The Phillies have released their promotional schedule for the upcoming season. The first dollar dog night will be May 3 against the Cardinals (it’s also Asian Pacific Celebration). Subsequent DDNs will be May 17 against the Pirates, June 7 against the Padres, July 5 against the Braves, September 6 against the Marlins and September 20 against the Braves.

Interestingly enough, Schedule Magnet Day will be September 26 against the Mets. That seems like a promotion that should take place earlier in the season than the last week. Other awesome giveaways are the Ryan Howard collectible tin on April 17 against the Marlins and IBEW Local 98 t-shirt day on September 5 against the Brewers.

It may seem hypocritical that we’re promoting hot dog eating and the Phillies on the same day as we celebrate Charlie Manuel’s weight loss but man, $1 for a full meal is hard to pass up.

Let me start by saying that I will certainly not be unhappy in any way with Roy Halladay as the Phillies’ ace. I argued extensively last season for the Phils to make a move to get him and he is one of the top-5 pitchers in baseball, perhaps made even better in the short run by being a veteran of baseball’s best division. And now Halladay will land in the N.L. which by recent experience should mean he’ll get even more of a boost. From a performance perspective, Halladay probably becomes the best pitcher in the National League going into 2010.

But there are questions surrounding this move and its timing that can’t be ignored. First and foremost is the issue of what the Phillies have given up to acquire Halladay. Because Cliff Lee is gone as a result of this trade, the Phillies are simply replacing one ace with another. Let’s start with the trade that rented Cliff Lee for 12 starts to close out the 2009 season (and 4 brilliant playoff starts). According to mlb.com the Phillies will part with previously “untouchable” top pitching prospect, Kyle Drabek, as well as outfielder Michael Taylor and catcher Travis d’Arnaud. Combine that with the players they sent to Cleveland in the Lee deal (pitchers Jason Knapp and Carlos Carrasco, catcher Lou Marson and infielder Jason Donald) and you have a pretty high price paid for what amounts to be one pitcher.

In fairness, prospects are exactly that: an unknown commodity. But emptying close to your entire minor league tank to fill one rotation spot seems to be a bold gamble, even moreso when you consider the fact that Roy Halladay is negligably better than Cliff Lee. To boot, Roy Halladay has pitched 4 more seasons than Cliff Lee and has pitched exactly 850 innings more than Lee, meaning his treads are a lot more worn than Lee’s.

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Johnny Goodtimes did all of our sentiments a service with his great piece on how things feel today and how they’ll be remembered going forward. The only thing I can add to that is the expression of a sense of pride I have in how well this team performed and how gracious and classy Philly has been in defeat. When you think about it objectively, the odds of winning a World Series are never good, no matter how strong a team is on paper. This Phillies team not only won 1, but they returned to the big stage and showed not only how good they have been but how promising they are for the years to come.

The odds for next year’s World Series champion are out. The Phillies stand at 10-1. In shocking fashion the yearly ritual, the Yankees and Red Sox are the favorites to win at 3-1 and 7-1, respectively. Like the Phillies the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Orange County of California are listed at 10-1 as are the Cardinals, the other N.L. team in the top-5. Other N.L. aspirants are the Dodgers (12-1), the Cubs (15-1), the Rockies (20-1) and the Braves (20-1). And in case you were wondering, the Mets are listed at 15-1.

So our favorite sport here at iSportacus is in hibernation for the next 3 months which gives us time to refocus on a very good Flyers team, an Eagles team that is as inconsistent as my putter and a Sixers team which we’re forced to cover periodically. Penn State football should get a boost here in the coming weeks; they have a huge game at home this Saturday against Ohio State in which they’re favored by 3.5. Because they have a loss to Iowa on their card and the Hawkeyes are undefeated, hopes for a trip to the Rose Bowl are distant but hey, they could finish their season with 1 loss which is pretty damned good. And finally, look for a little Temple football coverage. Quietly, they’ve won 6 straight and are bowl eligible for the first time in a long time.

It’s been a great baseball season. Until the proverbial pitchers-and-catchers date, let’s try and enjoy the bounty of other quality sports taking place around Philly.

There are some voices of hysteria being heard around these parts talking talk of a Phillies’ collapse. Despite the fact they’ve gone 5-5 in their last 10 games folks are nervous and thinking that they might just be playing themselves out of a playoff spot. Despite the virtually insurmountable 5-game lead they hold on the Braves with 7 games to play, unstable clowns are worrying about the Phillies losing their playoff spot. Well, let me let the numbers do the talking.

Here are the records through the last 10 games of the 8 teams in both leagues that would be going to the playoffs if the season ended right now: Yankees 7-3, Detroit 5-5, Angels 5-5, Red Sox 5-5, Phillies 5-5, Cardinals 5-5, Dodgers 6-4, Rockies 6-4. As you can see, the Phillies are hardly in a nosedive as compared to the recent play of their postseason colleagues. Of course, Atlanta is 8-2 in its last 10 but aside from being 5 games back in the division, they’re also 2 back in the loss column to the Rockies. Still worried about the Braves? Let the number below assuage your fears.

99.9. That’s the percentage likeliness as of today that the Phillies will make the postseason according to coolstandings.com which simulates the Major League season 10,000 times every day for each team in baseball. See, they might not be going lights-out right now but you have to remember that the 162 game season is comprised of 162 games. As boring as it is, the old adage that games in May are as important as games in September is true.

So take that 1 tenth of a percent and put it in the trash. The Phillies are a statistical lock.

We have the 700level.com to thank for this picture of a pre-facial pubescent Jayson Werth. Nowadays he’s armed with a mean landing strip on his chin. I don’t know, I guess he thinks it looks good. In any event, Werth’s 34th homer of the year was of the 4-bag variety last night as he and Joe Blanton (6 scoreless innings) propelled the Phils to a 6-1 victory over the hapless embarrassment that is the Washington Nationals. The Phillies’ magic number is now 11 with 18 games to play.

We’ve all heard it before: the Phillies are an all-or-nothing team, meaning their offense is predicated on the long ball. Traditionally this is not the way that successful playoff teams win largely because their opponents in the playoffs trot-out higher quality pitching than the average seasonal opponent. Whether this holds true this postseason is anyone’s guess. In a season when the 5 teams that comprise the N.L. pennant chase (Phillies, Cardinals, Dodgers, Rockies and Giants) have starting pitching better than most years’ playoffs, the home run ball may be at more of a premium this October.

What is going to matter for the Phillies is their pitching. The mid-season turmoil surrounding Cole Hamels’ sub-par season and the Moyer vs. Pedro storyline seems to have disappeared as every starting pitcher has thrown extremely well of late and it looks like J.A. Happ will be back as he’s slated to start on Friday night against Atlanta. As the bullpen’s well-documented problems go, Chan Ho Park left the game last night after a scoreless 8th with a hamstring problem though J.C. Romero’s much-needed left arm looks like it’ll be back in form for the playoffs. According to espn.com, Romero says he’ll make 5 appearances before the end of the season.

Cole Hamels will go tonight in the final sleeper against Washington. This weekend promises to see a better opponent (as least in the pitching department) as the Phils go to Atlanta for 3. Their bats will be tested by Tim Hudson, Javier Vasquez and Tommy Hanson which should provide for a few games more similar to a playoff series than the last 3 outings against the team from Chinese Taipei. The playoffs are right around the corner and assuming the Phillies win tonight against the Nationals, they will have taken 8 of their last 10. Playing well going in is key, and it looks like the Phillies should have some momentum heading into the home stretch

Because we live in a city where the equilibrium of the collective sports mentality is as stable as Stephon Marbury, people are panicking about the Phils’ recent slump. Sure, they are coming off a 4-game sweep at the hands of the lowly Astros. And with the notable exception of Ryan Howard, the team is in a huge offensive slump (Cliff Lee has the best batting average on the team, .316, followed by Shane Victorino’s .295). Let’s not even mention the closer spot–Bob Ford has an unusual take on it–or the worst bench in the National League (Matt Stairs is now 0-29 since the A.S. Break).

All these things considered, this is exactly what baseball is. A 162-game season. Teams ride huge winning streaks and lose games in droves too. When you consider the Phillies are a long ball team, you understand that when the big bats are cold the team is going to struggle. Hell, even the Yankees (indisputably the best team in baseball) have a 4-game losing stretch on their record. The Phillies are still projected to win 93 games, worse only than the 94 and 96 likely wins for the Cardinals and Dodgers, respectively. More importantly, they have an almost 95% chance of winning the N.L. East (stats projections from coolstandings.com).

Their performance against the Astros this past weekend was bad but they did manage to only lose 3 of the last 4 games by 1-run margins against a Houston team that is a deceptive 9-games over .500 at home.  What’s more, the promise of a turnaround is on the horizon as the next 10 games are against the Nats and Mets, two teams collectively 56 games under .500.

The results haven’t been thrilling lately but the commanding position the Phils occupy allows them to tinker where necessary, try new things in other spots and also be patient where they can be. Winning 2 consecutive World Series is a very tall order and there’s a reason no N.L. team has done it in over 30 years. If the Phillies are going to pull it off they’re going to have to play better baseball but from where they currently stand, there’s no reason to think that next week at this time folks will be singing a different tune.

Jamie Moyer (10-7, 5.32) will fire the Phils’ first shots tonight in a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies. Opposing him will be Jason Hammel (5-6, 4.66), who, not surprisingly, has a lower ERA than Moyer. What is surprising is that his ERA is lower than his near-namesake and fading ace, Cole Hamels (4.68). Well at least it’s close.

Just because Cliff Lee made the Giants look like a bunch of circus monkeys last week in his much-hyped debut doesn’t mean we’re all sold on the state of the Phillies pitching. Sounds like Ruben Amaro is however. The way things currently stand the best-possible playoff starting rotation would be Lee, Hamels, Blanton and Happ. Of course, there are many out there who would argue that Jamie Moyer should be in the rotation because he’s from Souderton. Oh well, either way that rotation is out-matched by St. Louis and San Francisco. To that effect Bill Conlin chimed in earlier today.

I don’t want to get too down on the Phillies. After all, they always manage to beat bad teams (provided they’re not A.L. teams). And I’m really not trying to knock Ruben Amaro; the guy’s done a pretty good job in his first year (see Raul Ibanez and Cliff Lee). But there are big question marks in the starting rotation as well as in the bullpen, most notably Cole Hamels and Lights-On Lidge. Hopefully, when Condrey and Romero return from injury and Pedro is ready to go (whatever that may mean), Charlie Manuel Rich Dubee will be able to fit the puzzle pieces correctly.

If the Phillies don’t pull the trigger on this trade and Roy Halladay ends up in Boston, either team in L.A. or St. Louis, the Phils are going to have themselves a potential p.r. disaster on their hands. Imagine the outcry if the current front-runners for Halladay pass on the deal only to see him traded to a playoff contender whom the Phillies end up facing in the postseason. Then try and get your head around Halladay beating the Phillies twice in a playoff series with one of these teams. If that happens, Ruben Amaro might as well hide out in an underground bunker with Dick Cheney in some undisclosed location.

Jayson Stark is reporting that the Toronto Blue Jays have formally proposed a trade with the Phillies involving ace, Roy Halladay. J.P. Ricciardi and the Jays would be willing to part with Halladay in exchange for J.A. Happ, Kyle Drabek and Dominic Brown. Apparently the Toronto pitcher’s body of work hasn’t shown enough to convince Ruben Amaro to part with Happ and 2 guys who’ve never played an inning of Major League ball.

Nor were the Phillies particularly impressed with Halladay’s outing last night against the Tampa Bay Rays, a team ranked 3rd in baseball in runs scored (only the Yankees and Angels have crossed the plate more). While Happ got shelled by the Cardinals, Halladay pitched 9 innings, giving up 4 hits and 1 earned run while walking 3 and striking out 10. Adding to the resume that’s printed on gold leaf, Halladay recorded his 44th complete game since 1998; Randy Johnson is the only other pitcher with that many complete games during the past 12 seasons.

The quote of the day on this matter was from an unnamed talent evaluator (presumably a Toronto guy) who Stark claims is involved in the Halladay proceedings:

The Phillies are going to have to step up if they want him. Happ is OK (as a prospect) and Drabek is a good prospect, but neither of these guys is ever going to be what Halladay is. They’re prospects, and Halladay is Halladay; he’s the best. If Happ and Drabek are not both in the deal, it’s not going to happen.

From a baseball perspective, that’s pretty much the whole story. The Phillies know Halladay is going to cost an arm and a leg and they’ve shown themselves to be quite willing to pass on big-time contracts in the past. Despite the ado surrounding last year’s championship as well as this year’s cake walk both fresh in fans’ minds, it’s important to remember that this team’s ownership junta hasn’t exactly shown themselves to come from the George Steinbrenner school of talent acquisition.

But money issues aside, there is no baseball reason not to make this trade. In terms of this season, Happ is the only player involved who would affect a World Series hunt and nobody can seriously argue that he’s be better for the Phillies run this year than Halladay. And ditto for next season as D. Brown will have no roster spot available to him and there’s no way Drabek comes in and has a rookie season anywhere comparable to what Halladay will produce.

Giving the Phillies the benefit of the doubt, the fact that they’re holding out for a better deal with a week to go until the deadline is just fine. It’s reported they’re trying to get Toronto to bite on Carlos Carrasco instead of Drabek. For my part, they can have Carrasco, Drabek and Happ as long as we get Halladay. Bottom line: the Phillies are the N.L. favorites this season and the next with Roy Halladay. Without him, they’re in the mix. And if you want to be stubborn and hold onto the prospects, let’s reconvene this conversation in 5 years.

A multiple All Star who shares his surname with the word Europeans use to describe their vacation time will be playing in Philadelphia this weekend. Unfortunately he is not a former Cy Young pitcher and he will not be wearing a Phillies uniform. Si.com reports that Matt Holliday has been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for three prospects, including highly-touted third baseman, Brett Wallace.

The last time the Phillies saw Holliday in an important game was the 2007 NLDS when he was a member of the Colorado Rockies. With the 1st-place Cardinals in town this weekend, they’ll face his bat again. With the increasingly difficult schedule of late, the Phils caught a break this weekend by missing starts by the Cards top-2 pitchers, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. While he won’t impact the games to the same degree as the pitchers might, assuming Holliday’s plane isn’t late he could be a thorn in the Phillies’ pitching’s side: despite a career average of .261 against the Phils, Holliday has hit 11 home runs and 31 RBI in only 30 career games against the Phillies.