Phillies Poised to Make Another Run in 2009
Good Off-Season Management Maintained the Core of Championship Team
Apr 7, 2009
It’s been a long time since any National League team won back-to-back World Series titles. The Cincinnati Reds, a team stocked with future Hall of Famers, did it in 1975 and 1976, and no NL team has done it since. The 2009 Philadelphia Phillies are the latest National League team with a chance to win back-to-back titles. After winning the franchise’s first championship in 28 years, the team faced major challenges going in the off-season.
New GM Ruben Amaro Kept the Team Together
Ruben Amaro, who took over as the Phillies general manager last November after Pat Gillick retired, had two tasks: keep the majority of the championship team together, and also, make sure that all of his first stringers felt appreciated by the club. Amaro accomplished both. In December, he signed the World Series MVP, pitcher Cole Hamels, to a three-year, $30 million contract. In January, he reached a three-year, $54 million deal with slugger Ryan Howard. The team avoided potentially ugly arbitrations with both players. The Phillies also signed two year contracts with starting pitcher Jamie Moyer and rightfielder Jayson Werth.
Amaro was also asked to replace Pat Burrell, who had been the Phillies left fielder since 2000, with a more consistent hitter. On December 12, he found that hitter in Raul Ibanez, a veteran leftfielder who hit .293 with 25 home runs and 110 RBI last season with the Seattle Mariners. The Phillies signed Ibanez to a three year, $30 million contract. Amaro’s moves kept almost the entire 2008 team intact, and also guaranteed that the team’s core of stars will be together for another three years. Utley is already signed through 2011. Jimmy Rollins is signed through 2010, but the club has an option on him for 2011. In other words, for the next three years, the Phillies team is pretty much set.
Odds Strongly Against Phillies
The Phillies have the tools to win it all again this year, but a lot of teams have been good, even great, and haven’t been able to do the back-to-back thing. In the last 90 years, only two National League teams have repeated as World Champions: the New York Giants of 1921 and ’22, and the Cincinnati Reds of 1975 and ’76. And think of all of the great NL teams who couldn’t do it. The Gashouse Gang, the Dodgers of the 1950s, the Cardinals of the 1960s, and the Braves of the 1990s.
All great teams, and none of ‘em could do it twice in a row.
