Shaking Up Dysfunctional Phillies Won’t Be Easy

There’s a great scene in Moneyball in which the architects of the Oakland A’s dissect Kevin Youkilis, who’s described as the “Greek God of Walks.” Getting on base and utilizing bargain-basement players, is what propels Moneyball. The Phillies of 2013 are the anti-Moneyball squad. One of the telling stats about this year’s club is that it leads the Big Leagues with 55 solo homers. If the Phillies got on base more or at least worked pitchers’ counts more effectively, their season could be in much better shape. It wasn’t that long ago that journeyman Jhoulys Chacin of the Colorado Rockies threw just 54 pitches in six innings against the Phillies. Many of the Phillies contracts are crazy expensive. What to do about such a dysfunctional crew?

Try to make the moves that you can. The miles are sky high on the Carlos Ruiz odometer. His best days are behind him. Chooch will always be a legend in this town for being part of the 2008 World Series team, but if you can get something for him from a club looking for a veteran backstop for its stretch run, act before the end of July. Michael Young was supposed to offer gap power to a team in need of more right-handed pop. It hasn’t happened yet, as the former Ranger icon has just 14 doubles and five home runs. Still, his .287 average could be attractive to a contender looking for a solid clubhouse presence who can still hit relatively well overall. Chase Utley, Cliff Lee and Jonathan Papelbon have also been linked to trade rumors, but if you move either of them you are “giving up” on more than one season.

Still, this team seems to need a shakeup of some sort if anything productive will come out of 2013. But don’t even talk about trading the likes of Ryan Howard or Jimmy Rollins. It’s hard to imagine a team taking on Howard’s contract, and the Phillies would be foolish to eat most of it when there is no immediate heir apparent to replace him at first base. Howard on just one healthy leg will always be a better commodity than Darin Ruf, who has done little in the minors this season after a promising cup of coffee in the majors at the end of 2012. Howard is a historic run producer, who unfortunately appears a bit broken down by an Achilles injury that ended the 2011 season, but odds are that we will see at least three more seasons with the Big Piece.

Rollins has a full no-trade clause and would likely use it in just about any trade scenario. He’s been linked to his hometown Bay Area forever, but would have ended up there as a free agent if it was really meant to be.

Ed Condran is a contributing writer to Philly Sports Jabronis.