Philly Pretty Miserable

After coming up with the 9th most miserable moment in NFL history, Philly comes in at number 4 among miserable baseball franchises as picked by ESPN's Page2:

4. Philadelphia Phillies
More than a century in the majors and exactly one world championship. No wonder Philly fans often feel like they just went the distance with Apollo Creed. But at least Veterans Stadium and Larry Bowa are gone.

Speaking of the Phillies, yesterday they signed Jason Michaels to a new 1 year deal.  J. Weitzel over at Beerleaguer has an interesting take on the deal:

A trade may be the best thing for Michaels’ career, and from the Phillies standpoint, he's a very attractive chip because of 2005 and the small size of this contract. One team that may have interest is Boston, who is without a proven center fielder since the departure of Johnny Damon. Michaels’ name has surfaced in several rumors this winter, including a deal with Baltimore and one with San Diego, but those teams have since addressed their outfield needs.

Also in the news yesterday were some encouraging quotes from new GM Pat Gillick. 

"The team we have, we're going to be competitive," Gillick said Tuesday as the team continued its winter tour with a stop at Citizens Bank Park. "Are we going to win the division? No. We have to improve."

At least he isn't kidding himself like Ed Wade used to do.  Gillick knows that the Phillies are a solid team, but there is still work to be done.  The top of the rotation needs some bolstering.

Comments

[Hal]

Although I've been jazzed about the new "more is less" 2006 Phils all winter, I'm even happier to see Gillick admit that they're not contenders yet. Nothing beats honesty...except maybe world series rings.