The root of the Phillies problems

According to Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News, the Phillies' current incarnation is hopeless. There's little chance of them making the playoffs this year, and they're not going to get any better without any passing years. They need to get younger and they need to rebuild.

Not words you like to hear, but I think he's pretty much on-target. Based on the past few years, a team has to win at least 90 games to get the wild card spot in the NL. For the Phillies to do that, they'll need to go 75-51 the rest of the way, a winning percentage of .595. That's certainly doable, but it'd be a marked improvement from their current winning percentage of .414. So, as much as I'd hate to admit it at such an early stage, the 2005 Phillies season may very well be lost. I hope they can turn it around, but they need to put together some winning streaks soon or it'll be too late.

A few days ago I read how the Phillies don't have many high-round draft picks this year. This has been pretty standard over the past few years. In the past five years, the Braves (the Braves! Who have won the division for the past decade!) have had nearly twice as many draft picks in the top five rounds as the Phillies. For the Phillies to fail to make the playoffs while gutting their farm system and losing draft picks is inexcusable.

Conlin's right. Changes need to be made. And they need to be made at the top, starting with the firing of general manager Ed Wade.