Shane Victorino

Shane Victorino was one of the lucky players to be selected to play for Team USA in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

The MLB trade deadline wasn't uneventful, but it lacked its signature dramatic flair. A handful of teams made moves to benefit their playoff picture, but not all of these will pan out in the end.

Factors have to be considered when picking up a new player. A change of scenery can have a negative, as well as a positive, impact. A new ballpark can impact their productivity, and their new teammates may not lend the same comfort as their previous home did.

The 2012 trade deadline has come to pass. For the Philadelphia Phillies, though, it could have gone better.

John Mayberry was called up last week to take injured All Star center fielder Shane Victorino’s place on the roster.  The Phillies figured he would be a suitable enough defensive replacement, but nobody expected Mayberry to provide much offense. 

People may be thinking differently now.

After all of the preseason hype, largely due to the return of Cliff Lee, the Philadelphia Phillies have come out red hot in early April like a fox escaping a forest fire.

The Phils' are off to a 7-2 start, capped off by 2-1 series win over the Atlanta Braves who are thought to be their main competition in the NL East.

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.

Dominic Brown's future in the Major Leagues is bright.  He's 6'5, has speed, quickness, baseball instincts, and is looked at as a "five-tool" player. 

However, the Phillies need to recognize where Brown is at in his career before they throw him into a starting role, or should I say the lion's den.

Here's some reasons why Brown will start the season in the minors.

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Coming off a year plagued with injuries, Jimmy Rollins has many reasons to rebound in 2011.

But should he bat leadoff or should the job pass to Shane Victorino?

In 2010, Victorino took the majority of the at-bats in the leadoff spot while Rollins nursed a sore calf.

In 348 at-bats in the leadoff spot, Victorino posted a .276 batting average; Rollins, in 294 at-bats in the same spot, batted only .242.

On Monday night, the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association held their 107th annual awards banquet in Cherry Hill, NJ.  The PSWA honors athletes in every sport around the Philadelphia area. 

As the title says, this is my second annual bucket list—Phillies style. I hate the redundancy of writing a totally self-explanatory title and then reaffirming the topic in my first sentence but with those darn search engines constantly looking for articles with relevance, I’m already at a disadvantage.

When it comes to blogging about baseball, I’m the master at having nothing relevant to say.