August 02, 2016
The Major League Baseball trade deadline came and went on Monday with no action on the part of general manager Matt Klentak and the Philadelphia Phillies.
It was perplexing that Klentak could not find a dancing partner with whom to move pitcher Jeremy Hellickson for a prospect. According to Klentak, the Phillies were not simply going to give Hellickson away for nothing.
There is still a chance Hellickson could be moved over the next month in some of the convoluted post-deadline maneuvers. However, during a trade deadline that was littered with action, the Phils could not get a deal done for a pitcher who does not appear to be part of the future.
The hope now is that the Phillies will use the last couple of months to give a chance to some of the club’s highly regarded prospects. The hope is that players such as infielder J.P. Crawford, outfielder Nick Williams or pitcher Jake Thompson will get the chances to show their respective stuff.
Philadelphia fans have shown great patience in waiting for their teams to reload. The Sixers’ destruction and rebuild is the stuff of legend, the Flyers have paved the way for the next generation of young defensemen, and the Eagles have a new blueprint in the aftermath of the Chip Kelly experiment.
There will be a huge amount of money coming off the books next season when players such as Ryan Howard are gone. From this point on, the mandate from the fans will be more than a little bit different.
In a big market like Philadelphia, with a recent era of success still fresh in the memory banks, there will be a much louder demand to start winning – immediately.
Klentak and his staff get the benefit of the doubt and some leeway through this season … through this trade deadline. However, the water gets a lot deeper from this point on.
And the immediate demand to win will arrive next April.
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So, now you know why Sam Bradford wanted out of Philadelphia. It took about five minutes for the crowd at the first open practice to start howling for second-overall draft pick Carson Wentz.
It is exactly what Bradford anticipated when he balked at returning to the Eagles when the club moved up in the draft to take Wentz. Bradford realized that no matter how much patience was preached by management and coaching staff it would be a different story for the fans.
And sure enough, not even a week into this camp, the fans have let their voices known that they want to see Wentz.
The ball is now literally in the hands of Bradford. He is saying all the right things, but you hope that his real feeling is that he will grit his teeth and play well enough to make the chants disappear.
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The Olympics get started this weekend, so get ready for all the flag waving as the U.S. teams ring up gold, silver and bronze.
As usual, there are horror stories about the venues in Brazil, including water that might be too polluted to hold events. There is also the issue with even allowing the Russians to compete in any of the events.
On the plus side, at least it will be nice for the next couple of weeks to have some sort of national pride and take our eyes and minds away from the election craziness that has created a huge divide and never-ending arguments.
So, wave the flag and revel in some patriotism – no matter where you stand on the election.
***
If you have any interest in boxing, you might want to take in a promising IBF lightweight bout at the 2300 Arena on Friday night between undefeated Alejendro Luna and Stephen “The Rock” Ormand.
Ormand is one of the boxers promoted by Murphys Boxing, headed by Ken Casey of the Dropkick Murphys. The band has enjoyed a long-standing fan base in Philadelphia for over a decade, and the boxing promotion is another attempt to re-ignite interest in the sport.
With the success of UFC and all the other MMA entities, it’s nice to see some ground being gained in the genuine sport of boxing in a city with a long and proud tradition of supporting the sweet science.
