For the most part, few would argue that the Phillies have gone a long way towards improving the team that will take the field in April 2007 as opposed to the one that took the field in April of 2006.
If you are the arguing type, then I would point to the significantly improved starting rotation and the lesser improvements at catcher and third base. Plus, there is a legitimate diamond in the rough candidate in the fold in Jayson Werth that will at most make up less than 1% of the team's payroll.
Sure, there are still some question marks and holes, and so the final verdict on how successful this offseason has been is still a ways away. But one thing we can all agree on is that the Phillies are not refining their team in a vacuum. The teams they are attempting to overtake in the standings are having their own issues as well.
The team that comes to mind first is the New York Mets. If the season started today, the Mets rotation would be comprised of Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez, and some combination of John Maine, Oliver Perez, Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber, Alay Soler, and Dave Williams, with Pedro Martinez due back... at some point during the season.
Because of this, the Mets are in negotiations with Barry Zito and his agent Scott Boras. It's thought that the Mets are hoping to land Zito with something similar to the contract that Roy Oswalt has with the Astros: $73 million over 5 years. On the other hand, Boras is reportedly seeking something more like $100 million over 6 years.
There seems to be some disagreement over Zito's worth. Some classify him as a legitimate ace, others view him more as a number 3 type starter. Whichever the case, Zito would significantly improve the Mets rotation. Zito debuted on July 22, 2000 and since that time, only Livian Hernandez has logged more innings pitched than Zito and among pitchers over that span who have pitched at least 1000 innings, only nine have a better ERA (the nine are no slouches either).
But the Mets are not the only suitors. The Mariners, Rangers, and Giants have all been in touch as well. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Barry Bonds has actually offered to defer a significant portion of his $16 million dollar salary in order to help acquire Zito.
I hate to say it, but thank you Barry Bonds.
If the Rangers or Giants can somehow out-bid the Mets, it may be that a player the Phillies never had any interest in will mean more to their chances in 2007 than any of the ones they did.
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Yesterday, the Phillies signed Rod Barajas for their catching rotation. Probably the most well-known play Barajas has been a part of was his home run in the fifth game of the 2001 World Series. The second-most is probably when he was behind the dish on this pitch.
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