Catching up with the Phillies: The Good Phight

Written by William Yoder on Tuesday, 16 March 2010 14:32.

To continue our tour accross the bloggosphere, we stopped to chat with Whole Camles from the great Phillies blog, The Good Phight. Among the topics discussed: Utley vs. Palanco, the future of Jayson Werth, and the supposed Ryan Howard for Albert Pujols internal discussion.

The Nats Blog: The Phillies made the move to acquire Roy Halladay and Placido Palanco this winter, do you think it will be enough to put the club over the hump and make them World Series Champs once again?

The Good Phight: Maybe? There are so many factors that go into winning a World Series. Luck and health are primarily among them. Polanco is an upgrade with the bat (although maybe not as big as they'd hoped) and Roy Halladay is, well, Roy Halladay. I do think that the Phillies, given their own quality and the general weakness of the National League, are in very good position to win another pennant. But a lot can happen.

TNB: Palanco hasn't played third base since the last time he was in Philadelphia. In the mean time he has become a Gold Glove second basemen and just slightly edged out Utley as the best defensive second basemen in the majors according to UZR. Was there any thought by the Phillies about moving Utley to third instead of Palanco?

TGP: Yes, there was... in 2002, when Utley was in AAA, and the Phillies realized that they'd need to replace Scott Rolen pretty soon. And Utley just flatout couldn't play third. Not enough arm strength, and other things. All to the tune of a .918 fielding percentage. Fielding percentage is a crummy stat, but in light of the sparse data we have on minor league fielding, it'll have to do.

TNB: Plus, the multi-year trend has Utley as the superior defender at second base, so the question as to who's the better second baseman isn't necessarily cut-and-dry. Utley is awfully good there.

TGP: What National League team do you fear might knock the Phil's off
their two-year reign as National League Champions?

I fear the Rockies more than anyone (tons of talent, deep), followed by the Braves (ridiculous starting pitching).

TNB: What are the chances of Jayson Werth playing in a Phillies uniform in 2011? Is the club set on replacing him with Domonic Brown?

TGP: The chances of Werth sticking around are pretty slim I'm afraid. I wish they could find a way to keep him but I just don't think it's feasible. And yes, Domonic Brown is the wave of the future, and I'm pretty excited to see what he can do.

TNB: There had been some (perhaps delusional) rumors that the Phillies were internally exploring a Pujols for Howard exchange. What would you think of that move if it were ever to see the light of day.

TGP: This is sort of like pondering what it'd be like to be married to a bikini model, so it's hard to mentally process, but of course I'd make that trade. I really love Ryan Howard but jeez, this is Albert Pujols we're talking about. Further, if that trade were ever "seriously" discussed, it'd never be a one-for-one trade; more likely Howard + Dom Brown + Trevor May ++ for Pujols.

TNB: What is your all-time favorite Phillies memory?

TGP: I should say, "Eric Hinske flailing helplessly at that 0-2 slider from Brad Lidge..."

That's a little too easy, so I'm going to go with Jimmy Rollins' walkoff hit in Game Four of the 2009 NLCS versus Los Angeles. I was in attendance that night and have never been more excited in my life.

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