Phillies Eliminated...Thoughts on the offseason.

The Phillies fell in Colorado last night 2-1. Ironic huh, it was the Phillies bats that let them down in this series, not the much maligned pitching staff (Save for the bullpen in game 2). Really, this team just wasnt good enough and they lost to the better team. Colorado right now, might be the best team in baseball and should be for a long time. They are young and they are talented.

Here are the top 5 offseason issues that the Phillies need to reslove :

1. 3B - Gregg Dobbs/Wes Helms/ Abe Nunez - The three headed 3B monster didnt work out quite as well as the Eagles three-headed RB monster did in 2004. Hemls was brought in to be the starter and he failed. Dobbs was an after thought and it was questioned in spring training if he would even make the team, he did and was one of the biggest surprises of the season. Nunez is a valuable defensive player but cant hit a little bit. He is a FA and shoul only be retained if the Phillies get a offesive-minded 3B that isnt a good fielding 3B.

FA 3B - A-Rod (NYY), Mike Lowell (BOS), Pedro Feliz (SF).

2. Bullpen - While the bullpen preformed well in September, they weren't a very consistent bunch. While I was OK with Myers moving to the closers role, they need to find a young live arm to pitch in front of him. When Tom Gordon was healty, he was still a nerve-racking adventure everytime he was called upon. One of the biggest decsions will be what do you do with J.C. Romero? He is 31 years old, and he came over to the Phillies as an after-thought, once he was released from the Red Sox. In September he might have been the teams MVP. Yes he ended up being the losing pitcher in Game 3, but he is a guy who is going to be seeking a much deserved rasie...would you give it to him? The rest of the pen was just brutal, not one guy was reliable and the hope here is that Condry, Geary, Mesa and Alfonseca are all gone.

FA RP - Joe Borowski (Clev), Octavio Dotel (ATL), Scott Linebrink (MIL), Joe Nathan (MINN), Mariano Rivera (NYY).

3. Starting rotation - Cole Hamels/Kyle Kendrick/Kyle Lohse/Jamie Moyer/Adam Eaton - The staff was supposed to be the strength of the team in spring training. But injuries to Fredy Garcia, Jon Lieber and moving Brett Myers to the bullpen, plus the Eaton was horrible all season made the staff just mediocre. Kudos to Kyle Kendrick and Pat Gillick for getting Lohse, but the staff needs to get better. Hamels is a bona-fide ace and should lead the roation for the next 10 years. But, they need to get a top notch #2 starter due to Hamles injury history. I would love to see a situation where Kendrick become more of the #4-5 starter rather then a #2. Moyer is signed for another season before he takes over as the teams pitching coach in 2009. Then there is the question of Lohse, he is a FA and is probably going to get between $55-$60 million this offseason, is he worth that? As for Eaton...there is no answer here. He stinks and cant be traded - bad, bad, bad move.

FA SP - Tom Glavine (NYM), Kenny Rogers (DET), Andy Pettite (NYY), Bartolo Colon (LAA), Curt Schilling (BOS)...Not much help here.

4. Aaron Rowand - Coming off a career season, what do you do with Aaron Rowand. He should be getting somewhere around $10-$12 million per season. Is he worth that to you ? I am not sure how I feel about him, I think he is a nice player, but I do think he had a career year. Do I think the alternatives are better...not in-house, but for $10-$12-million - go get pitching. I have been around Rowand and he is a good guy in that locker room and that means a lot, this is a huge decsion for the Phillies.

FA CF - Mike Cameron (SD), Andruw Jones (ATL), Torii Hunter (MINN).

5. Charlie Manuel - This is a huge decsion as well, almost the same decsion you have with Rowand. The guys love Charlie, thats apparent. However, can they contiune to live with his poor managerial decsions? His ability to run a bullpen needs work, but give him credit he went with the hot hand and used just about everyone on the 25-man roster. He got this team to stay together after they went 4-11 to start the season but those slow starts seem to be happening way to often under his watch. My guess is that he will be back.