http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=uggla-001dan

They actually think Uggla can improve his fielding by moving to third. I wouldn’t mind another 30 homer guy, but he strikes out a lot. I’m not sold on Beltre or Mora either.

Uggla is not a 3rd baseman and is actually a below average fielding 2nd baseman. Maybe they meant Cantu??

Cole should be fine. As much as everyone says he was figured out, I don’t think that tells the whole story. His arm was tired. How he bounces back should be interesting. These numbers don’t lie.

Pitch Count/Opp BA/Opp OPS
01-25/.243/.702
26-50/.236/.632
51-75/.328/.906
76-100/.300/.800

The 4 lefties thing does concern me. Of course if Moyer retires I’m comfortable with giving Kendrick the opportunity. He looked pretty good in September and if he’s got the change up working now he could be a decent starter. As far as the Drabek thing, I really doubt that he gets into the rotation until 2011. He’d have to be pitching out of this world and the Phils have an injury or something. I’m comfortable with the rotation as it is since we do have some pitching depth in the minors, I’d much rather see them upgrade at the bullpen, bench, and IF they can get Figgins 3B. I’d love to see them do all that and go out and snag another starter, but other than Lackey there really isn’t anyone who impresses me. If Moyer retires or is cut I guess they could take a shot at Harden or Sheets sort of a buy low hope for the best 5th starter.

I do not believe you can magically assume Cole Hamels will be ace material again. Sometimes it takes these guys a while to get that back. Also, I think his real quality as a pitcher is somewhere in between 2008 playoffs and this season. I dont think he is really as good as he was in that run, but hes nowhere near as bad as he was this year. He really needs to develop another pitch because hitters have DEFINITELY figured him out. Its really not hard to see, they just sit on his changeup and fould it off. He should be treated as a 3 right now and they should really go and get someone on the trade market who can fill the 2 role – if only on the last year of a contract. Let Hamels be in a situation where he isnt in the limelight all season long so he can work out his issues in relative silence compared to this season. You dont just trade 25 year olds with ace potential, so you really cant do that.

They will sign a backup option for Lidge, you can pretty much guarantee that. As far as 3B goes, it really seems like Beltre was juicing that one year, Id stay far away from him. It go for Figgins. For that other starter, they could overpay for a Joel Piniero type, but I doubt theyd throw all that money at Lackey.

If any of the OF’s will be traded, it will be Shane Victorino. Ibanez has two more years left. Werth just one. Taylor is ready now pending recovery from sports hernia surgery. If you trade Victorino for pitching, then that leaves Taylor, Werth, and Ibanez. Werth walks in 2010 as a FA, by then Brown is ready. So you have Ibanez, Brown (faster than Victorino), Taylor. Then when Ibanez walks you go with a FA or another up and coming prospect.

The team is about to get a bit younger in the coming years, which would extend the run of the infield core is the right pieces are around them again.

Kendrick is not the type of RH ground ball pitcher they really need. Thats no different than throwing Moyer out there. Kendrick would be better off chewing up innings out of the bullpen. Moyer would be better off retiring.

Havoc – i’d put, Kendrick over moyer…47 with a repaiir sports hernia and as much as I like Figgins and I think Philly would love him I think we’d be overpaying for someone one the declining side of his peak. His defensive versitility, every position but first and catching, will put him at a high price. I think we need help in the pitching dept., a right handed ground ball pitcher.

The only options I would like to see at 3B are Feliz for another year or Figgins. Beltre is too high a risk especially with those two available. I wouldn’t be upset to see Feliz & his 80+ rbi’s back next year, but I do think Figgins could upgrade our offense.

Figgins would actually serve the Phils best as a leadoff guy. This would let J-Roll bat second, where he would murder the ball. Figgins had an OBP of .395, anytime he’s on base you can bet J-Roll will see some good pitches to hit. Since pitchers will have to throw strikes to Jimmy for fear of putting two on ahead of Utley & Howard it could really give the Phils a boost.

The bullpen is probably something we can’t expect the Phils to address soon. Eyre will be a big part of whatever decisions they make, but there are so many free agent relievers out there that the Phils can almost pick and choose where to upgrade the one or two spots they’ll have open. I expect the Phils to take a run on one of the setup/closers on the market. Lidge is going to start the season for us, but they’ll want a backup plan in place, especially if Lidge’s surgery has him start the season on the DL.

Francisco & Dobbs should be back next year and I see no problem with them filling two spots on the bench. Francisco is good enough to be able to spread a few offdays around to keep the OF rested. Given Dobber’s contract we’ll have to hope he has a bounce back season. Bako should be a relatively cheap option as a backup catcher and he’s proven that he can cover everyday if something were to happen to Chooch. I think it’s safe to assume that Stairs and Bruntlett are both gone, so here’s where the Phils are gonna have the most issues upgrading this season. If I had my pick I’d want the Phils to pick up Mark Derosa he’s capable of playing 2B, SS, 3B and some outfield positions. He’s not as fast as Bruntlett, but he’s a much better hitter and would be able to contribute by also giving some of our position players a day off without drastically hurting the lineup, and as a decent right handed pinch hitter. The left handed power is going to be an issue. There will be an abundance of DH’s looking for work this offseason so if the Phils play their cards right they should be able to pick up a power hitter there, the problem again will be money vs. quality. Once again if I was picking for my team, I’d love Thome but there’s no way on earth the Phils will be able to make him an offer better than he’ll get to DH in the AL.

The Phils don’t have to spend a single dime on improving the starting rotation. I’ve been hearing alot of people talking about this, but I really think we’re jumping the gun. 1. Lee 2. Hamels 3. Blanton 4. Happ 5. Moyer. I don’t disagree that Cole can be kind of a bitch sometimes… but he’s got way too much talent not to get back on track. Lee is awesome no doubt he’s an ace pitcher, but if we look back at 2007 here’s Cliff’s stats for the year; He had a 5-8 record, through 20 games with an era of 6.290… The next year oh he just went 22-3 with an era of 2.540 and won a Cy young award. Cole’s 25 years old let’s see how our very young ace deals with his first bad year before we jump ship.

If we want to talk the 5th starter spot, Moyer & Kendrick are good enough to be our 5th starter. Unless we get hit with some serious injuries we won’t see Drabek until September. The Phils are going to make sure he’s mastered Triple A before he sees the big roster.

All in all the Phils are poised to have a much better 2010 than they did 2009. Hamels is even money to have a better year, and you can bet the plug will be pulled early on Lidge if he doesn’t perform well. A little tweaking to the bullpen are all we’ve really got to do this winter.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/07/sammy-sosas-skin-photos-p_n_349602.html