One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

And for once, it is the Phillies who are getting to experience a treasure chest. The saying presented in the title basically says that if their is something crappy for one party, another party can still reap the benefits of it. In the case of the Phillies, I am talking about the injury concerns for their N.L. East rivals. These injuries and instanced are a few days old, but still relevant. And I should note that I wish injury on no one (except maybe Gavin Floyd). I am just simply looking at the positives of everything.


Mike Hampton
I considered him the sleeper in the Division and said that a comeback year from him would equal a comeback year for the Braves. But as reported last week, Hampton experienced extreme pain in a batting practice and will have to be sidelined until at least May. This is vital to the Phillies for a few reasons. For one, they will not have to see Hampton the opening week and month of the season. Second, this delays Mike's return and progress which will further hurt the Braves as the season goes on.


Josh Johnson
The number 2 starter for the Marlins will be out for at least 2 months with nerve irritation. Johnson did excellent last season and would have progressed this year, but is now a huge setback for the team. And since the Phillies play the Fish 6 times in April, that bodes well for our chances against them. No Johnson in the rotation is a good thing for any competitor


Guillermo Mota
This happened awhile ago, but Mota was suspended 50 games for violation of the steroid policy. That is 50 games the Mets will have to find someone to fill a void in their bullpen. Last season, he posted a solid 1.00 ERA for the Mets and was a partial reason to why they had such an outstanding bullpen. The Mets are still a dangerous force and still have one of the game's best pens, but this isn't something any team wants to deal with.


Duaner Sanchez
Another key piece to the Mets' bullpen. Word from Mets camp is that all is good in the hood, but I wasn't shedding tears when I heard that their was turmoil going on between the two concerning Sanchez's rehab. In 49 games last season, Sanchez posted another solid ERA of 2.60 before getting injured by a dumbass drunk driver. Another thing to note here, it is possible that Duaner won't be as solid as he was last season due to injury concerns, which would further weaken a very strong bullpen.

Alay Soler
Soler just got released from Mets camp yesterday after a poor spring. Nothing major here but it doesn't pain me to see that the Mets didn't strike lightening in a bottle with this kid. Their rotation is an absolute mess.




Washington Nationals
...Just an unfortunate team that seems to be in absolute shambles






And one last unfortunate event that, of course, no one benefited from: the passing of John Vukovich. His funeral was yesterday right here in South Jersey. I wish I could have gone to pay my respects...