Philadelphia Phillies Wiretap

Cubs Still Atop RealGM's Team Rankings

By Christopher Reina

At RealGM, we use the Field Impact Counter (FIC) to objectively measure how effectively teams are performing. We combine the position players and pitchers' FIC scores to measure which teams have played the best so far in 2008.

Click here for more information about the Field Impact Counter and the Reina Value.

*Through Mondays's games

Team: FIC Per Game Total (FIC Position Players/FIC Pitchers)

1. Chicago Cubs: 19.5 (9.0, 10.4)

The Cubs are leading the MLB in batting with a .284 clip.

2. Boston Red Sox: 19.5 (9.1, 10.4)

Dustin Pedroia, Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis are all heating up, as they each have an OPS above 1.000 over the past six games.

3. Philadelphia Phillies: 18.3 (8.6, 9.7)

Thie Phillies are 3-13 over their past 16 games.

4. Chicago White Sox: 18.2 (8.0, 10.2)

With 50 quality starts, the White Sox lead the majors in that category.

5. Tampa Bay Rays: 17.8 (7.0, 10.8)

Evan Longoria is hitting .216 at home and .328 on the road.

6. New York Yankees: 17.7 (8.0, 9.7)

Somewhat quietly, Alex Rodriguez is now hitting .322 with 15 homers on the season.

7. St. Louis Cardinals: 17.5 (8.0. 9.5)

Rick Ankiel is batting .320 with three homers in his past six games.

8. Texas Rangers: 17.3 (8.9, 8.5)

The Rangers lead the MLB in OPS (.807) and total bases (1,344).

9. New York Mets: 16.6 (7.2, 9.3)

The Mets are 6-6 since the firing of Willie Larry Randolph.

10. Toronto Blue Jays: 16.3 (6.0, 10.3)

The Jays are 5-3 since Cito Gaston?s return as skipper.

11. Atlanta Braves: 16.1 (6.9, 9.2)

The Braves have hit just .741 in June, the second consecutive month in which their production at the plate has dropped.

12. Milwaukee Brewers: 16.1 (6.2, 9.9)

The Brewers hit just 24 homers in April, but 44 in June.

13. Detroit Tigers: 16.1 (7.6, 8.4)

Continuing the monthly trend, the Tigers OPS in June was .827, which was a sharp climb from the .712 they had in May.

14. Minnesota Twins: 15.9 (6.5, 9.5)

The Twins lead the AL in triples with 24 thanks to at least two from six different guys.

15. Baltimore Orioles: 15.7 (6.5, 9.3)

Jeremy Guthrie has a 3.50 ERA this season.

16. Houston Astros: 15.4 (6.5, 8.9)

Wandy Rodriguez has been the staff?s ace with a 2.58 ERA and 7.74 K/9 ratio.

17. Los Angeles Angels: 15.1 (4.5, 10.7)

A team that is 16 games over .500 really shouldn?t be 17th on a rankings list, but this formula clearly does not close games into account and a club that has only scored 12 more runs than their opponents is difficult to know what to do with.

18. Pittsburgh Pirates: 14.9 (6.7, 8.2)

Pirates? pitchers are yielding an MLB-worst .813 OPS.

19. Oakland Athletics: 14.6 (4.6, 10.0)

Rich Harden has a dominant 2.15 ERA and has been extremely durable since May 11th.

20. Arizona Diamondbacks: 14.4 (4.7, 9.7)

The first of five NL West teams in the twenties.

21. Cincinnati Reds: 14.4 (5.4, 8.9)

The Reds lead the MLB in strikeouts with 636, but have given up 107 homers.

22. Los Angeles Dodgers: 14.2 (4.8, 9.4)

Russell Martin and Jeff Kent are leading the Dodgers with eight homers each.

23. Cleveland Indians: 14.2 (5.3, 8.9)

Cleveland has logged nine shutouts on the season, which is the best in baseball.

24. San Francisco Giants: 14.1 (4.8, 9.3)

The Giants hit a homer in every 53.2 at bats, which is last in the MLB.

25. Florida Marlins: 13.9 (5.1, 8.8)

Dan Uggla, Hanley Ramirez, Mike Jacobs, Jorge Cantu, Cody Ross and the Marlins lead the MLB in homers with 116.

26. Seattle Mariners: 13.4 (5.3, 8.1)

Carlos Silva has a 5.69 ERA and just 3.52 K/9.

27. Kansas City Royals: 13.3 (4.4, 8.9)

David DeJesus is batting .316 with eight homers.

28. Colorado Rockies: 13.3 (5.3, 8.0)

The Rockies have scored just 104 runs in June.

29. San Diego Padres: 11.0 (2.4, 8.6)

Adrian Gonzalez has 21 homers (12 on the road) in what is one of the better wasted seasons.

30. Washington Nationals: 10.9 (2.7, 8.2)

Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes have OPS totals of .679 and .738 respectively.

Via Christopher Reina/RealGM

General, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies

Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback

---

Phillies Mulling Myers' Spot In Rotation?

The Phillies are reportedly considering pulling Brett Myers out of the starting rotation, according to The Philadelphia Daily News.

Myers is 3-9 with a 5.84 ERA this season. Manager Charlie Manuel is considering a number of options for Myers, but sending him to the minors is not one of them.

"I want to make sure we do what's right for the team and Brett," Manuel said. "He's definitely kind of mentally spent right now. Those are things that we've been talking about, and we'll talk more about it tomorrow."

Via The Philadelphia Daily News

Philadelphia Phillies

Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets

---

Will Phils Deal For A Big Arm?

The Phillies are looking to add an arm to their pitching rotation and a host of names - including Erik Bedard, Roy Oswalt, C.C. Sabathia and Greg Maddux - have been mentioned in rumors, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Outfielder Shane Victorino is expected to be a cornerstone of any deal the team swings for a pitcher.

"I know I could be a chip," Victorino said. "My name has come up ever since I had that good year in triple A [in 2005], and I understand this year it might be different because the farm system is not the deepest."

Unfortunately for the Phillies, a host of teams are also looking to add a star pitcher.

"We have to balance going for it now versus the future," assistant general manager Mike Arbuckle said. "We have to keep in mind that this is not a club that is all-or-nothing this year. We have to be careful about absolutely wiping out the best young players in the system to do it now. That is not to say we don't want to win now and won't move good players if we feel the deal is right. It's just something we're looking at carefully."

Via The Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia Phillies

Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets

---