Who We Lost

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With just 20 days until Opening Day, it's time to step my game back up and start getting y'all* prepared for the upcoming season. While watching that first series in Pittsburgh, or our home opener against the Marlins, or, depending on your fandom, our first playoff series, there is one inevitable question that all of you will ask: "Wait, what happened to (insert player name here)?"

Despite the fact that I just claimed that question was inevitable, I plan on making it suuuper evitable with this post (Is there a reason that "evitable" isn't a word? If "inevitable" is, then what is it the opposite of? English. Puh). I'm going to go through all of the significant players that the Phillies lost and tell you exactly what that means for us. I won't go too far, though, because in my next post I'll be telling you who is taking their place (if anyone).

As I do this, I won't be addressing the injuries. That may be where the inevitability of your questions will come from. But I will quickly tell you now that Ryan Howard is out for the foreseeable future, and Utley is not going to be around on Opening Day most likely. The next time you see those guys, though, they will still be wearing Phillies uniforms. These guys, however, will not be:

Ben Francisco - I said I would be addressing significant players, but I guess I can make an exception for Joe Camel. He is now on the Toronto Blue Jays, and will no longer be wasting everyone's time randomly playing left field against left-handed pitchers when John Mayberry should be. He was never a bad replacement defensively, but he was nothing to write home about. He had a few clutch hits in his tenure with the Phillies, but to most of us he is just some random dude thrown in the 2009 Cliff Lee trade who looks like a camel.

Ross Gload - Gload was our best left-handed bat off the bench last season, but, as of right now, he will serve that role for no one in 2012. He is currently listed as a free agent, and he's one that I think we could use to start the season at least. Right now it looks like we will be platooning a few different guys at first and in left, both positions that Tobacco Gload could play. Sure, there are probably better options, but I was always kind of a fan of the humongous wad of chew in his cheek.

Raul Ibanez - I'm going to go through all of the significant players that the Phillies lost

Brad Lidge - I am not totally sure what we are losing in losing Lidge to the Washington Nationals. While we will always remember 2008, we can also forget about 2008 when analyzing what Lidge would have done for us. "Lights Out" more often referred to his availability due to injury rather than his ability to shut down opponents. While he was always able to show flashes of greatness, he failed to do anything as well as he did it in '08, which led to the question "Is Lidge back?" wayyy too often. He is someone who can be easily replaced as a solid back-end-of-the-bullpen guy, and we won't have to worry about that baggage with someone else. Probably a good thing for the Phils and for Lidge.

Ryan Madson - Madson is our biggest, most obvious loss of the offseason. He has been nothing short of fantastic for us over the past few years, and it will be extra painful watching him close out games for the Reds this season if (spoiler alert) Jonathan Papelbon slips up at all for us. Madson was always consistent, and consistency in a closer is not exactly easy to find. He used his time in Philadelphia to prove that he was one of the best relief pitchers in baseball, and it is a shame to not see him get rewarded for that in Philadelphia.

Pete Orr - here is someone who only becomes a significant loss because of Baseball's potential for missed time. You know what? Screw that. I was going to say real things about him, but he wasn't even in the majors for half of last year, and he'd only be used as a replacement when Michael Martinez or (ready for it?) Freddy Galvis wasn't playing for Utley. Sorry about this**

Roy Oswalt - this loss might be the biggest wild card of them all. Oswalt is still without a team, and it is probably because no one really knows what they will get out of him. We sure didn't get much last season because it was riddled with injuries. Some games were good, some were bad. He's old, he has back problems, and there were rumors of his retirement. When we have Vance Worley as our 4th starter, do we really need to take a chance on Oswalt? On the other hand, would it hurt to do so? If a series of tornadoes hit the Philadelphia area, should we sign him and his bulldozer so he can clean it up? Here is an answer to at least one of the previous three questions: Yes. Now you be the judge.

Wilson Valdez - Other than Madson, I would say that this is our biggest loss, with Valdez also going to Cincinnati. He does more of the little things that can easily go unnoticed, but he did them a lot for us. Who can forget him picking up a win off the mound last season in the 19th inning of a game against the Reds? It was that kind of contribution that was so common from Valdez. He could fill in for almost anyone, and we will especially miss him to start the season as we are putting together some makeshift infields in the absence of Utley and Howard. Was it a total mistake to trade him to the Reds? I think so, and I have a feeling that we may be feeling eerily similar to Chuck Noland as we drown in an ocean of utility infielders.

That's it for the people that we've lost over the past few months. I know this is a sensitive time for you as you are mourning those that are no longer with us, so I will take at least a few days off before I give you too much information on our 2012 newcomers. See you soon!

*If you're unfamiliar with my terminology here, keep an eye out for the updated High Hopes Glossary that will be coming out sometime before the season begins.

**Is it totally awkward and annoying to you that I just regretted and apologized for typing something when clearly I could have just deleted it? It kind of annoyed me too, but sometimes there might be value in the thought process. I don't know, just give me this one.