Phillies Entering Free Agency Knowing They Have Championship Pieces
Watching the Texas Rangers hoist the World Series trophy had to be excruciating for the passionate Philadelphia Phillies fans.
Imagine how the Phillies players felt?
They had to be going through all the things that went wrong in Games 6 and 7 against the runner-up Arizona Diamondbacks.
It’s natural to wonder what would have transpired if Philadelphia had advanced to the World Series. Even though the Rangers went undefeated on the road in the postseason, they’re not the 1927 New York Yankees.
They were beatable.
These are all normal emotions.
The bitter reality is this: the Phillies weren’t good enough in the end. A few bad games in the National League Championship Series were costly.
Major League Baseball teams can look incredibly great on one night and terrible on other nights.
Philadelphia has leaders in the clubhouse and that bodes well for the future. Another World Series is more than feasible with Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber leading the way. They’re built for this city. They won’t get down and stay down.
While the Phillies will certainly tweak their roster before the 2024 season, the core players will be here.
Yet nothing is guaranteed.
It can be argued that the ’09 and ’11 Phillies were better than the ’08 group that celebrated a championship.
That’s the point.
Teams have to execute throughout the postseason. There can’t be a lull or a bad stretch. And that’s what happened to this team.
It had to be difficult seeing the Rangers celebrate, but the Delaware Valley can take solace in this: it’s very possible that Philadelphia will be the ones popping champagne in ’24.
The pieces are here.
