They still don't have the starting pitching to make it over the hump past August.

This team has a tradition of disappointing and it happened again last year. The pitching is mediocre and the hitting is decent, but I don't think it will be enough. I'm on the fence with this team.

They need to have everything, or almost everything, go right for them. I'm not quite sold on Gordon as the closer, and Burrell is so inconsistent. However, they have enough talent to advance into the playoffs if the stars are aligned correctly, so to speak.

The Phillies are better than what their vicious fans make them out to be. These fans are an embarassment for the way they treat Abreu. Abreu allegedly does'nt have heart according to these boneheads. Well, he played injured during the second half and carried the team in May and June. And, as for clutch well who really is clutch when you get down to it. Clutch hitting comes and goes. The pitching is decent and not as terrible as it's made out to be. Lieber should win 17-18 and so should Myers. Lidle is good for 13-14, and hopefully this Franklin character will slip out of his doldrums and be decent.

The Phillies were nearly a playoff team last year, and I think they might get there in 2006. Jimmy Rollins has been a solid player at SS for a while now, and 2005 saw the emergence of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard as talented offensive players. They got a talented CF in Aaron Rowand by trading Jim Thome, who is on the downside of his career. They also helped their bullpen by picking up Arthur Rhodes and Tom Gordon. I don't care for the Phillies as a team, but I think they have made good moves that put them in position for a run at the playoffs.