State of the City Address

Today we celebrate the 232nd birthday of this great nation of ours, and as the City of Brotherly Love was where it all began, it only seems appropriate to deliver an address on the State of Philadelphia Sports.

Phillies

After winning months in April (15-13) and May (17-12), the Fightin’ Phils swooned a little in June (12-14). Fortunately, the Florida Marlins couldn’t capitalize, going 12-16 over the same span. Undefeated through three games in July, the Phillies sit atop the NL East on Independence Day.

Contributing to a sub-.500 June were the struggles of second baseman Chase Utley, pitcher Brett Myers, and a horrendous stretch of Interleague play. The good news is that the Phillies won’t play in an American League park until October, God willing. Perhaps the better news is that Utley appears to have righted the ship and regained his All-Star form.

The same can’t be said of Myers, who was optioned to triple-A this week and will be replaced in the rotation, at least for the time being, by lefty J.A. Happ, who gets the ball tonight against the Mets.

The National League All-Star team should have some serious Philly representation, with Utley, Cole Hamels, and Brad Lidge almost guaranteed to make the team. Based on the statistics, Pat Burrell should be there, too. Burrell leads NL outfielders in home runs, slugging percentage, walks, and OPS. He’ll likely have to be added by manager Clint Hurdle, since (as I’ve ranted about previously), fan voting has a guy like Chiacago’s Kosuke Fukudome ahead of Burrell despite Burrell’s superior numbers.

Flyers

Since bowing out of the Eastern Conference finals, the Flyers have retooled via trades, the draft, and free agency.

They began the off-season with Sami Kapanen retiring to play professionally in his native Finland. At the draft they traded playoff hero R.J. Umberger to Columbus to move up in the first round and selected Swiss-born defenseman Luca Sbisa. They traded out of their spot in the first round, acquiring defenseman Steve Eminger from Washington.

Unlike last year’s foray into free agency, which was talent-driven and financially possible, the Flyers dipped quietly into this year’s free agent pool, avoiding the big names like Marian Hossa and Brian Campbell and the subsequent large price tags they carry. Instead they focused on their own free agents, re-signing Eminger, Randy Jones, Riley Cote and most importantly Jeff Carter. They also added center Glen Metropolit from Boston and defenseman Ossi Vaananen, who was playing in Sweden last year after previously playing in the NHL. Vinnie Prospal returned to Tampa Bay, and captain Jason Smith may be heading for New Jersey.

There are still moves to be made, however. For starters, the status of Derian Hatcher has yet to be determined. If he returns, the Flyers may need to make a move to clear salary cap space. It had also been rumored that Tampa Bay was dangling defenseman Dan Boyle for Jones and Mike Knuble, but the Lightning sent Boyle to Los Angeles today.

All in all, the off-season for the Flyers has gone exactly as expected. They’ve revamped the defense and improved as a team, all with the young nucleus of talent remaining largely in tact.

Sixers

Unlike the Flyers, the Sixers entered their off-season with significant cap space. They tendered offers to restricted free agents Andre Iguodala and Louis Williams. Whether or not they return remains to be seen.

The Sixers still have a glaring need at the power forward position. With that in mind, they drafted Maurice Speights, a 6’10”, 250 lb. big man from the University of Florida whom GM Ed Stefanski calls “the best running big man in the draft.” Scouts have said they don’t expect immediate contributions from Speights, meaning the Sixers need someone to play alongside Sam Dalembert in the short-term.

As luck would have it, there are some big name power forwards available, including Atlanta’s Josh Smith (who has already been in for a visit) and Elton Brand from the Clippers, though he seems destined to remain on the west coast.

Here’s another option: Rasheed Wallace.

The Pistons have indicated that they would part with Wallace, and what better landing place for the Philly native? He’s familiar with Maurice Cheeks, who he played for in Portland. And, given his age and experience could be the perfect short-term bridge between Speights and the starting line-up.

Eagles

Training camp doesn’t open for a couple of weeks, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing happening with the Birds. At the forefront, there are questions about the health of quarterback Donovan McNabb, who was diagnosed with tendonitis in his throwing shoulder. For what it’s worth, he received the same diagnosis prior to camp in 2004 and had his best season ever. Of course, he had that wide receiver who shall remain nameless catching passes.

On that topic, it’s not likely that the Eagles will add a receiver between now and the start of camp, nor do I expect anyone of worth to come available for this season. Best guess is you’re looking at Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown outside with rookie DeSean Jackson in the slot in addition to returning kicks and punts.

There’s also been little or no movement on the Lito Sheppard front, meaning if Lito reports to Lehigh, the cornerback position will be loaded with Sheppard, Sheldon Brown, and Asante Samuel, who was the target of a few shots from former teammate Wes Welker. Welker said Samuel opting to sign with the Eagles represented him choosing money over winning a Super Bowl. Welker obviously didn’t do his homework, as Samuel already has two rings. As if we needed another reason to be annoyed by Boston and their sports teams….