Phillies should have a fire sale - July 17, 2005

Now is the time for the Philadelphia Phillies to make a drastic change.

Three years ago, the Phillies made a move that many thought would bring a championship to this title-craved town, when they signed then free agent Jim Thome. Along with the first base slugger came a new ballpark and a lot of fan excitement.

But the fans are still waiting. The Phils finished 10 games out of first last year, 15 the year before, and 21.5 in 2002. This year, they are three games over .500 and in 3rd place, but six games out.

The team they have is a quality ballclub, but the pieces do not fit together. They have way too much money tied up among a few players - Thome, Pat Burrell, Billy Wagner, Jimmy Rollins, and Bobby Abreu.

It is time for Philadelphia to look towards the future.

Philadelphia has a young star in Ryan Howard waiting in the wings. Unfortunatly, there is no where to put him with Thome in the way. But Thome is getting old at 34 and has spent much of this year on the disabled list. There have been talks of trading Howard, but that would be a mistake. Why trade away a young player with a lot of potential to keep a guy who maybe has a couple of good years left?

The Phillies should also trade away Wagner. He will be a free agent this offseason and they could command a couple of quality players for a top-notch closer. They should also consider moving David Bell and while there at it, Charlie Manuel has not done the job behind the bench. It is time to bring in Jim Leyland, which they should have done in the first place.

What the Phillies need is a new start. They do not have to go into rebuilding mode, but they do need to hang on to their young players. What is worrysome is that this team is in the hands of Ed Wade, who has proven year in and year out that he does not improve this team at the trade deadline. This will be his last year with the club, unless they somehow make the playoffs. But Wade still has the opportunity to ruin this team for years to come by making bad moves before July 31st.

Then again, Philly fans have waited 25 years for a World Series championship, what's a few more years?