It doesn’t matter that the Delaware Valley could get hit with some winter weather in the next 48 hours or so. The Phillies were on TV today, so as far as I am concerned, it is full-blown spring around here. I am not the biggest fan of Tom McCarthy or Chris Wheeler, but I take what I can get.

The Phils beat up on the Tampa Bay Rays 12-5, although this was hardly the Rays we last saw in late October, lineup-wise. It was the Phils first spring win after 3 losses to open Grapefruit League play.

Homers by John Mayberry Jr., Ryan Howard and Miguel Cairo staked the Phils to an early 5-0 lead. Kyle Kendrick started for the Phils in his first opportunity to grab the 5th starter spot by the throat. Kendrick was so-so in 2 2/3rds, giving up 4 hits including a bomb by Ray Sadler in the second inning.

Pat Burrell looks strange as hell in anything but red pinstripes, but there he was all the same as Tampa Bay’s DH. Burrell ripped a nice double down the third base line in his second at bat.

According to Todd Zolecki, there was a record crowd at Bright House Field for this one. They packed in over 10,000.

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Juan Cruz finally found a home, but not at Citizens Bank Park. He’s a Royal. That doesn’t sound fun.

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Lastly, as a Philly sports fan, I can’t …

The Adam Eaton era officially nose dived to earth and exploded into a fiery mess today as the Phils released the underachieving righthander despite still owing him enough money to buy all of Citigroup. Ok, maybe not that much, but the Phils will likely owe him $8.75 million if he signs with another team, according to Todd Zolecki.

I applaud the Phillies for having the balls to bail on Eaton despite owing him such a stomach churning amount of money. In the past, couldn’t you see this franchise holding on to him in order to try and find a way to suck whatever they could out of him?

These Phillies don’t chase bad money with good money. In this case of course, it was all bad money. The Phillies aligned themselves with the same theory that says you don’t stand in the same long ass line in a supermarket just because you’ve put the time in. If a shorter line opens up, you go for it.

Same thing with Eaton. Sending this guy out every 5 days, or planting him in the bullpen and stealing a spot from a more worthy hurler in order to justify the waste of money is insanity. The Phillies figured that out in the middle of last year, and are better off, if not a bit poorer, for it.

Which brings us to Eaton. Check out the quotes from interviews he …

The Phils dropped their game to the Blue Jays today, but you have to like the looks of the race for the last starter spot for the Phils.

Carlos Carrasco and J.A. Happ both turned in 2 innings of shutout baseball. Carrasco was particularly impressive in fanning 3 Blue Jays.

I like the idea of J.A. Happ landing in the bullpen to start the season as a second LH option for Charlie Manuel to go to for relief. I appreciate Scott Eyre’s contributions down the stretch in 2008, but is anyone comfortable with him holding down the fort for the first 50 games? The Phillies would be well served to get out of the blocks quickly, as the Mets are not going to slow play the division race, and the Phils can’t afford to dig an early hole. Giving Charlie the opportunity to spell Eyre with Happ has no downside.

On the other hand, sending Happ back to Lehigh Valley should he not land a starter role does Happ no good. He has shown promise, and needs to keep facing major league pitching, whether it’s in relief or as a starter.

Carrasco is the dark horse in this battle, but if he keeps averaging 13 Ks/9 innings, it won’t be easy for the Phils to send him anywhere.

Jayson Stark has a good article up on ESPN.com regarding the challenge the Phillies face to maintain last year’s momentum.

David Murphy reports on Jayson Werth’s absence from the Phils’ line-up …

I’m sorry, but I am having trouble dealing with the fact that the Phillies are currently playing games that mean very little, after playing games about 110 days ago that meant so much. So, forgive the gross hyperbole in the post title. I guess I overreacted. Losing 8-2 to the Pirates today isn’t the end of the world…..I guess.

In these early days of spring training, the Grapefruit League games give the opportunity to look for the little things. The box scores in these games are loaded with players who won’t be anywhere near Citizens Bank Park on April 5th, so it’s best to find your favorite player from the expected 25 man roster and look to see how quickly the rust starts coming off.

Jimmy Rollins 1-2, 1 R
Raul Ibanez 1-2, 1 RBI
Jamie Moyer 2 IP, 2 Ks, 2 BBs, 0 Runs.

Joe Bisenius and Scott Nestor certainly did themselves no good today, as they allowed the Pirates to rattle off 7 runs in the 4th and 5th innings.

Tomorrow’s game will be worth a closer look, as Carlos Carrasco and J.A. Happ take the mound against Toronto.

In other news, Todd Zolecki catches up with Jamie Moyer.

Jason Weitzel of Beerleaguer fame is the editor of the 2009 Phillies Annual, which looks like a nice pickup for $12.99.

Bill Conlin lists his Phillies bad boy roster.

A couple of good articles in the Sunday paper are worth checking out, specifically Jim Salisbury’s write up on Matt Stairs and Scott Lauber’s sitdown with Stairs, Eric Bruntlett, Joe Blanton and and Geoff Jenkins.

Exactly how much rope do some of these guys have in the average fan’s eyes in 2009? For me, Matt Stairs could go 0 for 50 pinch hitting in 2009, and I’m cool. Geoff Jenkins? A forgettable 2008 was forgotten once he launched that Grant Balfour offering into the sky and landed on second base with a leadoff double in the bottom of the 6th in Game 5 of the World Series.

We expect clutch performance from our top players, but when a role player comes up huge in a critical spot, their contribution is placed on a different pedestal from the day in, day out heroics of the Utleys and Howards. How can you not set aside a place in your heart for Eric Bruntlett after his baserunning exploits in Game 3 of the World Series? How can you not feel good for Joe Blanton, he of the Game 4 homer and the ensuing rout? Geoff Jenkins spent so much time passionately rooting his teammates on from the bench, never bitching about his lack of playing time as the team steamrolled to glory. I was genuinely thrilled for Jenkins that he had an opportunity to contribute something meaningful in the World Series.

For these guys, the chance to shine on such a …

There’s a great quote from Andrew Grove, one of Intel’s founders, on the subject of maintaining a successful run. The Phillies will be wise to take heed:

“Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.”

The journey to win a World Series provides plenty of built in motivation that needs no additional stoking. Jamie Moyer’s long, twisting journey to a Game 3 start in his hometown. Pat Burrell’s redemption. The team’s collective desire to create their own legacy. Those feelings only happen once. Which makes coming back for the 162 game grind the following year all the more difficult. The Phillies still have champagne in their systems. The trips to the late night shows are still fresh.

All this while their rivals gnash their teeth at home. Annoyed. Frustrated. Motivated.

Which brings us back to Grove’s quote. The only way to maintain a successful edge is to stay on your toes. Put down the press clippings. Don’t return Letterman’s phone calls. Grab a bat and go hacking in the cage. The Phillies need to be paranoid this year. A healthy paranoia. But paranoia.

Paranoid that everyone in the NL East improved in the offseason. Paranoid that every team will circle the Phils on their calendars this year. Paranoid that folks will be expecting them to regress in ’09.

And yes, paranoid about the Mets. There should be no taking the team from Flushing lightly, and the Phils need to forget about 2008 after getting their rings on April 8th, and start playing …

I was in Gatlinburg, TN for a family wedding over the weekend. No internet. No Comcast SportsNet. No nothing. On the first weekend of spring training! Some family members have all the nerve. On a positive note, Gatlinburg is one hell of a town. If you’re going to be stuck in Tennessee for a wedding in February, request it be held in Gatlinburg.

So, I came back to roughly 1700 unread articles in my Google Reader. Here were some of the more interesting items from the first few days of spring training:

Beerleaguer opines on the report that Pedro Feliz is behind on his rehab from back surgery.

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JC Romero spoke to the media, and no one covered it in more detail than Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, formerly of the Inqy. Speaking of The Inquirer, did I miss an announcement, or is the Inquirer still patching together the Phillies beat with the likes of Frank Fitzpatrick among others? Lame.

Speaking of Todd Zolecki’s new home on MLB.com, he also had a great breakdown of quotes from Adam Eaton regarding his (lack of a) future with the Phillies. My favorite part: “On his absence from the World Series parade: ‘I think if I was invited I probably would have shown up.’” Ouch. I guess had he accepted his Clearwater assignment instead of heading back to the Pacific Northwest, he may have been at the parade. Where he …

There hasn’t been a shred of bad news regarding Chase Utley’s hip surgery and subsequent rehab over the winter. In fact, according to Utley and Charlie Manuel, he’s way ahead of schedule and an Opening Day return is very possible.

That’s all good, and knowing that Chase won’t miss a sizeable chuck of time is welcomed news.

But a word to the wise. Please be careful with Utley’s return. Every game is important, but rushing the All-Star second baseman back prematurely for April games if he isn’t ready would be an awful idea. Timetables for returns from injury are usually reliable, and I am always dubious about the recovery of someone who is “way ahead of schedule”.

This decision needs to made by the training staff, not Utley, for all the reasons that we love the guy. He is a down and dirty player who doesn’t want to miss a game. He plays hurt, doesn’t complain about it, and has a heart the size of the Liberty Bell. Do you think he really wants a 24 year old prospect with aspirations to be an everyday major leaguer taking his spot in the lineup everyday while he runs in the pool? Yeah, neither do I.

Chase and Co. don’t need some chump with a blog telling them that rehabbing and playing the game all out are 2 different things. But there is simply no good reason for Utley to return until he is truly 100% recovered. Not 90%. Not 95%. 100%. …

The Phillies and Ryan Howard reached agreement on a 3 year, $54 million contract that buys out the first baseman’s remaining arbitration years.

Folks are going to applaud the Phils for gaining “cost cetrainty’ with this deal by knowing now how much of the overall budget will need to go to Howard for the next 3 seasons. But other than that, this deal is kind of a yawner. Ryan Howard is not long for this organization, as the Phillies will rightly avoid giving a record breaking long-term contract to a player with a makeup that screams “short term deal!”

The Phils still have the ability to trade Howard before free agency, even though it would cost them $1 million if they do it before Nov. 1, 2010. No big deal there.

In 3 years, Ryan Howard will be a large 32 year old, no glove slugger who will be better off in the American League. The Phillies are unlikely to be negotiating some monster contract with him at age 32. This could conceivably be the biggest contract Howard ever signs, be it with the Phillies or elsewhere.

There are no guarantees that the US economy will be out of the current recession in 3 years, and record unemployment and depressed earnings for fans will absolutely impact the bottom lines of sports franchises as discretionary spending is diminished. Howard could be looking at an economic climate no better than the one we have today, if not potentially worse.

Taking this …

There won’t be any suspension. No loss of income. No official rebuke.

Alex Rodriguez will face a far more unforgiving jury in the Baseball Writers Association of America than he has Major League Baseball. The court of public opinion won’t be kind, either.

But the lack of interest on Major League Baseball’s part to eliminate performance enhancing drug use in the 1990s and early 2000s has forced Hall of Fame voters to hand down the punishment.

Mark McGwire. Sammy Sosa. Rafael Palmeiro. Roger Clemens. Barry Bonds. And now Alex Rodriguez. Will any of these players be immortalized in Cooperstown? Remove the suspicion (or outright evidence) of steroid use from these players’ resumes, and they are all stone cold locks for the Hall.

A-Rod was supposed to be the guy who overtook Barry Bonds’ tainted home run record. He was supposed to be the guy who mashed balls because he had dumbells stapled to his arms, not because he was getting stuck in the behind with a needle.

We all know how this happened. The 1994 strike was a major blow to baseball’s popularity at a time when the NFL was already becoming “The National Pastime”. Then along came Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and the summer of 1998. We all watched with wonder as they launched moonshot after moonshot into the night sky and overtook Roger Maris’ iconic 61.

Major League Baseball was either asleep at the switch, or aware that there was more to this homerun surge than just meeting the ball with the sweet …