Phillies Set For The Future
AP Photo
There’s a saying that goes- all good things must come to an end. That’s sometimes the case with championship sports teams. After a year at the top, many teams slowly lose their players to retirement, free agency or injury until the team that won is just a memory. That won’t be the case here in Philadelphia. The Phillies are young, managed wisely and set to win championships for years to come.
In the past few days the Phillies have locked up Shane Victorino and Joe Blanton with 3 year deals and are hoping to complete a contract with Carlos Ruiz in the next few days. With the exception of Jayson Werth, no Phillies starting position players will be free agents next year.
The core of this team is young and VERY few of these players should be retiring in the next few seasons. They also have young talent in the minors which includes pitching prospects and outfield prospect Dominic Brown.
While all fans would like to see EVERY player stick around, we know that can’t happen. The Phillies parted ways with Pat Burrell right after the parade down Broad and there may be an issue with Jayson Werth after this season. If he plays as well as he has the past 2 years, he’ll carry a big price tag. He would deserve the money that players like Jason Bay and Matt Holliday just got and it will be interesting to see what Phillies’ management would decide to do. The track record of this team shows that they will probably make the right decisions.
A downturn may happen eventually and the Phillies will start losing these players due to free agency or retirement but that won’t be for quite a while. In a year full of disappointment in the other Philly sports, it’s safe to say we can count on the Phils for years to come.
