Weiter's Opinion:Loss Of Revere Huge Loss For Phils hopes this year..
Writer's conclusion, loss of Revere just too severe, Amaro ne forced to be a seller the next two weeks, trying to deal M.Young,Chase,Utley and Carlos Ruiz.,Aumont, Amaro whatever... Key point they have 6 prospects they must keep and build around for 2014. (Biddle/Hernandez/Ashe /Galvis(Galvis in minors now as he needs to play regularly to hit for average)/Ruf andMakiel Franco--Franco and Biddle their two top prospects, age 20 and age 21) to be key participants as being year 2014 . Amaro need think of Phils do 2014, is writer's view, now that Revere is hurt, and is irreplaceeable: he need build pieces for 2014 phillies--meaning getting more young talent for M.Young/Utley and Ruiz.. Writer indicates that if Revere had NOT been hurt, Phils would have NOT been sellers.(Revere is out for at LEAST 6-weeks) And he sees Howard out for rest of season---thus team as no chance to make a run this end season.
philly.com
<<THIS TIME, Ben Revere won't lobby his way back into the lineup. That will finally spell the Phillies' demise. Revere missed 2 1/2 weeks when a 95-mph fastball broke his face in 2010. A top prospect for Minnesota, his season was supposed to be over. Still, he managed to convince the Twins' organization to let him return, his fractured orbital bone shielded by a specially configured helmet. That return helped convince the Twins that Revere, a 5-9, 170-pound speed demon, was major league tough. They even promoted him that September.
Revere fouled a ball off his right ankle Saturday evening, fracturing the medial malleolus. Tough? Oh yes: He stayed in the game and nearly beat out a doubleplay ball. Toughness has nothing to do with him returning. Not this time. He will see Dr. Steven M. Raikin at the Rothman Institute today, and the news likely will mean Revere will be out for 2 months. This will be as crucial a 2-month span for the franchise as any in recent history. By the time Revere gets out of his cast, the team could look vastly different. There might be no Michael Young. No Chase Utley. No Carlos Ruiz, if anyone will take him. In Revere, the Phillies lose one of their two consistently above-average defenders and base-stealing threats; the other is Jimmy Rollins. In Revere, the Phillies lose their hottest hitter since April ended, ticking along nicely at .347 with 17 steals and 28 runs scored. He was at .431 over his past 15 games. In Revere, the Phillies lose a centerfielder familiar with the swirling winds at Citizens Bank Park, an underrated quality in an asymmetric oddity like the Bank, on a team with twin flyball aces - a mystery John Mayberry Jr. might never solve. Mayberry's home run Saturday night forced extra innings and led to a win, and his single in the 10th yesterday drove in the winning run. He is hitting .249 in 83 games with seven home runs and 23 RBI, numbers typical of his 386 games in the majors. "John's a good centerfielder. He's not a 'plus' centerfielder," said general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. Amaro is not envisioning a veteran sell-off just yet: "We're looking for a centerfielder who will keep us going. We're trying to add. It's hard to add and subtract at the same time." That is understood. Amaro believes he still has to try to win. But this was the foul ball that broke the Phillies' back. "We just have to regroup and go from there," Rollins said. In Revere, they subtract an awful lot in a small package. They subtract too much to survive. The Phillies already were staggered by the absence of slugger Ryan Howard, whose knee probably will cost him the rest of the season, and the absence of horse Roy Halladay, whose shoulder might alter the rest of his career. Howard played hurt and Halladay pitched hurt, and those were big reasons why the Phillies limped into the break at .500. Amaro is convinced that the Phillies, who have won nine of 13 games, can catch the Braves, 6 1/2 games ahead of them in the NL East. If that fails, Amaro believes the Phillies can leapfrog the four teams that, at game's end, stood between them and the final wild-card slot, which looms 5 1/2 games above them. Now, Amaro is faced with the task of finding a decent defensive centerfielder in addition to the desperate task of locating a reliable bullpen arm, or two. Amaro clearly is averse to dealing the team's future, lately embodied by third baseman Cody Asche, pitcher Jesse Biddle, third baseman Maikel Franco and second baseman Cesar Hernandez. "We can't afford to move guys who we think are close, who will be helping us here shortly," Amaro said. So, who do they move? Phillipe Aumont? Tyler Cloyd? Does either have the value of an old Phanatic costume? "I'm the GM," Amaro said. "I'm supposed to be able to do this stuff." The Phillies think so highly of Hernandez that they recently moved him to centerfield to improve his chances of promotion and better utilize his speed. In fact, Hernandez will not attend the Triple A All-Star Game on Wednesday. He instead will be sent to Double A Reading so he can continue to play centerfield, then will return to Lehigh Valley when the IronPigs resume play. "We're giving him extensive work [in centerfield] through the break, and he'll play exclusively in centerfield to see if that's an option for us," Amaro said, then allowed, "He struggled [Saturday] in centerfield." Amaro knows that the aforementioned quartet could wind up in the majors next season; indeed, if things fall right, there might be a spot on the Phillies' roster on Opening Day for each of them. Given the Phillies' AARP infield this season, that is the sort of young foundation Amaro cannot discard in order to rent a subpar centerfielder for a subpar $170 million roster. Of course, it is a $170 million roster. Players don't bank that kind of cheddar without pedigree. Domonic Brown was untouchable for years. He and Cliff Lee are All-Stars for good reason. Brown can carry a club for weeks. Lee can stop a losing streak with 2 hours of magic. Cole Hamels can turn his 2-11 start into an 11-2 finish. He's 2-0 already, and should have had a third win yesterday. Historically, Utley has been a monster in July, and his double led to the game-winner in the 10th inning yesterday. Maybe he can carry the Phillies the rest of this month. Rollins is the Phillies' Mr. September, hitting .289, almost 20 points better than his career average. Ruiz, a catcher, is a borderline Hall of Famer in the Augusts and Septembers of his career (.291). Darin Ruf might be the real thing. The problem is, almost all of those players would have to produce if the Phillies are make a run to the playoffs. All of those things would have to happen for them to make a run deep into the playoffs. All of those things will not happen. Revere does not want to hear that, of course. "Hopefully, when I get back, we'll be in this playoff race," said Revere, who acknowledged that the team needs its injured ace, its slugger and its spark plug. "If we come back fully healthy, we'll be a 10 times better team than we are right now. "With those guys healthy, we're serious World Series contenders." Those guys are not healthy, and neither is Revere, as tough as he is. So, in 2 weeks or so, the would-be "serious contenders" should be serious sellers. |
