Phinally Philly

The Phillies finally won a spring training game against the Tampa Bay Rays, beating them 12-5 today.

Pat the Bat got a nice ovation when he came to the plate against his former teammates, but it was still awkward to see him in a different uniform. Him and Jimmy Rollins spent some time talking when Pat made it to second base.

Ryan Howard went 2-3 with a HR and John Mayberry and Miguel Cairo also homered. It was good to see the Phils get some offense going.

Kyle Kendrick pitched pretty well, giving up four hits and one run in 2 1/3 innings. I still think he’s got the inside track towards the fifth spot.

I’m not going to post many breakdowns of spring training, because it doesn’t mean shit. The Phillies could go winless and it wouldn’t really mean anything. They’re just getting their work in.

The big news for me today was that my season tickets came in. I also have Opening Day tickets. Those are my tickets in the picture.

Opening Day is almost here. I cannot wait.

-KK

Brian Dawkins is a Bronco, per Adam Schefter at NFL.com:

Denver signs free agent safety Brian Dawkins to a five-year, $17 million deal that includes $7.2 million guaranteed. The contract also has escalators that could boost the value of the deal to $27 million over five years, but the deal also could be voided to two years, $9 million.

While I’m sad to see Brian go, I can completely understand why the Eagles didn’t bring him back. A big five-year deal for a safety who is well into his thirties and way past his prime makes absolutely no sense to me…I think if anything this signing shows more a level of incompetence within the Broncos front office more than anything else.

Had they signed Dawkins to a two-year deal I’d be more upset with the Eagles for not making a competitive offer, but five years?!? Come on!!! I should point out that Denver can void the deal after two years, and I’d have to figure they’ll end up doing that once they realize Dawkins doesn’t have much left in the tank.

That being said, I see this as being a comparable scenario to when John Lynch went from the Buccaneers to the Broncos…he really was never a factor in Denver, and once he was retired everyone remembered him as a Buc anyway.

Congratulations Brian on the big pay day, and good luck in Denver. You will be missed.

Finding Dawk’s Replacement

Rumor has it the Eagles are looking at free agent Patriots safety James Sanders as a possible replacement for Brian Dawkins. Sanders had 66 tackles and an INT last season in 14 games for New England.

Eagles Lock up Andrews

The Eagles officially signed offensive tackle Stacy Andrews to a six-year deal. Yes, he is coming off a knee surgery, but I’m sure the Eagles were confident that he’ll be able to rebound from that if they were willing to give him that long of a contract.

Stacy is, of course, the older brother of Shawn Andrews. Looks like the right side of the offensive line will be set for years to come.

And Some More Good News…

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk is saying Ray Lewis could re-sign with the Ravens as soon as Monday. Obviously I’d rather have Ray staying in the AFC, away from the Cowgirls.

Welcome to that wonderful time of the year when not only are the Eagles in the middle of free agency, but the Phillies are into Spring Training, the Flyers are days away from the trade deadline, and the 76ers are still…well…the 76ers. The Flyers OT loss last night to the Canadiens didn’t make matters any better or even calm anyone’s nerves going into the deadline. As a matter of fact the terrible display of defense letting in 3 goals in quick succession late in the first period of Friday’s game only displayed a need for a top notch blueliner. More than ever the Flyers need help defensively. That isn’t to say that they need to acquire one in trade, but with Ossi Vaananen being claimed off waivers early Friday morning by Vancouver and Timonen out with the flu you could almost see this coming. Timonen is that all-star defenseman that the Flyers need. Anything added on at the trade deadline is just icing on the cake.

In a similar issue, does anyone realize why star center Danny Briere remained out of the lineup even after the Flyers waived two players in order to bring him back off LTIR? Of course it can’t be admitted by the organization because they might get into trouble with the league, but everyone knows that because of Timonen’s battle with the flu left the team with only 5 starting blueliners Lasse Kukkonen had to be called back up thus negating any cap space the Flyers had just cleared for Briere’s comeback.

Now, back to Kimmo Timonen. For all those who swear on their lives that Mike Richards and Jeff Carter are the two team MVPs please take a look at the numbers when Kimmo Timonen is out of the lineup. The powerplay numbers drop. The winning percentage drops. The turnovers go through the roof. I’m not saying that Kimmo Timonen is an important part of the Flyers team; I’m saying that Timonen is the Flyers. Without him they are a mediocre team with a good offense. And everyone seems to forget that both he and Coburn were out for the Pittsburgh series in the Eastern Conference Finals last season. Why do you think the Flyers did so poorly?

With the Trade Deadline days away and the Panthers GM visiting Philadelphia for the last two games there is more and more buzz about Bouwmeester coming to Philadelphia. The Flyers don’t “need” him so to speak, but think about the Flyers with another “Timonen” on the blueline; one that’s younger.

That’s why everyone’s nerves are “racked” here in Philadelphia as March 4th edges closer. The Flyers are good, especially with Timonen in the lineup. With Bouwmeester they are VERY good. Here’s hoping for the best. Sunday takes the Flyers to New Jersey to face Brodeur. Tuesday takes us to Boston. Then Wednesday, March 4th comes. All eyes and ears will be on Paul Holmgren as he tries to make this team better. The rest of the season doesn’t get any easier for the Flyers so here’s to our defense and Kimmo Timonen, may he never again get the flu.

Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel on starting pitcher Andrew Carpenter, after a 10-3 Spring Training loss:

“What he did wrong was he didn’t get nobody out.”

Yeah, that might be an issue. Carpenter allowed three walks and three hits before being taken out of the game. Tough way to start a season, eh?

Gotta love Uncle Cholly though! I guess not getting anybody out could be considered doing something wrong.

More free agency news:

- Lito Sheppard is visiting the Jets and ESPN is speculating that he could be moved soon. Sheppard has been awaiting a trade for a while now and there really is no point in the Birds keeping the injury prone 28-year old. No word yet on what the Eagles would be getting back in the deal.

- Sean Considine signed a two year, $3 million deal with Jacksonville. Sean was a decent special-teamer, but nothing more. He won’t be missed.

- As for B-Dawk, he is definitely visiting Denver but the deal isn’t done yet.

**UPDATE** Adam Schefter over at NFL.com confirms that Dawkins has not signed with Denver. In fact, he is still on his way there as of now. False alarm, but there is still a chance he could sign with Denver…it just isn’t anywhere close to being a done deal.

- Also, don’t think I haven’t noticed that Albert Haynesworth signing by the Skins. When things settle down a bit I will be addressing that and why I think it will easily be one of the worst signings of this offseason.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle safety Brian Dawkins will sign with the Broncos…

Get used to dealing with hard-hitting safety Brian Dawkins twice a year: he just agreed to a deal with the Broncos, a league source told The Chronicle, bringing some muscle and old-school attitude to the mostly athletic and finesse-minded AFC West.

A press conference is coming Saturday to introduce Dawkins, the source said.

Obviously there are a lot of rumors flying around and a lot of them end up being false, but you have to wonder if Brian would sign a deal this quickly and not give the Eagles a chance to match it, unless the Eagles straight up told Dawkins they wouldn’t sign him.

I’m really hoping this isn’t true because losing Dawkins would not only hurt in terms of losing a Pro Bowl safety, but Brian is one of the few true leaders left on this roster since the departure of Jeremiah Trotter. What kind of message would this send to the rest of the team? Are the Eagles unwilling to reward loyalty once you pass the age of 30? What does this all mean for Donovan McNabb?

For the time being I’m just hoping this report is wrong and Dawkins takes some time to give the Eagles a chance to make a counter-offer.

Report: Dawkins Signs with Broncos – ESPN

- Stacy Andrews (brother of guard Shawn Andrews) is being brought in for a visit in Philly and supposedly is close to signing, pending a physical. This would be a terrific move to shore up right tackle.

- The Broncos are bringing in Brian Dawkins for a visit, and have already visited with Correll Buckhalter. No official word on any moves yet out of Denver, but I still feel like the Eagles need to bring Dawkins back. He is the unquestioned leader of the defense even if he has lost a step over the years.

We’ll have a lot more to come including in-depth analysis of any moves the Eagles pull off a bit later today. Stay tuned folks, we’re only in the first hours of free agency and already a lot of big names are on the move!

The Phillies finally cut ties with the biggest mistake of Pat Gillick’s’ tenure as GM. 

Adam Eaton

Adam Eaton is no longer a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Story on Phillies.com

Good riddance.

The worst I’ve ever felt for Eaton was while watching “The Perfect Season,” narrated by Brad Lidge. Eaton gets a mention to the tune of.

Adam Eaton struggled to find his way all season, and never really found it.

That’s it. That’s his only mention in the entire DVD.

Phillies are still on the hook for his salary, but I don’t care, as long as he’s gone and the youngsters can now step up.

-KK

Braves’ Jones finds Phils-Mets rivalry “great”

The Inky has an article about Atlanta Braves’ 3rd baseman Larry Jones and his ideas on the Phillies-Mets rivalry.

Chipper "Don't Call Me Larry" Jones

“When you win the World Series, you can pop off, no doubt. You’ve done something a lot of other people haven’t done.”

Pop off? What the hell does Pop off mean? Is that something that those hicks down south say? Is it in the same category of saying ‘pop’ when you mean soda?

Now that Atlanta’s run of division titles is over, Larry realized something.

“Now we’re playing catch-up,” Jones said.

Gee, you think? The Phillies absolutely owned Atlanta last year. I expect that to continue this year.

“Knowing New York and Philly fans the way I do, I think it’s great. Whenever Hamels or Jimmy [Rollins] or [Carlos] Beltran says something, it fuels it. I can feel the hatred all the way down in Atlanta.

“I think it’s funny that they can get that fired up, but, you know, they’re battling one-two, and the Phillies won last year.”

How is it funny? This is pure hatred between the two teams. maybe it’s funny to someone who is going to be playing for a team fighting for third place, but it’s certainly not funny to fans of either the Phillies or Mets.

All in all, Larry Jones is just jealous that the media no longer pays as much attention to Atlanta as it used to. Get over it

The NL East has moved on to be a battle between Philadelphia and New York and the sport is better for it.

-KK

Enjoy…