I’ve been working up the bile in the back of my throat to spew something out about the Phillies’ signing of Adam Eaton to a three year, $24.5 millon contract. What exactly are Gillick’s expectations here? I understand the frustration at not being able to re-sign Wolf, but that doesn’t mean we should go toss money like its candy at a career 4.40 ERA. player. In Eaton’s best season he threw down a 4.27 ERA. Of course, we’ll see what happens come the regular season, but right now I can’t see the logic in this. The Phillies don’t have a shot at Zito or Schmidt, but couldn’t this money have gone to a greater good, like signing some quality bullpen guys, or getting Burrell out of Philly?
Segueing into the other side of the sport, our batting lineup falls apart after Howard. Sure, if Burrell could give us the 2004 season again, things would start shaping up, but what are the chances of that happening? The other problem is that the fans want Burrell out of Philly. This can make for an ugly situation, when you have a guy locked into a hefty salary and he has no fan base. This team was never Burrell’s, and with a lot of the old stand-bys gone, it’s clear that the Utley-Howard tandem is the future of the franchise. As of the situation right now, the NL East could be anyone’s division, (well, except the Nationals) and you can’t count the Phillies out, but without a sexier looking bullpen and a stronger bottom half of the lineup, we’re going to have our fair share of woes.
But hey, the Eagles won tonight, so all is well (or at least marginally acceptable) in the city of Brotherly Love.
