[Phils20]

LOoks like they are still looking for some help in the pen, this would be a great signing, I think.

With JC gone for 50, I"m not all that enthused about just "filling in".

The East is a good division, and we need to keep the foot on the gas!

The only weak team here is the Nats, and I don't think they'll stay that way. Hard to build a fan base losing.

Phillies keep relief options open | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/10/2009

[njpsufan]

I think the fact that Ohman will take a one yr deal is worth looking at. Who knows what will play at with Romero so better safe then sorry. Obviously the price is a big thing. This year the payroll went up and they are obviously (like everyone) worried about it. Next year we see Eaton ($8M), Jenkins ($6.5M), Thome ($3M) and Myers ($12M) come off the books. Thats almost $30M. So signing guys like Werth, Howard, Hamels to deals makes gd financial sense. They want to be able to give themselves leeway to always reward the "core" guys and pick up the quality FA when needed.

[Phils20]

I think this team is being run better than it has been since the late 70's, and thank God for that!

I hope this is the start of a good run for this team. We deserve it, even if they(the owners) don't!

[njpsufan]

Yeah think 1980 was highwater mark (at the time) for the Phils. We did get back to the WS in 83 but we mortgaged the future to do it. After that we were crap for two decades (93 was a fluke). Poor draft picks, even worse FA signings for a quick fix, and some horrible trades. For as bad as Wade was, he did draft some good guys and helped re-build the farm system. As long as we can keep developing quality guys we will be OK.