Examining “Should of Kept”
Posted by Michael Baumann, Fri, May 13, 2011 01:48 AM | Comments: 16
Dr. Strangeglove, Posts, Whimsy
This is FanSince09. You may have seen him on the comment boards of various Phillies blogs (including this one), or on Twitter. He’s been a vocal critic of the trade that sent J.A. Happ to Houston for Roy Oswalt and argues that Cole Hamels (or “Coal Hammels” as FanSince09 prefers to put it) should have gone to Houston instead.
But his greatest contribution to Phillies internet culture has been the introduction of “should of kept.” FanSince09′s disregard for usage rules or inability to distinguish “of” and “have” has caught on like wildfire. For instance, whenever Cole Hamels screws up, the response would be “should of kept J.A. Happ.” Whenever Chase Utley strikes out, “Should of kept Marlon Anderson,” and so on. It’s become so popular that there’s already a backlash against it. But before this meme becomes completely passe (and I fear I may be too late), I’d like to address the underlying question behind FanSince09 and his catchprase: Should the Phillies of kept J.A. Happ? Should the Phillies of kept everyone? Let’s compare, then, the current team on the field for the Phillies to the best possible team of active players drafted by the Phillies, assuming, for the sake of argument, that everyone is healthy. Results after the jump.A couple rules before getting into the nitty-gritty. First, if we’re dealing in terms of “should of kept,” let’s assume that means the Phillies “should of kept” everyone. That means we’re pitting the current 25-man Phillies roster (or what that roster would look like if, again, no one was hurt) against the best 25-man team that could be created from players that the Phillies drafted (including players who did not sign with the team) or signed as international free agents. So, unfortunately, that means not “should of kept” Bobby Abreu or Gio Gonzalez.
| Position | 2011 Phillies | “Should of Kept” Phillies |
| C | Carlos Ruiz | Carlos Ruiz |
| 1B | Ryan Howard | Ryan Howard |
| 2B | Chase Utley | Chase Utley |
| 3B | Placido Polanco | Scott Rolen |
| SS | Jimmy Rollins | Jimmy Rollins |
| LF | Raul Ibanez | Pat Burrell |
| CF | Shane Victorino | Marlon Byrd |
| RF | Ben Francisco | Michael Bourn |
| 4OF | John Mayberry | J.D. Drew* |
| 5OF | Ross Gload | Domonic Brown |
| IF | Pete Orr | Casey Blake* |
| IF | Wilson Valdez | Nick Punto |
| C2 | Brian Schneider | Jason Jaramillo |
| SP | Roy Halladay | Cole Hamels |
| SP | Cliff Lee | Gavin Floyd |
| SP | Roy Oswalt | Brett Myers |
| SP | Cole Hamels | Randy Wolf |
| SP | Joe Blanton | Kyle Drabek |
| RP | Kyle Kendrick | Sergio Escalona |
| RP | Michael Stutes | Vance Worley |
| RP | J.C. Romero | Antonio Bastardo |
| RP | Danys Baez | Taylor Buchholz |
| RP | Antonio Bastardo | Josh Outman |
| RP | Ryan Madson | Ryan Madson |
| RP | Brad Lidge | Kameron Loe* |
*Drafted by the Phillies but not signed.
There are obviously some similarities between the two teams: Ruiz, Howard, Utley, Rollins, Hamels, Madoson, and Bastardo feature in both teams. The rest of the “Should Of Kept” team is littered with unsigned draft picks, prospects who were traded for top-level starting pitching, Scott Rolen, and members of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs who would be part of the team if the Phillies hadn’t assembled the top team on in the National League over the past five years.
The major advantage the “Should of Kept” team has over the current Phillies is offense; Placido Polanco is on fire right now, but Scott Rolen is still the better all-around third-baseman, and the Burrell/Byrd/Bourn/Drew outfield beats the Ibanez/Victorino/Francisco/Mayberry outfield in just about every meaningful offensive and defensive category. However, the difference between the two teams in quality lies with starting pitching, which has benefited (sometimes directly, sometimes not) at the expense of the offense.
On the other hand, while a rotation of Hamels, Floyd, Myers, Drabek, and Wolf isn’t bad, it’s not exactly Four Aces and a Joe. Looking at the two teams side-by-side, it’s hard say the the Phillies “should of kept” their original amateur acquisitions.
Posts: 0 Voice of Reason
You know FanSince09 is satire, right?
Posted: 06:03 AM on May 13, 2011
Posts: 9 Sweet Dee
Sweet baby Jesus. Should have kept Mike Sweeney!
Posted: 08:50 AM on May 13, 2011
Posts: 1429 Pat Gallen
I actually do miss Nick Punto’s versatility. And I always knew Marlon Byrd would launch his career somewhere else. Just couldn’t do it here.
Posted: 08:53 AM on May 13, 2011
Posts: 0 michael
Its a good list, players like Rolen, didnt want to be here, so it really wasnt the Phils choice. Im not a writer, but over the last 5 years or so, we have either traded away, or let go of enough players to make another competitive team don” you think? The rotation of myers, floyd, happ,wolf, plus whomever,(I dont always keep up with the prospects traded) An entire outfield, with bourn, byrd, burrell. Then rolen and any number of IF and C we have traded away or just let go. Im not mad about the team we have now, im actually quite happy. Just show how deep we are that we could have fielded another nearly complete team of ML talent
Posted: 08:59 AM on May 13, 2011
Posts: 0 mick
lets think about Carlos Beltran for Francisco and Worley
Posted: 09:04 AM on May 13, 2011
Posts: 0 SJHaack
Great, you ruined it. >:(
Posted: 09:19 AM on May 13, 2011
Posts: 0 nationals #1
you know it’s “should HAVE” right? “should of” doesn’t mean anything.
Posted: 10:11 AM on May 13, 2011
Posts: 0 Ian Mackenzie
I hope this list is a joke, the phillies undeniably have made some of the best moves in basebabll the last couple of years. Every team trades away good players…to get other good players at more important position needs. Look at the pirates trades the last 10 years and tell me who did worse.
Posted: 10:19 AM on May 13, 2011
Posts: 1429 Pat Gallen
If you’ll read the opening paragraphs youll see that it is indeed a joke and no one is advocating that we “should of” actually kept those players.
Posted: 10:26 AM on May 13, 2011
Posts: 1931 Brooks
Does anyone remember why Punto was let go?
I do and good riddance – I’ll stop at that one, some of the others are pretty rediculous.
Posted: 10:28 AM on May 13, 2011
Posts: 0 Face
Pretty dumb if you ask me. Funny joke though. FanSince09 is high as a kite with all that Happ nonsense.
Posted: 11:13 AM on May 13, 2011
Posts: 31 Josh
I thought the Phillies gave up on Gavin Floyd prematurely. This first time he ever failed in his entire career was when he broke in to the Majors. He needed time to mature and learn from his mistakes. Consequently, they traded him when his value had dipped a little and got damaged goods (Freddie Garcia) in return. Not a good move. Its not as if they really have a void or a need for Floyd at this point, and if they had kept him, they may not have felt the need to assemble the rotation they have currently, I’m just pointing out how a little patients could have gone a long way in this case.
Posted: 11:19 AM on May 13, 2011
Posts: 31 Josh
**patience
Posted: 11:21 AM on May 13, 2011
Posts: 0 Your Mom
Good post, but he’s a “fan since 09″… He doesn’t know who Marlon Byrd is. Or any Phillie pre-2009.
Posted: 12:13 PM on May 13, 2011
Posts: 0 Pat Rocks
Should of kept Pat Gallen
Posted: 12:36 PM on May 13, 2011
Posts: 1046 Manny
Should of traded Coal Hammels.
Posted: 01:58 PM on May 13, 2011