Kuzul

It is about that time of the Major League Baseball season.Despite having played only a little over a third of their season, the contenders are starting to separate themselves from the pretenders. And with that separation comes speculation of whether certain teams will be buyers or sellers come the MLB trade deadline at the end of July.One team that faces a particularly tough decision this year is the Philadelphia Phillies.Currently sitting seven-and-a-half games back of the National League East-leading Atlanta Braves and seven games back of the second wild-card spot, the Phils are slowly starting to see their season get out of hand.Now, this is not to say that the Phillies are totally out of the playoff hunt. After all, it is only the beginning of June. And of course, it was less than six years ago when the "Fightins" erased a seven-game deficit with 17 games remaining to snatch the division ...

The Philadelphia Phillies have struggled in the early weeks of the 2013 regular season. They are 14-16 thus far, 3.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for first place in the suddenly tight National League East.Should the team have a losing record (or even subpar record, for that matter), general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. could choose to trade some of his team's impending free agents.Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com opines, "If things don't improve, the Phillies might make their noise in July, when [Chase] Utley and the two Youngs [Michael and Delmon], all pending free agents, could become trade candidates."The Washington Nationals have also struggled a bit, albeit their record is 1.5 games better than their rival's. At 16-15, general manager Mike Rizzo is likely upset with the way his team—a team that was supposed to dominate the rest of the National League—has performed.Their pitching hasn't been great, but inconsistencies offensively have ...

The Philadelphia Phillies fell to the Atlanta Braves 7-5 in their first game of the 2013 season, but it wasn't all bad news.Cole Hamels and Chad Durbin struggled on the mound, Chase Utley brought life to the offense and newcomers made their debuts. It is a much different Phillies team than a few years ago, when it had the best rotation in all of baseball and was considered a title contender. Now, the Phillies try to put a .500 season behind them as they set out to retake the NL East throne from the Washington Nationals.So, what did we learn about the Phillies on Opening Night?Begin Slideshow

A lot of questions confronted the Philadelphia Phillies as they headed into spring training.  Would their aging stars bounce back from long stints on the disabled list and regain their effectiveness?  Would those who had avoided the DL be able to avoid Father Time for one more year?  Would youngsters come up and fill voids left by core players departing?With Opening Day less than two weeks away, the answers to those questions are going to finally start being answered.  Some are already sharpening into focus.This weekend, my girlfriend and I have jetted down from the New York Metro area to Clearwater, Florida, to soak in some spring matchups.  Here are some eyewitness takes on some of the team's biggest issues after Friday's win against the Braves, from the health of men like Ryan Howard and Chase Utley to general news and notes.Begin Slideshow

As the calendar turns to March, we are approaching the one-year anniversary of a pretty monumental day in the history of American professional sports.One year ago Thursday, Peyton Manning was released from the Indianapolis Colts, the organization by which he was drafted first overall in 1998 and was with for 14 seasons. During that time, he became arguably the best quarterback of his generation and put himself in with the top 10 players to ever play the position. The term "face of the franchise" has become a cliche in professional sports, but it was an unadulterated reality in Manning's case. He truly was the Indianapolis Colts.But alas, after a bizarre neck injury caused Manning to miss the entire 2011 season, subsequently contributing to the Colts going 2-14 that season and earning the top overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft, he suddenly became expendable. With the shining blue-chip Andrew Luck ...

Chase Utley has been a Philadelphia Phillie since 2003. Utley was 24 when he made his debut with the Phillies, and over the next ten seasons fans would get to see one of the best second basemen to ever lace up his cleats.Utley plays the game like everyone should. Hard, fast and with grit. If injuries were not an issue, Utley was on the fast track to a Hall of Fame career. He was consistently among the top players in baseball from 2005-2009 and then the chronic knee issues began to surface. Since 2009, Utley has not played in over 115 games due to his chronic knee problems, and some are questioning just how long he has left in his baseball career.At the end of the 2013 season, Utley's current contract will expire and he will become a free agent. He will also turn 35 in December.Will the Phillies re-sign Utley to a ...

Chase Utley is in a no-win situation in 2013 because of his contract situation, his injury history and his lack of production in the past two seasons.Utley is in the final year of a seven-year, $85 million contract. As so often happens with long-term deals, Utley's production has waned precipitously over the past six seasons. From 2007-2010 (the first four years of the contract) Utley made the All-Star team every season. He earned MVP votes in each of those seasons but 2010, which was also the first year that Utley's knees became a concern. When Utley missed 47 games in 2010, it was the team's first real indication that maybe, just maybe, Utley's body would not let him be the player he had been again, like, ever.By spring training in 2011, it was apparent that Utley's knees were degenerating, the sort of injury that often cannot be fixed by surgery. He missed ...

According to Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro has stated that there is no No. 1 priority for next year.  With no talk of improving the outfield and an obviously shallow free-agent pool at third base next year, Phillies fans may not be so enthusiastic about jumping into the 2013 season next year.  Phillies fans have been mired in disappointment this season after the last five.  A team that had all the makings of a dynasty was only able to secure one World Series championship in that time.This year, the reasons were quite obvious: poor situational hitting, an inept bullpen in the first half of the season, injuries to marquee players, a weak defense and an ineffective manager who could no longer ride the train once the wheels were no longer going "round and round." Charlie Manuel and his hitting coach, Greg Gross, have done nothing to improve the hitting issues.  Perhaps the team has ...

Ryan Howard and Chase Utley's best days are behind them. That much we know for certain.Age and injury have turned the pair of former MVP candidates into players who are good, but no longer great.Their absence from the lineup for nearly half of the 2012 season and subsequent subpar production is as good an excuse as any for the Phillies' disappointing 77-74 record.The first and second basemen have anchored the lineup for years. Can we expect them to bounce back in 2013? Will Utley's knees hold up over the long haul? Can Howard cut down on the strikeouts and reestablish himself as a feared cleanup hitter?The trends for both players don't look great. Even before Howard ruptured his Achilles tendon on the final play of the Phillies' 2011 season, he was headed in the wrong direction.Howard hasn't hit more than 33 home runs in a season since 2009. His average ...

Most nights, for an inning or so, it all still makes sense—the Philadelphia Phillies still look like the Phillies. Friday night's game, for example, saw Roy Halladay take the ball.  He gave up a solo home run to Carlos Beltran in the first inning, but after that he was really excellent and never in any serious trouble. Just how you remember it.  The Phillies' first four batters in the game were Jimmy Rollins, Juan Pierre, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard.  Four legitimate major league baseball players, two former National League Most Valuable Players.  Or to put it another way, an aggregate of over $47 million in salary to four hitters. Save for the occasions when Jonathan Papelbon ($11 million) comes in at the end of the game (as he did Friday night), that is where the similarities to the Phillies you remember ends. After Howard on Friday night, the next ...