The Flyin' Hawaiian returns to the Philadelphia Phillies

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Shane Victorino will help out the Phillies at 2019 spring training

Six and a half years have passed since the last time ‘The Flyin’ Hawaiian’ pulled on the uniform of the Philadelphia Phillies on July 29, 2012 at Turner Field in Atlanta.

The aging Phillies dropped a 6-2 decision to their NL East Division rivals that afternoon. The defeat left them 12.5 games behind the second-place Braves and 16.5 off the pace being set by the first-place Washington Nationals.

The late Roy Halladay had taken the mound for the start that day. He would strikeout seven and walk just one over six innings and leave with the Phillies trailing by just 3-2 before the bullpen surrendered three in the 7th inning to break the game open.

The first five batters in the Phillies lineup that day were familiar to fans: Jimmy Rollins, Victorino, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz. But all were between 31-33 years of age, beginning to push past their glorious prime years together.

Two days later, Victorino was one of the first to go in what would become a major rebuilding program that would last for more than a half-decade. He was dealt on July 31 to the Los Angeles Dodgers for pitchers Josh Lindblom and Ethan Martin, as well as a player-to-be-named who turned out to be in infield prospect named Stefan Jarrin.

On that same day, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr dealt away another starting outfielder, Hunter Pence, signalling a surrender of his team for the season. The club would actually heat up, pulling within three games of the second NL Wildcard with 11 to play. But that was as close as they would get.

Victorino became the left fielder for the Dodgers, stealing 15 bases over the final third of the season for a club that finished in second place in the NL West, two games off that final Wildcard pace and just five ahead of the 81-81 Phillies.

Yankees find life as C.C. Sabathia turns back the clock

Sabathia gem helps cut Yankees ALCS deficit in half

The New York Yankees were in desperate shape entering Game Three of the 2017 American League Championship Series.

The Yanks trailed the Houston Astros by two games to none in the best-of-seven series. A loss back home in the Bronx would put them in an almost impossible 3-0 hole.

Manager Joe Girardi handed the ball to 37-year old, 17-year veteran C.C. Sabathia for the pivotal starting assignment on the mound.

Sabathia delivered, and then some. He would shut out the tough Houston lineup for six innings over which he threw 99 pitches. The big lefty surrendered just three hits, walked four, and struck out five batters in what he described as a "smoke and mirrors" performance per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.

Despite his age, there is no one his team would have wanted more in that position. Per Hoch, Sabathia is now 10-0 with a 1.69 ERA in 13 starts following a Yankees loss during the 2017 regular season and postseason.

"Obviously you want to go out and have a good performance in the playoffs and give us a chance to get back in the series. Hopefully we did that tonight. We can come out tomorrow, swing the bats and score some more runs." ~ Sabathia, per Hoch

Swing the bats they did last night as well. The Bronx Bombers came out bombing early and often against Houston starter Charlie Morton. The veteran right-hander yielded seven earned runs on six hits and two walks over just 3.2 innings of work.

Todd Frazier got it started in the bottom of the second inning. The former Little League World Series hero reached out and poked a three-run homer just over the right field wall. That blast got the offense rolling in what would become an eventual 8-1 Yankees victory.

Phillies Andy MacPhail right not to spend money on roster

Phillies President of Baseball Operations Andy MacPhail

Andy MacPhail has just begun his third off-season as President of Baseball Operations with the Philadelphia Phillies organization.

First hired by the Phillies as an assistant to Pat Gillick in June 2015, MacPhail has been an inside observer to the workings of the team as it finished with 63, 71, and 66 wins over the last three seasons.

Going back even further, the Phillies and their fans have now suffered through five consecutive losing campaigns. Not just barely losing, where your team is competitive. The Phillies best finish in that stretch was 16 games below the .500 mark.

It has been a long, dark period made even less palatable by the fact that it followed the greatest decade in franchise history. From 2001-11, the Phillies fielded just one loser, and that 2002 team finished just a game below the .500 mark.

Most fans, though frustrated, understood the circumstances that led to this current losing stretch. Our heroes of the previous decade pretty much all aged out together. Injuries cut short a few careers. A few poor decisions exacerbated matters.

The reality was that the Phillies needed to rebuild their farm system, developing a group of players who could form the next core of a winning ball club. That was going to take a few years.

Well, a few years have passed. The Phillies have indeed rebuilt that farm system. In the opinions of most respected evaluators, they have indeed developed a core group capable of special things in the coming years.

ALDS Prediction: Cleveland Indians over New York Yankees

Progressive Field in Cleveland hosts first two ALDS games

No disrespect meant to the most decorated organization in the history of Major League Baseball, but I think they are in over their heads in their ALDS matchup with the Cleveland Indians.

Let's begin the preview with who the Yankees are coming into the series. Joe Girardi's squad took control of the top AL Wildcard spot in September, and even made a run at the Boston Red Sox for the AL East Division crown before falling two games short.

That pushed the Yanks into the AL Wildcard Game. In that contest, held on Tuesday night, the Yankees spotted the Minnesota Twins a 3-0 first inning lead. The Bronx Bombers then bombed away, out-scoring the Twins 8-1 the rest of the way.

The Yankees (91-71) big hitters did the damage in that one-game playoff. Aaron Judge went 2-4 with a monster home run (what else is new), and scored three runs. Gary Sanchez and Brett Gardner each had two hits, with Gardner and Didi Gregorius each blasting a home run.

Those three are going to have to contribute heavily if the Yankees are to have any hope of overcoming the defending AL champion Indians. The Tribe won five of the seven meetings between the two teams this season, and I just don't see it happening in a playoff series.

Girardi is scheduled to send big trade acquisition Sonny Gray to the mound in the opener. He'll be followed by veteran lefty C.C. Sabathia in Game Two. Right-hander Masahiro Tanaka gets the nod for Game Three on Saturday back at Yankee Stadium.

For the Indians (102-60) and manager Terry Francona, it was a surprise to many to see righty Trevor Bauer get the call for the opener. But Francona and the Tribe have a great deal of trust in Bauer, who started Game One of the ALDS a year ago vs Boston, and who also made two starts in the World Series vs the Chicago Cubs.

C.C. Sabathia On His Last Legs in the Bronx

At 7:10pm on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field, the New York Yankees will send their veteran 36-year old left-hander to the mound.

CC Sabathia will be trying to help the club to its first victory of the nascent 2017 season. The host Tampa Bay Rays ripped the Yanks by a 7-3 final in Sunday’s season opener. For Sabathia, this will be his 17th season in Major League Baseball.

The first-round pick at 20th overall in the 1998 MLB Amateur Draft by the Cleveland Indians, he spent most of his first eight seasons with the Tribe. He was a three-time AL All-Star with Cleveland. In his final full season there, Sabathia won the AL Cy Young Award.

Sabathia was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers at the 2008 trade deadline and helped the Brew Crew to an NL Wild Card berth.

Following that ’08 season, Sabathia signed a huge nine-year, $202 million free agent contract with the Yankees. His first season in the Big Apple resulted in the Yankees winning the World Series. Sabathia finished fourth in the Cy Young voting.

In each of the subsequent two seasons, Sabathia again finished within the top four of the AL Cy Young race. He was an AL All-Star each year from 2010-12.

Yankees Should Keep on Selling

In the run-up to the 2016 Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline the New York Yankees dealt away a pair of premier relief pitchers to help replenish their minor league system.

On July 25, New York dealt Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs for a four-player package that included shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres. Then on July 31, the Yanks dealt away Andrew Miller to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for a four-player package that included prospect pitcher Justus Sheffield and outfielder Clint Frazier.

New York then kept wheeling and dealing. They sent away veterans Carlos Beltran and Ivan Nova to the Texas Rangers and Pittsburgh Pirates in August. Toward the end of September, lefty reliever Phil Coke was dealt away to the Pirates.

A PAIR OF ICONS RETIRE

On August 7, former All-Star third baseman Alex Rodriguez announced that he was retiring, and played his final game less than a week later.

Also retiring was first baseman Mark Teixeira. ‘Tex’ walked away at age 36 after spending the last eight years of his 14-year career in the Bronx.

The Yankees would finish in fourth place in the AL East Division, nine games behind their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox. They were also five games behind the division rival Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles for an AL Wild Card berth.

The Yanks are trying to get younger while still contending, always a tough task. But they are doing the right thing, and still have a handful of players who the club would be smart to try to trade while they still have real value.

Baseball's Stove Heating Up

For baseball fans the winter can be particularly cold, dark, and long. From the end of the final game of the World Series until Spring Training gets going, there are four months without the game that we must endure. For the most hard core of us, the game never really goes away fully, and this week will find our National Pastime once again in the headlines. This is the week that Major League Baseball holds its 'Winter Meetings' at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Front-office executives from each of the MLB teams will be present, along with players, their agents, vendors, job-seekers, fans, and media. There will be numerous presentations, meetings, discussions, and social engagements. The biggest function of the Winter Meetings is always the full opening of the 'Hot Stove League', the name coined for the frenzied discussion of player movement via trades and free agent signings. Since the end of the World Series, which this year has made the off-season much more endurable for we Phillies fans thanks to the still-warm glow of our world championship, players and teams have been prepping for this week. The Phils have a pair of key free agent players, outfielder Pat Burrell and starting pitcher Jamie Moyer. The prevailing wisdom is that Burrell's decade-long career with the Fightin's has come to an end, and that the club will not make a big effort to re-sign the slugging left fielder, at least not unless it becomes a last-choice type scenario. Burrell turned 32 years old during the playoffs in October, and is viewed as a player severely limited defensively, a situation that will only worsen as he moves through his 30's. He will be seeking a multi-year contract for a lot of money, and the Phils just don't see him as a prudent investment. They may be right, depending on his actual price, but it will still be sad to see the Series hero leave town. Moyer is another story. The club wants him back for next season, but again age and cost are two considerations. Moyer turned 46 years old just a few weeks ago, and it is very possible that the Phillies squeezed one final productive turn from the seasoned lefty this past year. There are some huge names available as free agents this year including starting pitchers C.C. Sabathia (pictured), Derek Lowe, A.J. Burnett, and a number of intriguing names such as Brad Penny, Ben Sheets, Oliver Perez, Jon Garland, and future Hall of Famers Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, and Tom Glavine. At the back of the bullpen, closers Francisco 'KRod' Rodriguez broke the single-season Saves record this year just in time to hit the free agent market. He leads a group of closers that includes all-time Save leader Trevor Hoffman, Brian Fuentes, Kerry Wood, and Brandon Lyon. Need a hitter? MLB clubs have many here to choose from as well. The two biggest prizes are 1st baseman Mark Teixeira and outfielder Manny Ramirez. Tex is just entering his prime, and is one of the top hitters in the game as well as perhaps the best defensive 1st sacker around. Ramirez is older, but proved last season that he is in great shape and still capable of carrying a team for months at a time. The Phillies found out all about that in the NLCS, when it often seemed like it was their team against Manny alone. The other bats include Burrell, 3rd baseman Casey Blake, shortstop Rafael Furcal, and two of the game's most underrated players in 2nd baseman Orlando Hudson and outfielder Raul Ibanez. The Phillies reportedly have interest in Ibanez, and have also reportedly put a formal offer on the table for Lowe. Whether they will make any deals is questionable. There is much talk that the local nine will be satisfied perhaps with going after a complimentary bat to add outfield depth, and instead will concentrate on signing both Jayson Werth and Ryan Madson to long term deals. They also are rumored to be shopping for one more strong arm to add to what is already one of baseball's best bullpens. Baseball's 'super-agent', Scott Boras, will be highly visible as he and his group represent a number of the top free agents. The dominoes are likely to begin falling with the signing of Sabathia. As soon as this highest rated hurler signs, watch the other deals, both free agent signings and trades, begin to come fast and furious. Of course we could leave the Winter Meetings with just a few signings and deals, but the groundwork will have been laid for others that will come within a week or two, definitely before Christmas. So the next week or so is an important time for baseball teams to improve their rosters. You can catch all of the important Winter Meetings news on ESPN's outstanding program 'Baseball Tonight', which will air special editions from Monday through Thursday at 5pm. The 'Hot Stove' is heating up, warming all baseball fans just as winter's cold begins to set in across the nation.