Phightins

Baseball America released their top 10 Phillies prospects today. 1. Domonic Brown 2. Jonathan Singleton 3. Brody Colvin 2. Jarred Cosart 5. Trevor May 6. Sebastian Valle 7. Jiwan James 8. Jesse Biddle 9. Domingo Santana 10. Aaron Altherr No arguments about the top 8, but I am surprised Santana and Altherr made the list over Justin DeFratus. Two themes with this list. The first is obvious: With the exception of Brown, not one of these guys has played a game above A-Ball. The general consensus is that the Phillies may have more talent in the low-minors than any other organization. I love it. They don't really need anybody to come in and make an impact in the next 3 or 4 years. When the Utley/Howard/Rollins core is washed up, it is nice to know that there's a ton of talent on the way. One of the scouts BBA interviews says he thinks the Phillies are set up for a Braves-like run. I don't want to get too carried away, but that's nice to hear. Also, the other theme....no Trevor Gillies, Phillippe Aumont, or JC Ramirez. Cliff Lee trade fail.

2 game suspension for Jody Shelley for the hit on McQuaid. Although the hit was more reckless than malicious, and clearly unintentional, I am not really surprised. Not really upset either. Jody Shelley is an epic waste of roster space.

I love all the anti-Eagles bitterness! Not to stoop down to this level, but it needs to be done... Hey Fish, you mad?

I prefer "[expletive] it Dude, let's go bowling". A line that I live by!

Championship!

Wasn't happy with everything I saw, but a win is a win.

And then how will they pay Hellickson/Jennings/Niemann/Price/etc? And as Fish asked earlier, why on earth would the Rays look to extend Longoria's contract now when they have him locked up for 4 more years? And it's not just team control for 4 more years, they have him at a set salary for 4 more years. Complete security for the team, they do not have to deal with the arbitration process. What else could a small market team ask for? Let the next 4 years play out, then deal with it. Bigger markets can handle potential risks like this. The Tampa Bay Rays cannot. Not until they start selling tickets.

Fish, welcome to "there are still over 20 minutes left".

Maybe he can take Ernie Sims with him. Terrible.

I have absolutely no clue, hah. I just know that he is a hell of a recruiter.

God damnit. Early report is that Stew Bradley will miss the rest of the season. Jamar Chaney, spotlight is on you.

<3 Todd Herremans

Almost as funny as Boston Bruins fans chanting "Flyers suck" last night, eh ECN?

Hello, NFL double standards...

Starting to side with Smitty: As good as the Eagles have been on the whole this year, McDermott may need to be canned at some point. The underperformance of this D is so frustrating.

Secondary = pathetic.

Yesssssssss.

They will have weaker attendance if they use their entire budget on one player and as a result, field an awful team around him. And yes, I do get it. You do not understand the economics of baseball.

You just don't get it man, I am sorry. They have had one of the best teams in baseball in two of the past three seasons, yet they still got awful fan support. Where is the income coming from to support a contract like this if they are not selling tickets? If they could not sell this team to the fans, how will they be able to sell any team? Are fans just going to magically show up and support a worse roster? I don't think so. So where is the money coming from? If they lock themselves into such a huge commitment to one player, they basically wipe out their entire budget. So how do they make moves to fill in holes on the Major League roster at the trade deadline? How do they tinker with the roster in the offseason? And then 10 years down the line, how do they avoid bankruptcy and keep the team in Florida? I am sorry but this is 100% wrong.

That is how small market teams become crippled financially. Sure, they could do whatever they want, but it doesn't make it responsible.

No, they can't. It isn't about being cheap, it is about playing in the worst professional sports market in the country.

Enjoy Al Golden. I hope he does well with a big program. The dude is fantastic, IMO. Completely turned around what was, 5 years ago, perhaps the worst division I program in the country. I am going to miss having a decent college football team in this area .

He is. And he did take a super team-friendly deal a few years back, by killing all of his arbitration years and taking less than he probably could have gotten through the arbitration process. But teams like the Rays just don't give out mega deals like the one you suggested. They literally can't. Maybe they can get something worked out, but they can't make a 10 year commitment to one player at that kind of money.

It's the Rays, dude. If Longoria is that loyal to the team, he is going to have to accept a hell of a lot less than that.