Ah, life is good for Philadelphia sports fans right now. The Flyers sit atop the Atlantic Division, the Sixers have seemingly found an Associate to the Answer in Keith Van Horn, the Eagles, despite last week's befuddling collapse against Indianapolis, are still in first place in the NFC East, and the new Lincoln Financial Field is beckoning seductively across the parking lot, a promise of things to come.
And the Phillies, perhaps the city's most perennially disappointing professional franchise, sit serenely on the brink of destiny, a wad of cash Ed Wade is actually willing to part with in one hand, and a plan to finally un-seat pesky Atlanta in the other.
If only things were that easy.
Priority one, of course, is to land Cleveland first baseman Jim Thome. The Phils haven't had a bat like his since a man called Michael Jack trod the Veterans Stadium grounds. Yes, mean-swinging outfielder Pat Burrell will be a franchise player someday soon, but the addition of Thome to the lineup would help to speed that process along, not to mention finally make expendable one Travis Lee, who showed us that adding 25 pounds of muscle can do exactly nothing for a player's swing.
With Thome on board, the middle of the order (Bobby Abreu, Burrell and Thome) would drive pitchers crazy enough that the likes of Mike Lieberthal, Placido Polanco and whoever supplants Doug Glanville in center will get pitches that look like beach balls. The walls of the cavernous Vet will ring with the sounds of horsehide being pummeled and Gatorade coolers slammed into dugout walls by opposing starters.
But bats alone won't be enough, and the Phillies know it. So before the ink dries on the Thome deal, they'll go after a starter, the most likely candidate being longtime nemesis Tom Glavine.
In some ways, signing Glavine might be the biggest move the Phils could make this winter. One, it would bring another left-hander to a team laden with righties. Two, it would bring a veteran presence to a very green rotation, a guy that knows how to pitch, not just throw. In the past, Glavine was always good for 17 wins a season. That number should be between 12-15 in Philadelphia (we'll get to why in a minute), but any way you look at it, the club would have a bona fide No. 1 starter.
So if and when the Phillies get these two crafty vets, (as well as Giants third baseman David Bell, to whom they've offered a spicy three-year, $15-million deal) beleaguered Philly fans everywhere can start making World Series plans, right?
If they don't complete the third part of the puzzle, the first two will be moot.
What turned the Phillies from a team that was in the title hunt until the last week of the 2001 season to a team that was 8-18 in April and finished a dismal 21.5 games behind the Braves in 2002?
Lack of timely hitting? Partly.
Inconsistent starting pitching? Sure.
But the Phillies' No. 1 killer this season, and the thing that will keep them from contending next or any other season unless they address it, is the bullpen.
Maybe "address" isn't the best word. The Phillies have tried to remedy this problem in the past -- see Rheal Cormier (oof), Turk Wendell (double oof), and Terry Adams (let's not even talk about it) -- with minimal success. Granted, not every free agent signee can be the ageless Jose Mesa. And the young guys -- Hector Mercado, Carlos Silva, sometime starter David Coggin -- need more time, and they'll get it.
It doesn't matter who they've got on the diamond -- it's who they'll have in the bullpen that will determine the Fightins' fate.
They need someone who can get them through that crucial sixth through eighth inning stretch so they can get to Mesa, or even give Joe Table a night off once in a while.
There are plenty of capable candidates, be they Braves Mike Remlinger and Chris Hammond or Yankee Mike Stanton, at the Phils' disposal. It is imperative they land at least one of them.
Unless they do, all of Thome's dingers, all of Glavine's strikeouts, and upwards of $100 million will go to waste.
