Abreu is Not Even Close to the Problem

If anyone out there blames Bobby Abreu for the rampant incompetence of the Philadelphia Phillies organization and its players they ought to be looked at psychologically. Argue me on that in the comment section, please, so I can prove your complete and utter lunacy.

For eight years, Abreu has done nothing but put himself in the Top 10 in Phillies history in just about every offensive category in the book. That's a long history, kids. Given time to play out his career here, he'll be the top name on most of them. But those are just stats, and in a town so starved for a winner it has people nestling to the teet of Arena Football, horses, and roller derby, no one gives a cheesesteak about stats. They see Abreu and they see a guy whose sliding technique is subpar, so when he goes into second and shortens up his slide (which costs him the bag from time to time), he is called lazy. They see a guy who won a Gold Glove last year and they blame him for it. Let's get something straight, he didn't pay to have himself named the Gold Glove rightfielder. They voted. He won. It's a popularity contest, and after the Home Run Derby, he was popular. End of story.

Many people will bring up his meager numbers with runners in scoring position in the 8th and 9th inning in games. And those numbers are putrid, but how many of those at bats come when they already have a lead, or when they are down by 6 runs. I know the stats for "meaningful" ABs probably won't be much better, but come up with something that means something before you use it as an argument.

The fact is on the whole, Abreu is hitting .340 with runners in scoring position (RISP) and his OBI, which stands for Other Batters In, is 19.6%, which is 9th in baseball. That stat means that 19.6% of the time there are people on base when Abreu bats, they have found themselves a seat on the pine after crossing home plate after that at bat. He has seen 1,815 pitches, second to only Kevin Youkilous of the Red Sox. That is invaluable to a team that strikes out as much as the Phillies. That is invaluable to a team that does not hit well against good pitching. Working the count is something everyone on this team should take a lesson in. Perhaps if other Phillies learned how to work a count, they too would have a .438 on-base percentage. That's Abreu's by the way -- 4th in baseball.

Another complaint about the Phillies you often hear is that we haven't seen a career .300 hitter since Richie Ashburn. Ummmm, Bobby's career average is .302, comparable to Don Mattingly, whose stats are going to look like Mario Mendoza's next to Abreu's by the time Bobby's said and done. And Mattingly never led anyone anywhere either, but in New York, he's the second coming of Christ.

Bobby's lackadaisical play around the wall has raised the ire of a town that says, "If you are going to suck, then you better get bloody doing it, God damn it, because I pay good money to come down here and watch this crap so you better give me everything you have." Well, that is all he has. It is not in his nature, as a Latino player, to give up the body for the baseball. So, get over it you neanderthals. I want someone who is going to break a leg for you as much as the next guy. But honestly, if that's your reason for wanting him out of town, you should give up your tickets, stop going to games. In fact, stop watching all together. You're clueless. Of course you want to see the heart and hustle of an Aaron Rowand, sacrificing bones and noses at every turn. But people have different make-ups. He never whines about the heat he takes. He never complains about being here after hearing it from the ignoramous Phillies blowhards in right field. He comes and plays his game every day. And every year, his production is among the best in baseball. He is solid in the community. He has never beaten his wife because he's single. He has done NOTHING but get turned into the whipping boy for a franchise that can't get its head out of its own ass long enough to do things right and realize what's wrong with this team. Hey, Mike Schmidt, sound familiar?

If they can get Philip Hughes, and he MUST be a part of the deal, then you think about moving Bobby because it frees salary up to get a top notch starter in the off-season and you get that prospect, which they need. Plus, you have to start the reconstruction somewhere. Otherwise, you leave Bobby right where he is, being as consistent as he has been for 8 years. Stop listening to Howard Eskin. The man has never picked up a bat or a ball in his life. He gathers info and reads trends. He's a Vegas linesmaker at best. He knows nothing about sports.

They should be looking to trade Pat Burrell and his 80 strikeouts to 74 hits, even if it's for a bag of baseballs. The team just has to take on his full salary, because that's the money that was misspent. With Randy Wolf's 9 million, and Burrell's 11, and Mike Lieberthal's 7.5, and David Bell's 4.5, and maybe even Corey Lidle's money, they should be able to go out and load up on starting pitching. If you know ANYTHING about baseball, you know that pitching wins, and the Phillies haven't had any since Lefty retired.

At that point, with a rotation that features Free Agent, Myers, Free Agent, Lieber, Hamels (with Madson back where he belongs in the pen and Gio Gonzalez waiting in the wings), I would be quite happy with Victorino starting in left and leading off, and I could care less who they get to play 3rd, but they might be able to get Shea Hillenbrand for Lidle right now. I won't even care who catches because we'll have a core lineup that is just as good with a starting rotation we can count on. Without Burrell, Lieby and Bell, and say they get Hillenbrand, here's a potential lineup for next season, and I have no problem with it if we have a solid starting rotation:

Victorino LF
Utley 2B
Abreu RF
Howard 1B
Hillenbrand 3B
Rollins SS
Rowand CF
Coste C (why not, he's earned his shot, I'd rather spend on pitching than overpay for Benji Molina)
Pitcher

That is a lineup with much smaller holes than this current lineup. The point is pitching. Abreu bashers are just whiners who don't know enough about baseball to complain about the real reasons this team doesn't win. Stop complaining for the sake of complaining, or three years from now, when the Mike Timlins, Bud Smiths and Placido Polancos of the world are either wallowing in the minors or playing for other teams, and Bobby is tearing it up somewhere else, you'll find yourself wondering why we ever got rid of him in the first place. Remember, he doesn't WANT to leave.