Philadelphia

If there's one time of the sports year that everyone watches like a hawk, it's MLB free agency.  From November until late January (sometimes longer), fans lose sleep over which teams top free agent players will sign with.

Some of these decisions pay great dividends, like C.C. Sabathia when he signed with the New York Yankees.  Other times, players regret locking themselves into long-term deals, like when Adrian Beltre signed with the Mariners.

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

The Philadelphia Phillies have re-raised the bar for their own expectations in the coming 2011 season.  As if expectations hadn't already been sky high over the past few years, 2011 may be the most hyped season in team history.  

If you're unfamiliar with the Philadelphia Phillies 2011 pitching rotation, then chances are you've been living under a rock.

This off season the Phillies made one of the highest profile signings of the year. In December, Cliff Lee signed a $120 million contract to rejoin the team that he unwillingly left a few years earlier.

For most teams, reaching the 2011 National League Championship Series would be considered a successful season but not for the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies have won their division in four-straight seasons and appeared in two consecutive World Series, and anything but a World Series championship is a failure.

Spring Training will be here sooner than we think. The Phillies come into the 2011 season with some lofty expectations for themselves. They have mustered up one of the best rotations in the history of baseball with the surprising signing of former Phillie Cliff Lee.

Along with the rotation, the Phillies offense looks to get back on track after having a down year for what they've come to expect over the past few seasons. They still have the core group of players on the team, but they are all aging.

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

As the spring draws closer, the talk of pitchers and catchers starts circulating amongst the fans.

Philadelphia Phillies fans, and baseball fans in general, start to grow restless as thoughts of homeruns and Cy Young Awards dance in their heads.

With a tumultuous offseason almost over, the Phillies roster has been altered in a big way.  It will be interesting to see the effects of the big addition of pitcher Cliff Lee and the departure of right handed hitter Jayson Werth.

Winning the World Series requires the perfect balance between pitching and hitting.

When the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series in 2008, they did so on the strength of their bullpen, anchored by Brad Lidge, and an offense that went unrivaled in the National League.

When they returned to the World Series in 2009, the balance wasn't perfect. Lidge crumbled, and the bullpen followed suit. The powerful offense wasn't able to keep up with the bullpen's woes.

According to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com, former New York Met and current free agent pitcher John Maine's agent Rex Gary has been contacted by NL East rival Philadelphia Phillies along with a few other teams.

Gary has said, "We have spoken to a lot of teams and there is a lot of interest."