Kuzul

The Philadelphia Phillies have not had a losing season since 2002, when they finished 80-81. The last ten seasons have provided the faithful fan base in Philadelphia with more things to cheer about than to jeer about. Unfortunately though, the end is near. It wasn't the farcical Mayan Apocalypse that dashed the hopes of Phillies fans everywhere. No. It was the mismanagement of a roster and farm system that will cause the destruction of arguably the best decade of baseball in this franchise's history. Who is to blame?People will easily point fingers at the players. Most notably, Ryan Howard's disappointing lack of production along with an additional projected decrease as his salary increases through the next several years is causing flack among Phillies fans.Despite all this, Howard is not to blame.Charlie Manuel developed a reputation for being a manager who knows how to instruct and correct batting issues from the get-go. It ...

Phillies fans breathlessly await this offseason's big-name acquisition.After the 2009 season, the Phillies traded for Roy Halladay, committing $60 million to him, per MLB.com.After the 2010 season, recognizing how foolish they had been in trading Cliff Lee away in the first place, the Phillies brought Lee back for $120 million, per sbnation.com.Those moves made sense and, for the most part, Halladay and Lee have delivered on their contracts.Unfortunately, as wise as the Halladay and Lee acquisitions were, the Phillies lost the plot during the 2011 offseason.The signing of Jonathan Papelbon for $50 million (per ESPN.com) was only marginally defensible when it happened. Now, with three years left on the deal, that decision has turned out to be a serious error in judgment.Mind you, this is in no way an indictment of Papelbon or his performance. Unlike many of the players to whom the Phillies paid eight-figure salaries in 2012, Papelbon did ...

It is Jonathan Papelbon, not Cliff Lee, whom the Phillies should be trying to move via waiver trade this month. All indications now are that Lee is not going anywhere in 2012.  ESPN has reported that waivers on Lee expired over the weekend, and CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman tweeted today that the Los Angeles Dodgers were one of the teams that Lee could block a trade to. But the Phillies are still eleven games under .500 and on a slow boat to nowhere with a little more than a month and a half to go.  This is not a time for the front office to idly count days passing.  This is a time for creativity, and action.  The "trade deadline" has passed, but teams are still able to make deals.  The complication for the Phillies in trading Papelbon now (and for any trading partner) would be that Papelbon must clear waivers.  ...

At the quarter pole of the 2012 season, the Philadelphia Phillies find themselves in unfamiliar territory—staring up at the rest of the National League East.  And while the Phightins are off to their slowest start in the last five years, there's still reason to believe Philadelphia can claim its sixth consecutive division crown.  Here are five good reasons to believe.Begin Slideshow

After starting out 2012 sluggishly, the Philadelphia Phillies have put the pedal to the medal over the last week, winning six straight games and seven out of eight against San Diego, Houston, Chicago, and now Boston.There have been plenty of disappointments so far—Chad Qualls, John Mayberry Jr, Jimmy Rollins, and Shane Victorino—but plenty of Phillies have made inroads in their careers as they soar past expectations.The offense seems back on track, with Ryan Howard and Chase Utley set to return within the next six weeks, the starting pitching is as solid as ever and the fielding hasn't dipped since last year with the exception of a few extreme cases. Even though they are four games back and last in the division, this team seems poised to make a run thanks to a handful of players making the most of their playing time. Begin Slideshow

After a disastrous September, Boston missed the postseason for the second straight season. We saw a major upheaval of the organization and the roster.Theo Epstein and Terry Francona left.Ben Cherington and Bobby Valentine are here.The front office made several moves during the offseason to try and revamp the team with hopes of making a postseason run in 2012. This included letting players walk during free agency as well as trading players to try and give the team a new feel.Here are six players that didn't return to Boston after their epic collapse last season and have made strides to help their new teams.Begin Slideshow

Brad Lidge was signed by the Washington Nationals this week for a million dollars over one season. A bargain compared to what some closers have picked up during this offseason. But did the Nationals make the right move? The role of closer in Major League Baseball has evolved over the last few years into an elite spot on the roster, worthy of much talk, praise and big, fat contracts. But statistically, and historically, it simply doesn't make any sense. Evidence such as this study from 2004 by David W. Smith indicates that teams that have held a lead after eight innings have won their games 95 per cent of the time. This has held true throughout the history of baseball. In fact, the worst record he could find in a century of numbers was the 1978 Seattle Mariners, who still sealed the deal in the ninth 80.4 percent of the time. This off-season has seen a bunch of ...

Relief pitchers in general, and closers in particular, have repeatedly proven to be terrible investments in free agency. Nevertheless, every offseason sees millions upon millions of dollars thrown at closers, particularly when they’ve put up stats like the cream of this year’s crop:   Jonathan Papelbon After saving 30-plus games for six-straight seasons in the pressure cooker that is Boston, Papelbon has certainly proven that he has the mental toughness to handle the closer’s job. He also recovered well from a down year in 2010 to post a dazzling 0.933 WHIP this season (along with cutting his blown saves from eight to three). Papelbon is only 30, so he should have several good years ahead of him. Boston may opt to shell out for his services, but wherever he lands, he’s in for a big payday.   Heath Bell Despite rampant speculation to the contrary, San Diego opted to hang ...

As we head into the dog days of August, Jays fans are just now starting to get excited over the prospects of this team.Usually around this time of year, it's the lull in the schedule where teams usually just try and play out the string until September, but for the Jays, things look completely different.The Jays are fighting game in and game out, and are 57-55 in 102 games this season. The team was expected to maybe win at most 75 games this season, so they are definitely ahead of expectations.If the Jays had the ability to close out games with more ease, they could likely have seven-10 more wins than they do this season.But with that said, the Jays are expected to fall out of contention soon as they remain 11.5 back in the wild card and 12.5 back in the AL East. Their playoff hopes are fading fast, ...

I went to the Red Sox game against the visiting Athletics today, and it was one of the craziest games I have ever been to. It started with a bang when Adrian Gonzalez hit a home run over the Green Monster. Despite the fact it barely cleared the Monster, it was still a considerable feat considering he went opposite field.After that, however, both offenses stalled over the next few innings. But the bats turned back on when J.D. Drew singled home Carl Crawford. This wouldn't be the last time that would happen, however. The A's quickly tied the game with two runs of their own in the sixth, but it didn't stay like that for long.The Red Sox answered with a 3-run sixth inning of their own to take the lead 5-2. The A's narrowed the gap with a run, but again the Red Sox answered in big fashion, scoring ...