The Phillies Will Never Stop Sucking

The Phillies just hired some dude named Andy MacPhail to be their new president starting next season.  Besides having the perfect last name for an executive in Philly, he sports a resume that looks surprisingly legit…

-Twins GM from 1985-1994: built a badass team anchored by Kirby Puckett and Chuck Knoblauch that won two World Series

-Cubs GM from 1995-2006: made the Cubs not suck for the first time in nearly 100 years, then Bartman happened, then Mark Prior fell apart, and then the Cubs went back to sucking but still it was pretty impressive they ever got good in the first place

-Orioles President of Baseball Operations from 2007-2011: also built up a good team that is still very competitive today largely as a result of his contributions.

So the Phillies are about to get good again, right?  Nah…  Let’s take a look at a couple of quotes from his press conference…

I’m a little bit surprised you hired me because I’ve been out for three years, but grateful anyway.

Eh… Not a good start Philly.  The real bombshell, however, came when asked who will have final say on trades…

That’s up to Ruben Amaro and (current president) Pat Gillick), but I will add my opinion.

Whattt??  You mean he’s been with the organization for half a day now, and not only does Ruben Amaro still have a job, but he’s still running the trades?  That settles it.  This new dude doesn’t give a fuck.  The Phillies are going to stay terrible.

I shouldn’t even need to write it up.  Ruben Amaro is by far the worst GM in all of sports.  The Phillies are on pace to win less than 60 games this year.  They’ve been terrible the last two years.  And yet, Amaro still treats this team like it’s the World Series contender he inherited.  He never traded Cliff Lee, and now the team is paying $25M per year to a pitcher who might never play again.  He’s still hoarding Cole Hamels, who’s now starting to get lit up and already has two DL stints on the season to help his value plummet.  He also seems content to get nothing for Utley, Howard, and Papelbon while they suck the team’s finances dry.  Just a god awful exec.  If he still has a job, there is no reason for optimism over any other moves the Phillies make.  That city just has to resign themselves to the fact that their only chance of sports happiness this year rests on the shoulders (and creaky knees) of Sam Bradford.  Lol.

Some other baseball nuggets…

The Indians Also Suck, but May Still Be a Good Bet

What the hell is going on with the Indians this year?  Their rotation is easily the best top-to-bottom group starting fives in the majors.  They have some really good bats in Kipnis, Bourn, and Brantley.  They have a legendary manager.  And yet, they still lose all the fucking time.  They just don’t seem to ever care.  They were shut out in two games of a doubleheader yesterday, and their lack of focus was perfectly encapsulated by this error from Kipnis…

Horrible.  That two out error sparked a two run rally that eventually turned into a full fledged blowout.  I actually feel really sorry for the Indians pitcher here (Toru Murata).  He was called up for the doubleheader to keep the rest of the rotation on normal rest, and was making his major league debut at the ripe old age of 30.  3.1 innings and six runs later, it looks like his dream is already coming to an end.  Too bad for that dude…

All that being said, I still think the Indians at 33:1 are among the best value plays for World Series futures.  They were also playing terrible baseball at this time last year, and they still have a plethora of aces in their rotation they can ride.  Also, the entire American League sucks so they still have a legit path.  At 33:1, all they have to do is make the wild card play in game and you’d be able to start hedging the bet and guaranteeing profit.

My other value picks right now are the red hot A’s (50:1) and the Orioles (20:1) who just took over first in the god awful AL East.