LOS ANGELES&mdash,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych];It was just a season and a half ago that the had the look of a dynasty about them with a dominant pitching staff in place and star offensive players playing right around expectations.
The Phillies won 102 games in 2011 before a shocking postseason upset to the eventual World Series champion . It was that final October loss in the NLDS that changed what the Phillies believed they would become, slamming shut their window of opportunity while the organization never realized it was being locked inside its own suddenly fictitious world.
AMARO'S MINDSET:
That potential for a dynasty started to disintegrate when Achilles' tendon did on the final out against the Cardinals. In 2012, the team was often injured and its stars hardly played up to billing, and it finished .500. This season, guys are mostly healthy,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], but many aren’t playing like the stars they once were. The once-dream pitching staff is more like a forgotten glitch during a REM cycle.
This brings the Phillies to a simple conclusion, one they are struggling to realize: It is time to break down this roster and separate from a dream it can no longer fulfill. It is time for the Phillies to become sellers.
“I think this happened to them quicker than any of them realized,” a National League scout said over the weekend. “It was like they were World Series contenders and then they blinked and are not even a .500 club now. It happened faster than any of us thought, but it’s like they are the only ones not seeing it.”
The scout was referring to “they” as the Phillies, but more specifically, to general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. He is the one who ratcheted up the payroll to more than $165 million and he would be the one responsible for dismantling the roster and selling it for parts that will be more valuable in three years rather than now or by next April.
The problem is, Amaro is not willing to do such a thing. Not yet, at least.
“I’ve been telling our (beat writers), it doesn’t make sense right now,” Amaro said. “We have to contend here,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], we are expected to contend here. And we still can.”
That was before the Phillies came here and lost three of four to the , lost with their ace () on the mound,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], fell five games under .500, 9 1/2 games out of first in the NL East and 7 1/2 out of a wild-card spot.
Scouts were already descending on the team to look at potential trade chips, and after that disastrous weekend series,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the scouts will become more noticeable. Closer ,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], second baseman , third baseman —Utley and Young are free agents after the season—and Lee all could have suitors, but it is Amaro’s decision if he wants to trim payroll and build for the future or hang onto hope with his current highly paid veteran team.

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