(here's a snippet from my interview over at TCB the other day.  The rest of it will follow in segments, because I know that none of you went over there to read it)

Simple answer to that question.. No. However I could give you 20,000 words on why the team should've kept Cliff Lee along with Roy Halladay. Hindsight makes it easy, but a lot of the city has been moaning about it since it happened. Not only because of how badly he's needed, but because it showed that the ownership isn't completely committed to winning. The bottomline undoubtedly matters (hugely so), but in keeping Cliff the team could've created something special, if not dominant. When you have a chance to do something like that, you have to do it, just look at the Miami Heat. Different circumstances, but same lesson nonetheless.

(here's a snippet from my interview over at TCB the other day.  The rest of it will follow in segments, because I know that none of you went over there to read it)

TCB: The Phillies were expected to run away with the NL again this season, instead they've struggled. What happened?

WTTTB: What I think a lot of people don't remember from last season is that the Phillies didn't play great regular season baseball. With a struggling division in 2009, they really didn't have to. In all honesty, they haven't played fantastic baseball the last few seasons short of the playoff runs. Granted, I'm talking down a team that won (nearly) 90 games each of the past three seasons, but the point remains that they were hardly a juggernaut from April to September.

Fast forward to now and I'm getting flashbacks to the sad Phillies of ol', which certainly hasn't been fun. It all comes down to pitching. Put aside the huge hitting drought of June and just looking at the staff it's obvious that there are holes. Only Roy Halladay is consistent and otherwise it's a crapshoot. Shaky relief pitching and unreliable starting pitching are not part of the recipe for sustained success. In the past, they've figured it out long enough to accomplish great things, but this might be the year that it all catches up with the team.

Anytime Kyle Kendrick is on the mound, all Phillies not from Houston, TX (his hometown) start cursing under their breath (or very loudly) with disdain.  Last night was one of those nights where Kyle does more than enough to further those negative emotions.  Five innings, Seven runs, Loss.  Sadly for Kendrick, it's not all his fault.  Uncle Charlie left Kendrick out there to die, but not by the merciful guillotine, no more like he let the heart of the Cardinals order tar and feather him on the mound.  Staked a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, you tell me when Charlie should have yanked his already shaky starter:

I don't know, maybe after the first 400+ ft. home run hit by King Albert?  No?  Okay, after the second one?  Nah, ok definitely after the third home run of the inning?!  Nope.  Not a quality start on this day.  Not sure what Charlie was thinking today, maybe he needed Kyle to eat innings and rest the bullpen.  I can't imagine why since we're fresh off the all-star break, but there's a chance right?

I find Kendrick to be a sad story.  He's fallen into that dreaded grouping of Philadelphia athletes whom the city has given up on.  I'm not talking about stars like Abreu or McNabb, but role players who the fans simply stop responding too.  The Todd Pinkstons and David Bells of the Philly sports world.  Kendrick is getting there and I hate watching these guys get dwindled down into nothing, I'd rather the organizations just ship them out.  It's depressing.

Getting to the must-win stage.  Can't afford to keep this free-falling rolling.  Eventually it will get to the point where we're too far behind...  (oh yeah - Ryan Howard - still scorching hot)

Shave the beard. Grow it back. Close the batting stance. Open it up. Ponder free agency. Forget about it.

Baseball players are creatures of habit that are sometimes ritualistic and sometimes plain ridiculous. From Ryan Howard crouching down and sizing up opposing pitchers with his bat, to Chase Utley's voodoo triangle of bats, Red Bull and fruit, if it works, then more power to the cause.

But whether its the beard, the batting stance or the weight of pending free agency, Jayson Werth has yet to find a habit that works or a change to alleviate the discomfort at the plate. But one thing Werth needs to start doing is the most fundamental, and may just be, the most rewarding habit.

Swing the freakin' bat!

You surely can't say Jayson Werth has been inconsistent. Especially since July has been consistently bad for the slumping slugger. Besides not hitting a home run since June 23, he's hitting a pungent .196 with 10 hits, 3 RBI and 19 strikeouts in 51 at-bats.

But for a hitter who lead the NL with 4.50 pitches per plate appearance last year, you always expect Werth to take pitchers deep into counts. But what is alarming, strictly this year, is his amount of strike outs that come from window shopping. Out of Werth's 19 strikeouts in July, 11 of them have been "looking strikeouts".

No effort. No swing. Deer in the headlights.

"May I help you Mr. Werth?"

"No. Just looking."

Werth looks unsure and often times knee buckled at the plate. A far cry from the free swinging slugging sensation from the past two seasons.

So what's going on?

Nobody in the Phillies organization is talking outside of the obvious notion that Werth needs to swing the bat.

Maybe its mental?

Werth has been tense lately. From his failure at being a role model to fans in the stands, to his mockery and disrespect toward beat writers in the post game clubhouse, its obvious that it's not only the fans, media, and teammates that are frustrated.

With free agency on the horizon following the 2010 season and Werth's previously stated desire to test the market, it could all be a matter of doing too much too soon. Whatever Jayson Werth is trying to prove is working against him. And as the Phillies, as a whole, continue to lag, Werth may not have to stress about free agency anymore.

At least not on the Phillies watch. At least not on their dollar.

But trading Werth isn't as easy as it may appear to be. The Phillies are said to be mainly interested in picking up a good, middle of the rotation, starting pitcher as well as a strong, consistent arm out of the bullpen. But most teams that are looking to release pitching are teams that have packed away any optimism to contend in 2010. What would a team like that want with Werth when they are trying to burn the barn down and rebuild? The only option would be a tricky three team trade involving an "in the hunt" team that would benefit from a resurrected Werth. Those teams are far and few. Then again desperate times call for desperate measures.

So as the trade deadline nears, and the Phillies' want list gains length, the option to deal Werth could come to fruition. With AAA stud Domonic Brown raking like a November afternoon, and an aging Raul Ibanez offering little to no trade value, Werth may be the odd man out. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has made it clear that no position player is currently safe from trade status.

And Amaro is certainly the Frank Rosenthal of the trade deadline.

In the past couple years it's almost been ritualistic for Amaro to make a big trade to tighten up the loose screws on his ship. Trade deadline or off season. Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay. Ruben likes to talk about what he wants, but he LOVES to show he can get it.

The Phillies need help. They have a depleted farm, yet have a golden goose in Jayson Werth to give.

It's almost inevitable what usually happens after that.

And for Rube, trading, is a hard habit to break.

Forget what little momentum the Phillies had going into the break because tonight cements a series loss against the Cubs losing three out of four.  Not only that, the had the one game they lost in hand and practically gave it to us.  So the Phillies were a few breaks away from being swept and gave the Mets back second place.  Not good.

Roy Halladay got hit around from the first inning on and when Herndon came in to relieve him, the wheels fell off completely.  The Cubs put up double digit runs for the second time this series and it seems like all those guys they'd been waiting for all got hot.  Not all Doc's fault with the poor outing as the wind was blowing balls all over the field, but Tim Gorzelanny didn't have too much trouble.  This was his second start against the Phils this season and he was great again.  Also, the table-setters for the Cubbies, Colvin & Castro had three hits each which is leads to constant pressure on the pitcher and the defense.

On the offensive side, these days if Ryan Howard doesn't bring all the juice then the team doesn't score too much.  He hit a solo home run late in the game, but they were too far back for it to make a dent.  It was an impressive opposite field shot that went to the same exact spot that Ben Francisco's dinger too batters later went, and Francisco pulled his.

Continuing in the NL Central, the Phillies have four against the Cardinals coming up and have the ESPN game again tomorrow night -- must see match-up: Hawksworth v. Kendrick!

(Note: When we did that Q&A with the Cubs blogger yesterday, they also interviewed me.  So to see me avoid accepting trades for Carlos Zambrano and what we might need to do during the deadline, run over there to see my answers: Talking Chicago Baseball)

Blanton and Lily put forth matching efforts through 7, allowing three runs each.  Difference is that Blanton was pitching with the lead on two different occasions and neither time could he hold it -- including walking in a run with TED LILLY hitting. From there it was a battle of the bullpens and theirs did what ours couldn't and threw two shut-out innings to finish the game and get the win.  Carlos Marmol struck out the side in the ninth, something that Phillies fans have more than likely not seen in years from a closer.

Offensively, Ryan Howard and newly found power monger Shane Victorino hit jacks to help the cause, but nobody could find one in the late innings when it was needed.  Marlon Byrd and Aramis Ramirez provided the power for the Cubbies -- Marlon's tied it as a two-run job and Aramis' was the go-ahead winner in the eighth.

First off, who the hell does Marlon Byrd think he is?  He was a marginal player at best as a Phillie and all of a sudden he's all-star caliber and playing his ass of elsewhere around the league.  Not that I'd trade any of our outfielders now for him, but stuff like that always grinds my gears.

Can't afford to start the break on a sour note (well we can, but I really don't want to), so let's see what Hamels bring to the table this afternoon: 1:05 start out in Chicago.

The second half of the season begins for the Mets in San Francisco tonight and it is with much anticipation and delight that Carlos "Voltron" Beltran returns and bats cleanup after missing nearly a full year of playing time.  There is sure to be a significant amount of rust for Carlos, and I don't expect him to start wacking homeruns from the get-go.  However, his mere presence is sure to change the way pitchers approach the Mets lineup, and that should surely equate to better production.

Unfortunately, we may not get to see a complete Mets lineup as there are questions relating to Jose Reyes' oblique. It would have marked the first time if over two years that the Mets fielded a fully healthy lineup.  There has been countless articles like here & here written about how unbelievably stupid it was to have Jose in the lineup the last week before the all-star break, so all I will say is that there is something obviously wrong with Mets management & the training staff when they put a star player of Reyes caliber needlessly in danger...especially when their rallying cry to begin the season is PREVENTION & RECOVERY, and it is David Wright that has to call out the manger/trainers to have Reyes removed from a game.  All we can hope is that Reyes heals quickly and that the injury the trainers said couldn't be made worse, hasn't been made worse.

The Mets will be tested right off the bat with a grueling 11 game road trip, and then match-ups versus St. Louis, Atlanta & Philly.  Thats the bad news, the good news is that the Mets schedule gets significantly better as they have been rated to have the 4th easiest in the second half.  Nevertheless, the Mets still need to win and simply take series. I don't put too much stock into schedule ratings anyway.  After all, Florida was supposed to be easy wins for the Mets in 2007 & 2008, and they knocked us out of the playoffs two years in a row.

So lets take a quick look back at what the Mets did right and what they still need to be a legitimate playoff contender:

• They cut loose Gary Matthews Jr. & Mike Jacobs in favor of Angel Pagan & Ike Davis.  It is a travesty that GMJ got the starting nod over Pagan who is rated 5th overall in hitting.  I could bash Jerry & Omar, but they ultimately did make the correct choice (even if was a simple choice at that).  Ike Davis has been good and has hit for significantly more power than I would have ever imagined.  He is going through his rookie learning curve, but I expect him to be a solid offensive player.  His defense is already the best we have seen at that position in a long, long time.
• Oliver Perez & John Main were removed from the rotation in favor of R.A. Dickey & Hisanori Takahashi.  It is no coincidence that after this move the Mets went on multiple long winning streaks.  The big question is, what happens when they are healthy and are required to be returned to the roster?  Maine may have some value, but at this point, I don't have any confidence in either.  They can stay in AAA purgatory as far as I am concerned. Dickey has been a revelation.  He is the only Knuckleballer I have ever seen that can vary speeds on his knuckler from low 70's to low 80's and sport a mid-80's fastball.  He had a couple of bad games, but for the most part has been outstanding.  Takahashi on the other hand, enjoyed early success but after a couple time through the order, he becomes very hittable.  Regardless, both have been HUGE upgrades.
• Manuel has indicated that Pagan will get the lion's share of playing time in RF over Francoeur when Beltran is in the lineup.  Again, an easy decision that was portrayed as difficult in the media.  Frenchy has been super hot and super cold this year, but that is the type of player he is.  But Pagan has been consistently great all year. All four outfielders are going to see playing time regardless as Beltran will not be ready for every-day play for a month or so.  That will be plenty of time to determine who will fill what roles.  I am firm believer that competition is a good thing and will bring out the best in them all.

Here's what the Mets still Need:

• A solid starting pitcher.  Period.  With Lee off the board, the drop-off is steep.  However, there are still pitchers out there that can really help this team.  The Cubs Lilly is the name that has been thrown around the most. He's a solid #3, has experience in NY, and would come considerably cheaper than Lee  (as a side note, Omar should be applauded for not getting dragged into the Lee sweepstakes.  Lee's a great player, but Ike Davis plus 3 other prospects for a player who has already said he would test free agency I felt was severely overpriced). With the acquisition of a Lilly-type, that would allow Takahashi to be moved back, and solidify the bullpen.  He can pitch anywhere from 1-4 innings and remain effective.
• Carlos Beltran to play like Carlos Beltran.  He needs to remain healthy.  Even if he is not the Carlos that hit 346 homeruns in a 7 game series.  A healthy Beltran at 75-80% is just as good if not better than any other outfielder at 100%.  The team needs you, we need you, and my Carlos Voltron icon needs you Beltran.  Don't let me down!
• Another Bullpen arm.  Not a necessity especially if Takahashi is moved back, but it would afford the Mets some breathing room should any injury crop up.  If they do acquire another arm for the pen and if Igarashi can work on some secondary pitches, that coupled with the re-emergence of Bobby Parnell (who is throwing upper 90's nastiness) would form one of the best bullpens in the league.
• Solid 2nd Basemen.  Again, not necessary and probably a pipe dream.  Castillo's horrible contract is still hamstringing the Mets. However, there is a huge list of available 2nd Basemen out there. If the Mets could figure out a way to get cheap rental 2nd basemen, it would really go a long way to solidify the offense and defense.  The young Tejada has been great defensively, but he is being exposed at the plate.  Even though it's a long-shot, 2nd base should be an area Omar takes a hard look at.

First series after the break:  Chicago Cubs.  Instead of our usual Phillies perspective, let's take a glance in at how the enemy is doing:

Justin Bridgman, writer for Talking Chicago Baseball -- a fantastic writer for a great blog.  Needless to say we were excited to get his insider info.  And what better way to get over our own struggles then to talk to Cubs fans!

All Star Week makes me miss baseball.

True. Competitive. Baseball.

When batters aren't smiling at pitchers as duels play out at the plate.  When right fielders yell at greedy fans for ruining a chance to make the last out in an inning of a must win game.

This week, I can do without the rock and jock game. I can do without hearing "back back back back" more than a Kim Kardashian photo shoot.

Besides, when its all said and done, does anyone really care about how good Evan Meek's four seam fastball is?

Who the hell is Evan Meek anyway?

On top of that, my own all star team is hot right now. Winning four straight games entering the all star break, this little interlude could cause a shift in momentum. For a team that sits 4.5 games out of first place in the NL East, these are hopeful times that need no interruption. But who am I to argue with baseball history.

So as I watch that band, that sings that annoying song about calling on angels, I will be saying my own prayers as the day dies down. Please please please keep the Phillies hot!

After an up and down first half of the 2010 season, the Phillies entered the All Star break coming off of a sweep of the sizzling Cincinnati Reds in four games. Three of those games were won in extra innings, and the last two games of the serties were won 1-0. With a lineup full of hefty hitters, you expect to see this team outscore opponents massively. But they haven't been doing too much of that. In fact, they're manufacturing wins.

And that's something new for Phillies fans to witness. But something well needed for the better of the team.

The usual suspects have become victims to their unusual injuries and surprisingly inconsistent plate appearances. The Phillies so far have relied on stellar pitching and sometimes sheer luck since starting off the season rather hot winning 8 out of their first 10 games.

At times the team has been frustrating for the fans. And the fans have been frustrating for the team. Between Shane Victorino's disdain for booing and Jayson Werth's fondness for the F bomb, its been a trying first half of the season for those preserving the current Phillies legacy and those who pay to witness it. We as fans are not use to the clean up hitter hitting .294 and in the top 20 in both doubles and triples. When he's suppose to be hitting home runs. Damn sure not used to Shane Victorino having 14 home runs at the break when he only hit 10 all of last season. When he's suppose to be getting on base with singles and doubles.

But even with Chase Utley on the disabled list until Labor Day and Placido Polanco expected to return this weekend, the big dogs like Werth, Rollins and Ibanez have lost all their bark and bite. These are weird times for those in the line up with roles.

Jimmy singles. Chase doubles. Howard homers 'em all in. That's how it goes. But that just hasn't been the case.

But you know what? They're winning again. And right now, they're hot. With those extra inning game heroics, the Phillies are starting to show flashes of a team determined to win by any means necessary.

Hard working miracle workers grinding through steel tight games, stringing together wins and weaving their way through the ranks of the division. And in a division where the competition is now more firm than in the past three years, the time is now to start pulling rabbits out of their batting helmets. 

Even if the fireworks and ass kicking isn't there.

As a true Phillies fan, you know this team is more capable of winning by owning the opponent opposed to squeaking by rigidly. Hell, they've done it before.

But right now, for a team trying to piece together some inspiration, a win is a win.  By 1 run or 10 runs. In 9 innings or 19. Just win baby.

And come hell, high water, or 17 games down and out, this Phillies team has the second half domination to run away from the playground with the competitions ball.

So as the four game series at Wrigley begins vs. The Cubs tonight, I'm reminded why at least the All Star Game may have not been so bad after all. Especially since now the Phillies own home field advantage for this years World Series.

Wink, Wink.

I missed a lot of opportunities to Phillie bash while I was away, but I don't want to let this one slide:

Jayson Werth was caught on camera cursing out a Phillie fan while his son looks on in stunned disbelief.  Now, there will be a lot of "heat of the moment"defenses.  But you know what, Werth should know better.  That's foul territory my friend--outside the boundaries of fair play.  That's something that every player has to deal with.  When a player dives into the stands and crashes into a fan, does the fan start cursing out the player?  No, they are usually applauded for their hustle.  Maybe the father was distracted by looking out for his Son's well being?  Maybe he's never gotten a foul ball in his life (I never have).  Either way, what Werth did was wrong...and as he was walking back to his position, apparently he didn't dish out enough embarrassment for that father because he kept jawing in his direction.

I never thought I would ever say this, but I truly feel bad for that Phillie fan.   Perhaps Werth knows this is his final year as a Phillie and doesn't give a rat's ass for his home fans.  One thing is for sure, if that was me, while I would feel bad that my team didn't get the out that maybe would have been caught, the Player who cursed me out in front of my son would have gotten a piece of my mind.  You suck Werth.  Maybe if you didn't have such a disgusting scraggly beard weighing you down, your would have gotten there earlier and made the play.  Don't blame the fans.

UPDATE:

Speaking of indiscretions by Werth, there is a rumor going around that he banged Cole Hamels Chase Utley's wife.  That could explain some of the disharmony....

http://www.phightinphils.com/2010/07/jayson-werth-and-jennifer-utley-having-an-affair.html