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In the second of our writers' roundtable posts on Phillies Nation this week, we ran through some questions predicting what to expect of the upcoming big league season.  Among the topics were impact prospects, how the Phils will finish the 2016 campaign, roster surprises and more. Read ahead for my thoughts... Which prospect makes the biggest impact this year? Reliever Jimmy Cordero will be that guy, simply based on the amount of time I expect him to get at the big league level. Sure, the Phils have some great prospects in J.P. Crawford and Nick Williams , but both guys are at positions where there isn't an immediate need for them at the big league level. The bullpen will have need and Cordero, who can reach triple digits with his fastball, will be the youngster that contributes the most this year. What in-season trades do you anticipate the Phillies making? The Phillies should continue to be sellers. They should move forward, trying to clean out the leftovers of the...

Chase Utley, image- Joe Wombough Over at PhilliesNation.com, we fielded the topic of the Phillies' potentially re-signing Chase Utley , as a report from CSNPhilly's Jim Salisbury popped up on Thursday stating the team had begun negotiating with the five-time All-Star on a new deal. Rumors started flying this morning that the Phillies might be nearing a contract extension with Chase Utley. Is this a wise move for the organization? What combination of years-and-dollars would you be comfortable with the Phillies offering Utley? Rumors started flying this morning that the Phillies might be nearing a contract extension with Chase Utley. Is this a wise move for the organization? What combination of years-and-dollars would you be comfortable with the Phillies offering Utley? My answer: It will take me exactly two words to explain why re-signing Chase Utley is a bad idea for the Phillies. Cesar Hernandez . The Phils have a 23-year-old Venezuelan born Triple-A All-Sta...

Could Phils GM Ruben Amaro Jr. trade Cliff Lee again? Occasionally, here on the site, we feature guests tackling a topic related to the Phillies.  This time around, I surveyed some of my favorite sports commentators and fans on the subject of which Phils player is most likely to find himself traded by the July 31st non-waiver trading deadline. The participants in this roundtable are my PhoulBallz Podcast cohost and TheFightins.com front man Tug Haines , WFAN radio host and sports writer Joe Giglio , the biggest female baseball fan I know Casey Landman , PhilliesNation.com writer Kieran Carobine , Wall St. Journal Radio's Tyrone A. Johnson as well as yours truly.  Here's what the group had to say on this subject. Tug Haines- With Ruben Amaro Jr. at the helm, Chase Utley , Freddy Galvis , and Jesse Biddle will be traded for seven Dominican outfielders, (all 5'10" and 180 lbs.), and three 6'5" first basemen. Joe Giglio- Cliff Lee: With t...

Every now and again, here on the site, we feature guests tackling a topic related to the Phillies.  This time around, I surveyed some impassioned baseball minds on the subject of which of the Phils' four key players with expiring contracts at the end of this upcoming season are most likely and least likely to return to Philadelphia.  Those four individuals are manager Charlie Manuel , ace pitcher Roy Halladay , catcher Carlos Ruiz and second baseman Chase Utley . The participants in this roundtable are my Podcast cohost Tug Haines , WFAN radio host and writer Joe Giglio , the biggest female baseball fan I know Casey Landman , PhilliesNation.com writer Kieran Carobine as well as yours truly.  Here's what the group had to say on this subject. Tug Haines- I  think a lot of this depends on how the season looks around the trade deadline. But I’ll answer real quick, ranking them from least to most likely, while assuming the Phillies will be in the thick of thi...

From time to time the writers at PhilliesNation.com collectively take on a pressing baseball matter and kick around their individual opinions. In the latest edition, the subject matter was the possibility of expanded video replay in Major League Baseball. Check out my input on the topic below and click this link to read the other writers' feedback and to join the discussion. The technology is there and it's helpful in ensuring the proper calls are made in others sports and in certain aspects of baseball, so let's get the appropriate changes in motion to give professional baseball the right results all of the time. The basis of arguments against replay in baseball is often that it subverts the legacy of the sport or undermines the umpires that are, for some reason, held so sacred, despite constantly being proven unworthy of support for having exceptional judgement. I don't know what the best methods for expansion of video replay in baseball should be, but wit...

First baseman/outfielder Darin Ruf has had a tremendous season for the Double-A Reading Phillies. After setting a team single season record with 38 home runs, getting named Eastern League Most Valuable Player and being honored as the Phillies top offensive minor leaguer with the Paul Owens Award, Ruf could be on the verge of a September call up once the R-Phils have completed their possible postseason run. This week, one of my other internet homes PhilliesNation.com asked its writers to offer their thoughts on what the big league Phils should do with the 26-year-old Ruf. Listed below is what I had to say on this matter. Click this link to read the full post featuring comments from PN's Eric Seidman, Ian Riccaboni and Ryan Dinger. At the risk of duplicating my sentiments from this week’s edition of Phillies Nation TV, it would be a complete disservice to Darin Ruf if the Phillies don’t promote him to the big league roster once Reading’s season is done. Ruf’s August (.371 av...

This week on PhilliesNation.com, the writing staff took to predicting the 2012 MLB season. Site contributors including 97.5 The Fanatic's Pat Gallen, CSNPhilly's Corey Seidman, yours truly and others all took on the challenge of guessing which players would acquire some important hardware and proclaimed which individuals fans should look out for throughout the new season. Have a look at my predictions, then click the link that follows to see what the full Phillies Nation staff had to say. AL Cy Young Award Winner- Justin Verlander DET NL Cy Young Award Winner- Cliff Lee PHI AL Most Valuable Player- Albert Pujols ANA NL Most Valuable Player- Matt Kemp LAD AL Manager of the Year - John Farrell TOR NL Manager of the Year- Charlie Manuel PHI AL Rookie of the Year - Yu Darvish TEX NL Rookie of the Year- Yonder Alonso SD AL Hitter to Watch - Eric Hosmer KC NL Hitter to Watch- Paul Goldschmidt ARI AL Pitcher to Watch - Henderson Alvarez TOR NL Pitcher to Watch- Jake Diekman ...

This week over on PhilliesNation.com , the writing staff, including myself, answered the question, " What are you looking forward to seeing most during Spring Training ?" My focus, of course, is generally on the younger guys and minor leaguers, so I shared my thoughts on which prospect I would be most looking forward to seeing perform in Grapefruit League action. Read ahead for my answer and check out the full roundtable post over on PhilliesNation. Jake Diekman is a pitcher I am really looking forward to seeing against Grapefruit League competition this spring. The 25-year-old lefty reliever took great strides in 2011, changing his arm angle during his long toss warm up program, which helped him add some considerable velocity to his fastball, hitting 95 MPH on a regular basis. With a K/9 rate of 11.49 last year as a member of the Double-A Reading Phillies and a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League in which he held opponents to a .079 batting average in 11 appearances, ...

Over on one of my other internet homes, PhilliesNation.com, top guy Pat Gallen surveyed the contributors of that site for New Year's resolutions pertaining to the Phillies. Included were several interesting points of view including concerns related to Charlie Manuel, Placido Polanco and Cole Hamels. Read ahead for my thoughts on this roundtable subject... My resolution is for the fans. To the Philadelphia faithful that sell out the Phillies' home park on a daily basis, stop acting a fool. Many members of the fan base despise the manner in which they are depicted by the national media and while pointing out how other city's ticket holders don't get generalized in the same fashion, however the Philadelphia region's fans have continued to fail themselves in recent years. We're all familiar with the events when individuals who lacked good judgement, while in attendance at Citizens Bank Park, caused mischief , violated others or took violence to the ultimate level ....

On Monday night, the Minnesota Twins' designated hitter Jim Thome mashed a homerun at the Major League level for the 600th time, becoming only the eighth man ever to do so. Over what has been beyond an impressive 20-year big league career, Thome has become one of the game's most renowned sluggers, while playing for five different teams. Somehow, though, what would previously have screamed the biggest story in sports, when heavy hitters of the past reached landmarks or chased records, has now had its volume turned way down as one of the game's most liked individuals, Thome, approached the 600 HR plateau. That lack of great buzz could make some wonder why Thome's approach toward the beastly breakthrough wasn't afforded as much attention as previous baseball milestone's. To discuss those concerns and to address Thome's legend specifically, I asked some friends of this site to offer their thoughts. -Where does Jim Thome rank among the game's a...