Six Pack

By Michael Rushton

Say what you want about not acquiring a big bat, but the Phillies came out of the Winter Meetings a hell of a lot better than when they went in.

As of now, they have six serviceable pitchers. Four of them weren't on the Phillies opening day roster last year. Trust us, that is a good thing. Remember, the big concern heading into last year was the Phillies' starters, not their offense. Ryan Franklin anyone?

With all due respect to the late Cory Lidle, he wasn't anything more than a No. 5 starter. But there he was, right smack in the middle of the pitching rotation in the third slot.

Assuming the Phillies trade Jon Lieber, the starting rotation potentially looks like this: Freddy Garcia, Brett Myers, Cole Hamels, Adam Eaton, Jamie Moyer. Garcia and Myers will battle for opening day starter honors. I'll give the edge to Myers now, seeing as he is the longer tenured Phillie.

Sure the bullpen still needs a lot of work, but we are still a long way from April and Pat Gillick has a large bargaining chip in Lieber. Once the rest of the free agent pitchers come off the market, Lieber's value will go up.

There is no harm in hoping for an Eric Gagne-type reliever to come to town, but I'll settle for a Matt Herges or Rudy Seanez-like addition. One of my colleagues has a theory about the bullpen. Stockpile arms and ride the hot hands. Sounds good to me.

Philadelphia still needs a left-handed hitter off the bench, but remember how late they got David Dellucci last year. April is still a long ways away.

As for the big bat, we may have to give Pat the Bat one last shot. Darn it, he's done it before, hasn't he? And if not, how about batting Ryan Howard third, Chase Utley fourth and Burrell fifth. That protects Howard a bit.

Suffer through Burrell one last season and hope he is easier to trade next year, when he has just a single year left on his deal.

The goal of the meetings is to come out better than you were and Gillick and Co. did just that. Now just have faith.

Michael Rushton can be reached at rushpac@comcast.net