Its August 1st

And the dead line came and went.  M Young and Lee are still Phillies and so is Papelbon.  I'm not surprised with Papelbon I thought if he were going to be moved it would have gone down a few weeks ago.  Young is a surprise as a veteran player on the last year of a deal I truly thought a professional hitter such as he would have landed with a contender.  It could still happen I guess if he clears waivers or gets picked up by a team he is willing to go to (he does have no trade rights).

Lee was the one piece I thought we could have garnered a haul for.  The BoSox were sitting right there with the prospects to land his services.  Instead Cherington decided to go with Peavy a move I am betting backfires on them.  The Sox produce offensively but if they intend to count on Buchholtz to be healthy and Peavy to be healthy and Lackey to hold up down the stretch they are feeling very lucky.  The Rays are right there and their front 5 are the best in the league.  Pitching usually wins.

Last night I was excited to watch the Phils face the Giants for one reason.  Cody Asche made his MLB debut.  A 4th round pick out of Nebraska the kid can hit a little bit.  Mostly doubles power but adequate with 10-15 HR pop.  He can flash some leather too.  How quickly tho things went down hill.  There are two types of bad teams.  Those that are climbing the ladder and those that have reached the top and have no where to go but down.

This line-up needs serious help.  It needs youth, it needs energy and it needs some swagger.  Obviously this season could have gone one of two ways.  Had Doc been Doc and Howard been Howard we might have been in the conversation come September.  That gamble failed and as such we march on.

On the farm not much is on the horizon.  Franco looks the part but there are scouts that question whether or not his approach will play at the next level.  Advanced scouting and video in the league exposes weaknesses like no other level.  Biddle is either wearing down or he is hurt.  His last few outings were head scratchers.

Up next the non-waiver trades.  I don't expect much to be there for us.  Certainly the off season FA market is not going to help.  Possibly if we finish so badly down the stretch that our pick becomes a protected pick we could sign an Ellsbury or Choo.  Maybe upgrade the pitching and sign Garza would help just not at the expense of offense.