The Philly Sports Blog

Should they get him or shouldn’t they. He’s exactly what they Phils need, the Phils don’t need another bloated salary. He will protect Howard, he will give the Phils another batter who strikes out too much. He will give them more offense, they don’t need more offense, they need pitching.

Did I hit every argument on this guy? Everybody and their brother who follows the Phils has put their two cents into this debate, and with less than 48 hours until teams can start making offers, I’ve decided to throw my two cents in.

Should the Phillies go after him? YES. Should the Phillies break the bank for him? NO. Should the Phillies worry about trading Burrell before going after him? NO. Phillies don’t need power hitting, they need a #1 Starter and Bullpen help! Kinda Sorta Not Really. Ok, let’s take each of these questions a little further.

Should the Phillies go after him?

Ok, let me ask a few questions…will he protect Howard? Deffinately! Is he an improvement over Burrell? With out a doubt. Yes, he will cost a lot of money, but they did save a few million when they traded Abreu, or did you forget that? So by all means, if Pat Gillick wants him, he should go after him.

Should the Phillies break the bank for him?

Well, duh, no! He is a great player, but even without him, the Phillies have a great team. Would they benefit by getting him? Yea, but not at the risk of not having the money in the future to resign Howard, Utley and Hamels. Those three are more valuable then Soriano.

Should the Phillies worry about trading Burrell before going after him?

No. The Phils are a big market team and they need to start acting like it. If they need to have Burrell ride the bench for a few weeks before he opens up to being traded, so be it. And I do believe I heard Gillick say that trading Burrell won’t stop him from going after Soriano if he wants, so that is a great sign.

Phillies don’t need power hitting, they need a #1 Starter and Bullpen help.

Very true, but Myers at the end of the season showed he is ready to take over the #1 starters mantel and Hamels is on his way there. If you don’t need to buy it, save it and build your own. Now for the Bullpen, that is such a hard area to build. It’s hard to know who is going to be good in your bullpen, with exception of a closer. They could go out and pay another $3.7 million for another Rhoades, or pay $500k for some unknown guy who turns into a bullpen gem.

I do believe the Phillies will go after Soriano, and Soriano has to be crazy not to be interested in coming here. Will they get him? I really don’t know, but there are enough rumors out there and enough incentive to come here, and I put his chances of wearing the red pinstrips at 75%.