Make Or Break

Once again, the Phillies fell just short of making the playoffs. Bobby Abreu hit .330 for the Yankees after they stole acquired him from the Phillies for a bag of rusty nails on July 31st. At the time, the Phillies were 5.5 games behind in the wild card standings.

They got hot after that, jostled back and forth with a couple of other contenders, took the lead briefly, then collapsed during the final week. They were eliminated during the final weekend.

They shrug their shoulders and say, hey, we were basically out of it and we made a good run. It was a pleasant surprise.

But this was a team that was built to win this year. And last year. And the year before that. And they haven't, and haven't, and haven't.

And the thing is, having Bobby Abreu for 40 games at the end of the year might not have put them over the top. But if he had broken his arm on July 31st instead of being traded, there would be no end to the whining and moaning about how injuries cost them a chance at the playoffs.

UPDATE: Well, this trade just got a lot better.