So I’m doing my usual news crawl, picking up pieces I want here and there. And this caught my eye. No, there is no real need for you go to look; it’s Sean McAdam telling us which five MLB teams are setting themselves up for defeat. And hey! Guess what! Mr. McAdam thinks the Phils will fall flat on our pretty little faces. This is what he has to say (to save you the click):

“The Phils remained in contention for the NL wild card until the final weekend before finishing out of the playoffs, then did little to move forward in the offseason.

They replaced Billy Wagner (who’ll close for the division rival Mets) with Tom Gordon, a step backward, and they traded Jim Thome to get out from under most of his contract and injury history.

Aaron Rowand makes them better in center field, but there’s much more work to be done here. They continue to lack a bona fide front-line starter and there are too many aging veterans (third base, catcher) occupying important positions.

Look for the Phils to continue to lag behind the Braves, with the Mets overtaking them in the standings, too.”

Now, I love the Braves as much as the next Southern baseball fan; but this I cannot abide. There is no abiding on my part. None. Nada. Zip.

It was a wise move for us to pass Jim Thome off to the White Sox because he spent so much time injured. (Hell…even when he wasn’t injured, he wasn’t all that great. Hate to break it to you.) The kid who picked up the slack at first base- Mr. Ryan Howard- won the National League Rookie of the Year award…and he won that award based on half a season worth of stats! So of course it bothers me a little to see Sean McAdam writing like Thome was a real loss and acting like that trade is going to hurt the Phillies in the long run. WRONG!

I think the Phillies can pull out another solid season if they go into it looking to do well. That’s the key: looking to pull out a good season.

Also, a note: My Phils graphic is gainfully yoinked from ESPN.com. Please go visit them to show the love, since I also yoinked all of my MLB graphics from there. You’ll see those later in the season.