As you may have saw, on Tuesday the Marlins and the Tigers completed a trade that sent Florida’s two star players, Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera, out of the National League East. This move has sent my brain on a roller-coaster ride of analysis and I’m still not sure how this trade will ultimately affect the Phillies. My initial thought was, “this is a great for the Phils, now we won’t have to worry about the Marlins.” With Willis and Cabrera out of the picture, the Marlins have created serious deficiencies on their roster; not to mention the fact that Willis has six career wins against the Phillies.
My second though, however, came as I realized that the Willis also have six career wins against the Mets and five against the Braves. In a way, we need D-train and Miggy in the division to help keep the other teams at bay. The Marlins have not been in serious contention the past two years (partly due to Willis’ decline towards the end of last season), yet they have still managed to play the spoiler when needed. We need only look as far as the last game of the 2007 season and their crushing defeat of the Mets. So I’m still conflicted as to whether this is a positive move for the Phillies or not. My final though on the subject though was, “the Tigers are going to be really good.”
Fitting into similar parameters as the debate above, we can discuss the most recent blockbuster to come out of the Winter Meetings – Andruw Jones signing with the Dodgers. Jones ended up inking a 2-year deal worth just over $36 million; which likely meant the Phillies were priced out of the negotiations. The Dodgers move now means they are out of the running for Aaron Rowand. It is looking like that race will come down between the Phillies and the White Sox. If the Phillies want to keep Rowand, they will have to offer him more than the 3-year deal they currently have on the table.  With so many quality players already leaving the division, I would hate to see the Phillies become another victim.
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