But just barely. I'd like to see baseball (and maybe all the major sports) adopt a rule that prevents losing teams from going to the playoffs. Add another wild card when no team in a division is a winner.

BTW, just heard the Phillies (finally) fired Ed Wade.


I just saw the news about Ed Wade. The consensus around MLB is that Wade was horribly over-matched when dealing with other GMs.

The biggest problem the Phillies face is that they signed themselves into a corner with long-term deals for Abreu, Lieberthal, Burrell, etc....all of whom are good but not great. Had it not been for two young overachievers in Utley and Howard, they probably would have been closer to 81 wins.

Unless a new GM (there's a rumor about pulling someone from Houston) can pull some incredibly creative deals and get value in return for dumping players like Thome, Lofton, Bell....they're probably looking at another 2 years of 80-88 wins.

As for adopting a new rule regarding losing teams being ineligible, it's a great thought, but I doubt it'll happen. Plus which, we'd never get to see that juggernaut up in Green Bay win the NFC North with a 6-10 record! I hear their new slogan in Wisconsin is "this year, the NFC North....next year, .500!" <vbg>

Kevin