After the Philadelphia Phillies won the 2008 World Series championship, highly respected general manager Pat Gillick decided to step down. A few days later, the reins of the franchise were handed to rookie general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., who had been serving as Gillick's right-hand man for the past three seasons.
Needless to say, Amaro wasn't exactly heading into an easy gig. He was taking over a team that had nowhere to go but down, he was succeeding someone considered one of the best in the business and he was doing it in the unforgiving city of Philadelphia. The deck was already stacked against him, but Amaro appeared to make matters worse when his first big move drew the skepticism of many: he signed Raul Ibanez instead of retaining the services of Pat Burrell.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That when we told you a few weeks ago that the Braves were just about dead, we might have been a bit premature. Led by Javier Vazquez's third complete game of the season, the Braves beat the Nationals, 4-1, winning their fourth game in a row and 12th out of the past 14.
The Braves are still 3 1/2 behind the Rockies in the wild-card race (and mathematically alive in the NL East, believe it or not), but they do have at least one thing in their favor. They play the Nationals six more times in their final nine games, with the other three against Florida.
In Friday's game, Vazquez added another line to his under-appreciated resume. He is 10-2 since July 7. He has 15 victories this season. The only pitcher to win at least 10 games every year since 2000, Vazquez is second only to Randy Johnson in strikeouts in the decade.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That it took a lot of work for the Rangers to climb within two games of the Red Sox in the American League wild-card race.
Texas swept a doubleheader at Cleveland, 11-9 and 10-5, and the games took a combined five hours, 59 minutes.
"It's pretty good to get back on track and win some ballgames," manager Ron Washington said. "We'll come back tomorrow, get greedy and see if we can get a [series] sweep."
Texas has played three regular (i.e., not day-night) doubleheaders this year, most in the majors, and has swept all three.
L.A. is the last team in the majors to have a losing streak longer than two, and by not doing so until games 98-100, it set a franchise record.
And while the Dodgers' lead in the NL West is still eight games, there are causes for concern. In two losses at St. Louis, Los Angeles has had 20 hits -- but scored just one run. The Dodgers went 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position in those games and had only three extra-base hits, all doubles.
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
Yes, the Dodgers' solar system revolves around Manny Ramirez. He's their star on the field and their main attraction.
But they wouldn't have Ramirez, nor many of the players who carried the team in his absence, were it not for a farm system that has been remarkably productive.
"It's nice that management kept us all here," ace Chad Billingsley told FanHouse. "There's some teams that maybe just start trading guys away. And believing in us, that's a huge thing."
In the 2002-03 drafts, Los Angeles took Russell Martin, James Loney, Jonathan Broxton, Matt Kemp and Billingsley. Those five players made their big league debuts within an 11-month span, from July 2005 to June 2006.
While the Phillies are "earnest" in their pursuit of Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay, according to a major-league source, the sticking point between the teams might be the inclusion of left-hander J.A. Happ and right-hander Kyle Drabek.
A second source said, "I'd be shocked" if Philadelphia would "reverse course" and include both Happ and Drabek for Halladay. But a third source stated Toronto has "got to" have both.
According to the Toronto Globe and Mail, Roy Halladayhas not given the Blue Jays a list of teams to which he would approve a trade.
FanHouse has confirmed that there is no formal list, and that Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi has yet to ask Halladay to actually approve a deal. The two are known to be close, so it's fair to assume they chat about the situation often.
So with a week to go before the trade deadline, the Halladay picture has cleared up only somewhat. Based on FanHouse's conversations with people around the game:
• Halladay's priority, as he stated at the All-Star Game, is to get to the playoffs for the first time in his career. With the Phillies heavily involved in talks, having a deep minor-league system and owning a big lead in the NL East, they have to be considered the favorites.
MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
Big ups to Prez for taking the PR reigns over while I was off last week. But we're back in the saddle, fresh out of the All-Star break and ready to incite you with our rankings. Also, I should point out that this is, relatively speaking, the "home stretch." Where even the most minuscule of mini-streaks can change a team's fate. Or something like that. Anyway, let's go to the list, where we'll find out if an attack on Jack Nicholson by the Phanatic and the addition of Petey was enough to vault the Phillies into the top spot of the Week 16 MLB Power Rankings. Cue drumroll.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That now might be a good time for general managers to call the Giants' Brian Sabean and see what he's willing to give up for a bat. The Giants, one of the surprises of the first half, have opened the second half by scoring one run in 23 innings... against the Pirates. They were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position in the two losses.
Solid pitching has helped the Giants lead the wild-card race for most of the season, but their lead is now just a half-game over the Rockies. Offense has been an issue, though, and the need has become glaring in the first two games after the break, including a 2-0 loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Giants have now lost 18 of their past 23 games to the Pirates.
The good news for the Giants is they've got some extra money to afford a bat, and they have the flexibility to put that bat at just about any spot in the lineup other than catcher.
The Red Sox seem to have indications from the Blue Jays that they could put together the best package for ace Roy Halladay. But that package would almost certainly include pitching prospect Clay Buchholz, and in his season big-league debut Friday he was "so good that I don't know if we want to move him," one Boston source said. Buchholz, 24, allowed one run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings and hit 96 mph with his fastball.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia and Milwaukee have representatives in Toronto this weekend, perhaps to see Halladay pitch Sunday. Former Phillies GM Pat Gillick, now a senior advisor, was on hand, while the Brewers were doubly represented, by assistant general manager Gord Ash and director of pro scouting Dick Groch. But Milwaukee has told teams it will not move its best prospects.
After the Philadelphia Phillies won the 2008 World Series championship, highly respected general manager Pat Gillick decided to step down. A few days later, the reins of the franchise were handed to rookie general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., who had been serving as Gillick's right-hand man for the past three seasons.
Starting Five
Starting Five
Starting Five
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in 
While the Phillies are "earnest" in their pursuit of Blue Jays ace 
According to the Toronto Globe and Mail, 
Starting Five.jpg)
The Red Sox seem to have indications from the Blue Jays that they could put together the best package for ace 
