Phormer Phils

I don't want to talk about the current state of the Phillies because I'm too annoyed over the past 2 days. So let's take a look at how past players are doing right now. First, some minor leaguers that we traded that may or may not have made me cry.

Matt Maloney - made his major league debut yesterday as a starting left-handed pitcher for the Reds against the Cubs. We traded him for Kyle Lohse in 2007 while Maloney was in AA I believe. He pitched 6 innings, giving up 6 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk, and striking out 4. Pretty good debut. It would be fun to still have him around, but no big deal.

Josh Outman - he is one of the players we traded for Joe Blanton last season. He is starting for the A's this season. In 11 appearances (9 starts) he has pitched 53.2 innings and gone 3-0 with a 3.02 ERA. This is another guy who I really wanted to keep, but Blanton obviously helped us greatly last season leading up to and in the playoffs.

Adrian Cardenas - playing 2nd base for AA Midland, a minor league affiliate of the A's. He's another guy we traded for Blanton, and he's someone that was one of our best prospects. He plays 2nd, so he didn't mean much to us I guess, but he is currently hitting .394 with 33 RBI in 33 games in AA.

Greg Golson - we traded him for John Mayberry in the offseason. He's gotten 1 at bat with the Rangers this season in which he struck out. He was never my favorite player because he strikes out way too much. He had 6 at bats for us last season and struck out in 4 of them. But he is hitting .278 in AAA Oklahoma City this season. I think Mayberry was an upgrade for us, though.

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Now for some players that we all know and love from the major league Phillies the past few seasons:

Tom Gordon - Flash is with the Diamondbacks and in a very familiar role: on the DL. He did appear in 3 games for them this season and was able to compile a 21.60 ERA. One of the most important moves we made last season to help us get to the postseason was putting him on the 60-day DL.

Michael Bourn - one of my favorite Phillies while he was on the team. He's having by far his best season this season, batting .294 for the Astros and leading the NL with 19 stolen bases. He's also played in all 55 games for them.

Bobby Abreu - batting .298 with the Angels this season. Earlier today he hit a double to record his 2,000th career hit

Aaron Rowand - on the Giants and hitting .305 with 6 home runs and 27 RBI usually out of the leadoff spot. He's still playing Gold Glove caliber defense with a .992 fielding percentage, and I'm sure the walls are padded a little better in San Francisco.

Ryan Franklin - not so successful as a reliever for us in 2006, and seemed to publicly announce every week that he was ready to start whenever we needed him. We were never that desperate. But he is enjoying some success with the Cardinals this season, converting 13 of 14 save opportunities with a 1.29 ERA.

Kevin Millwood - maybe best known for his no-hitter in Philadelphia or else for his complete inability to lay down a sacrifice bunt. He pitched here as far back as 2003 and 2004 and went just 23-18 in those two seasons as our ace. He's a little better with the Rangers this season with a 2.97 ERA, although he has little to show for it with a 5-4 record

Vicente Padilla - also on the Rangers and is just 3-3 with a 5.37 ERA. He was an All-Star for us in 2002, but was best known for his fan group "Padilla's Flotilla"

Marlon Byrd - apparently the Rangers are real into former Phillies, because this is where Byrd has ended up as well. He's another guy I loved for no great reason while he was with the team up until 2004, but he's been very good for Texas. In 3 seasons there, he has hit .307, .298, and .295.

Scott Rolen - left Philly on a bad note, but at the age of 34 is still hitting for the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays have had random surprising success this season, and Rolen's .294 average has contributed to that

Pat Burrell - currently enjoying some time off on the DL with some kind of neck injury, Burrell was hitting just .250 for the Rays before getting hurt. I'm sure his 1 home run and 17 RBI are a bit disappointing to Rays fans, but if Pat Burrell weren't a disappointment, he wouldn't be much. As bad as he sucked over the years compared to his potential, he somehow snuck into the hearts of many Phillies fans during his final year and a half with the team, and we'll never forget his contributions to our World Series run.