Phast Phive: Phun Chunks

TBOH’s writers come at you with links.

Justin Klugh

Now you’ll be here forever, won’t you Phantom-Cole? Forever and ever and ever and evMark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Ruben says we’re done here, and suddenly the Phillies rumor mill dries up like a possum carcass on 15th Street.  If this is true, then it’s not only going to be the introduction for every post this week, but also, it forces to turn to other things for material, like, the future, and also, the past.  Here’s a fun chunk of the past from the professionals at Phillies Nation: They finally got to #1 on their Year in Review moments, and it’s Cole’s six-year

imprisonment

extension

at the hands of

with the Phillies.

There was a time when that was our chief concern.  Now it’s one of our only victories.

So here’s Zoo With Roy, summarizing the BCS Championship into a couple of photo shopped images, and with such humor and grace that you wonder why we even bother having a web site with words on it.

John Stolnis

It’s not quite the middle of January, the NFL playoffs are in full swing, the NHL is going to start playing hockey soon, and for seamheads like me, this is a really rough time of year. I mean, there is NOTHING going on out there. I mean, I figured we could have counted on Ruben Amaro to make on baseball-related move just to spite the Eagles, right? Maybe it’s coming the day they announce a coach of something. Until that time comes though, the spigot has pretty much run dry.

Injection of youth Freddy Galvis, ladies and gentlemen Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Of course, there are a few nuggets of information out there. The folks over at Beerleaguer noted that the Phillies have been able to improve one area of their team in a substantial way. They are one full year younger than they were last year. Of course, being younger doesn’t necessarily mean “better.” And in this case, it’s possible the Phils could be even worse than they were a year ago. Or, they could be better. Or, they could be the same. There really are no other alternatives.

If you’re into little-known Phillies prospects (and let’s be honest, who isn’t, right?) then you’ll be interested to see who The Good Phight has as the Phils’ #21-30 prospects. One would assume they’ll also give out their picks for the Top 20. Otherwise, this list would just be on cruel tease, a mean, nasty aria played on your heartstrings.

And finally, the numerically-minded, pie-chart devotees over at Crashburn Alley took a look at how we’ll all be able to tell if certain Phillies players, like Roy Halladay, Mike Adams and Michael Young, are about to bounce back from substandard 2012 season. One sure way to tell is if they aren’t spending significant time in Dr. James Andrews’ office.

Ethan Seidel

Despite RAJ’s proclamation that the Phils are finished with their off-season shopping, Bill Baer has gone ahead and rated the remaining FA outfielders anyway. I don’t think fans would mind to much if Ruben broke his word to sign someone like Scott Hairston would they?

With Adam LaRoche signing on the dotted line with the Nats, Adam Gleeman at Hardball Talk fully expects the  team to shop Michael Morse. His right handed power would be a welcome addition in the Phillies lineup, but I doubt that Washington wants to see him play for a division rival.

Jovan Alford

Jim Salisbury talked about Curt Schilling and the Hall of Fame, and it was some interesting things he brought up within the article. The first thing–what he is going to wear. In my opinion, it’s obvious he should be wearing a Phillies hat. But then he talked about how people might look at his 216 wins and think that is not enough.

Salisbury is right when he says that you have to look deeper into his career, because when it was playoff time he came to play ball. So he might not get in his first time on the ballot, which is this year, but he most definitely will get in the Hall of Fame.