Every season or so, we are going to take a look at where are 4 teams are at the moment including where they’ve been and where they’re going. Coming up with a name was rough sledding. I landed on Pharmer’s Almanac thinking that it was ole Benny Franklin who started it, but that was Poor Richard’s. I couldn’t come up with anything better though, so here we are…
On July 1, the Phillies had a 2-game lead in the division and we were all dying for some outfield and bullpen help. Well, I’d say those 3 concerns were answered pretty well. At the Trade Deadline, the Phillies went out and got the best reliever in baseball, Jhoan Duran, and a 2-way gift in centerfield, Harrison Bader. The team also signed David Robertson and never called up any of their top prospects because Brandon Marsh, Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, and JT Realmuto all started hitting. While the Phillies were adding to the lifeblood of the team, the Mets deadline ended up being awful. Not only did they go completely in the tank, but they missed the playoffs entirely despite having the best record in baseball in the summer and a $340m payroll. The Phillies won the NL East by an astounding 13 games.
We now await the playoffs with the 2nd best record in the game and the #2 seed in the NL, 1 game back of the Brewers. Trea Turner won the first Phillies batting title in 66 years and Kyle Schwarber did everything else including winning the HR and RBI titles, single handedly winning the All-Star game for the NL, winning the MVP to go with it, hitting 4 HRs in a game, and made a solid run at the Phillies single season HR record with 56.
On the downside, Zack Wheeler was lost for the season with a blood clot from Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. They say he will make a full recovery, but it is certainly scary. Andrew Painter hit a wall in AAA that has some people questioning his status as an elite prospect, but I’m hopeful that it was just the first-season-back-from-Tommy-John blues that affects so many. We have a ton of prospects knocking on the door of the big club for next year.
Over the next 3 months we have the playoffs, then extension talk with Kyle Schwarber, JT Realmuto, and Ranger Suarez, followed by awards season, the winter meetings, and free agency. There’s a lot of baseball ahead.
Remember back in the summer when we were still on a Super Bowl high, the offseason moves all looked genius, and no one would ever doubt Jalen Hurts again? Those halcyon days are over thanks to the Eagles ATROCIOUS 4-0 start to the season winning in the thick heat of Tampa and the hostility of KC while defeating old and new bitter rivals Dallas and the LA Rams. It’s ridiculous that, despite the great wins so far, the fanbase and local shock radio are melting down over AJ Brown being upset he isn’t getting the ball enough and the team doing what they have to do win each week. That’s our reality for some reason.
Jalen is playing the best football of his career and has already led a ferocious comeback against the Rams while not throwing an INT yet on the season. The defense has featured continued breakouts from Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, a new and improved Jordan Davis, and Jihaad Campbell already looks like the Defensive ROY.
The trade deadline is about 5 weeks away right now and the team will probably look for another pass rusher and possibly another CB even though the offense seems to need more help. There has been flux at the offensive line causing the run game to not yet get off the ground. The passing game has been hit or miss with receivers rarely being open. So, yes, we are still the best team in the league AND can be even better.
By the next edition of the Pharmer’s Almanac, the regular season will be mostly over, with only a final game against the Commanders left to be played. So, we’ll know if the offense ever got fixed, if Jalen is in the running for MVP, and where we are in the playoff hunt.
One last thing, I will be at Lambeau Field for our Monday Night game against the Packers on November 10. If anyone out there is going, let me know.
[UPDATE: Grimes signed the QO]
Maybe I should have waited until tomorrow for this because today is the last day the Sixers and Quentin Grimes can sign a contract extension before he needs to put his signature on his Restricted Free Agent Tender. The two sides are far apart in talks, but there is still a lot of daylight left for a deal to get done.
As for the on court stuff, it’s just the Sixers being the Sixers. They are currently practicing in Abu Dhabi (for reasons) but they are doing so without Jared McCain who tore a ligament in his finger. After we were all done wallowing in our tear filled OF COURSEs, it turned out things were not as bad as originally assumed and he will only miss 4-6 weeks. Sigh of relief, kind of.
In more Sixersy Sixers news, Joel Embiid and Paul George have no time table for their return to play. I will say, Embiid actually looks decently spry in videos and has visibly lost a lot of weight. George claimed that last year was rock bottom and all of us just rolled our eyes because he apparently has no idea how deep the pit is.
The biggest news of the NBA only tangentially affects the Sixers, and that is the ongoing Kawhi Leonard saga. The Clippers may have set him up with a not-even-trying-to-fake-it phony endorsement deal to funnel him an extra $30m on top of his max Clippers contract. Things look pretty damning so far. This could cause the Clippers to lose even more draft picks, lose Kawhi, or even get owner Steve Ballmer out of the league. The Sixers happen to control 2 future Clippers draft picks, so anything done to hurt their team is good for us.
By the New Year, the Sixers will have about 1/3 of the season done so we should know if Embiid is still alive and whether the team should be looking to add talent or sell off whatever they can at the trade deadline. Thankfully, basketball will not be tainting our Christmas this year.
The Flyers have begun camp and we are regularly seeing Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov getting extra time together after practice. We need the two of them to get in sync with each other to have any kind of chance at improving this year. There is a lot of young talent on this team, but those two have the chance to be very special together for years.
Last we really looked into the team, there was hope that with cap room for the first time in forever, they might use it. They didn’t. That’s fine. They did sign all of their own free agents to solid deals though.
One player that we are on casual alert with is Porter Martone. The Flyers top draft pick ended up going to college instead of coming to Flyers camp since there was no guarantee he would make the team. This probably isn’t a thing, but the thought of a Cutter Gauthier Part 2 is fresh on everyone’s mind.
Of course, that hasn’t stopped other deals around the NHL from changing the financial landscape for Flyers of the future. Yesterday Kirill Kaprisov signed the largest contract in NHL history. Connor McDavid will blow that out of the water as soon as he wants to. The Flyers do not have anyone they are worried about breaking the bank any time soon, but hopefully Michkov will deserve it down the line.
Philly Front Office 
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