80, 81, 83, or even 2007 until they make the playoffs like they all did. 162 is a true marathon of baseball greatness. Cautiously optimistic. We all know how fast things can change.

By: Don M

Don M — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:27:59 +0000

I think in the past few years… the ’93 team was the only thing we could use to compare a winning team to. They were a lot scrappier then this team.. soon enough everyone will be using this year’s team as the measuring stick.

I really don’t know if the Cardinals are for real or not… the Cubs are.. and we are… the NL West looks like a joke and the D’backs just keep falling..the Dodgers look good at times, but are -.500 …… the Braves losing Smoltz for the year really hurts, and we have no idea if the Mets will turn it around or not..

the Philadelphia Phillies are 39-26… and just two weeks ago “we were not a good team” !!!

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:16:14 +0000

yeah steve carlton was probably the second greatest pitcher of the modern era. if you ask me. no one really can argue with nolan ryan. roger clemens has years worth of roid-induced states that you probably have to discount, but even ignoring that issue i still think that hes got nothing on steve carlton despite what many will say. carlton was the man.

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:11:13 +0000

I was looking over all of the Phillies teams that have made the playoffs, and comparing them to this years Phillies. This years Phillies are WAY better, aside from the lack of Steve Carlton. Cole Hamels is really good, but he’s no Steve Carlton.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:06:50 +0000

i think this team has the core and the potential to be a dynasty if the general manager(s) now and in the offseason make the right moves. they have the nucleus, there is absolutely no doubt about that. now, do they have the foresight to put the final pieces of the puzzle together?

By: EastFallowfield

EastFallowfield — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:04:49 +0000

The comparisons come up for me when I read on the internets some Phan saying “This is the best Phillies team ever!” so invariably us older Phans say, well, that ’93 certainly had a better start, or That ’77 team would be hard to beat.

Hard to avoid such comparisons.

At least we’re not comparing them to, say, the 1973 bunch.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:04:15 +0000

just joking there about bring an employee of pat gillick bruce, in case it wasnt already obvious