Good article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer about the Phillies' payroll for 2011 (which will include $23 million for Raul Ibanez and Brad Lidge and $2.75 million for Danys Baez).
I have thought for a while that the team needs to get either a capital infusion for 2011 or somehow not blow up during the season, because they cannot contend by failing to evolve, by failing to be a meritocracy, and, yes, by failing to jettison both Ibanez and Lidge, both of whom have little left in the tank. They won't be able to sign Jayson Werth, who hasn't necessarily turned into Jason Bay during his walk year. They'll have some solid starting pitchers, but still wear bear the albatross of two years remaining on Joe Blanton's contract and overpaying for Ryan Howard. Read the whole thing, but if the owners are determined to hold fast at about $150-155 million for 2011, the team's clunkiness will continue for another season.
Read the whole thing and draw your own conclusions. What you'll see is that they'll still need starting pitching and that their bullpen will need a partial reconstruction. The question is how much will the Phillies spend to re-build the 'pen.
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