The Skinny:
The Phillies come into 2010 as the hands down favorite to win not just the East, but the NL pennant.   In the offseason General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. pulled off the coup he wanted at the trading deadline last year, snaring Roy Halladay, arguably the game's best pitcher, from the Toronto Blue Jays.   He did it without it costing him the farm, and even though it meant he had to let Cliff Lee walk away, he made the team even better in the process.

2009 Regular Season Record: 93-69
Rank: Winner of the NL East, National League Champions, lost in WS to NY Yankees
Home Park: Citizens Bank Park.

Feeling that Brotherly Love:

The Phillies essentially swapped Cliff Lee for Roy Halladay.

Photo by Keith Allison, used under creative commons license.

Crossing the Delaware:
C - Paul Bako (Free Agent, unsigned)
3B - Pedro Feliz (Free Agent signed with Astros)
IF - Eric Bruntlett* (Free Agent signed with Nationals)
IF - Miguel Cairo* (Free Agent signed with Reds)
OF - Matt Stairs* (Free Agent, signed with Padres)
LHP - Cliff Lee (Traded to Mariners)
LHP - Scott Eyre (Retired)
RHP - Brett Myers (Free Agent signed with Astros)
RHP - Tyler Walker (Released, singed with Nationals)
RHP - Clay Condrey (Non Tenderered, signed with Twins)
RHP - Pedro Martinez (Free Agent, unsigned)
RHP - Chan Ho Park (Free Agent, signed with Yankees)

*Signed minor league contract.

The signing of Placido Polanco to replace Pedro Feliz at third should provide some offensive dividends and possibly make the Phillies offense even mightier as the season goes along.  That's because Polanco is a natural tablesetter, while for Shane Victorino it was a bit of a stretch.  While their numbers are comparable, Polanco tends to strike out less, and Victorino is much more suited to providing protection to the latter part of the lineup.

On the pitching front, the good news for Phillies fans is that the pitching should be better, probably much better this season.  The main reason is that new ace Roy Halladay has been a workhorse and remains one of the most consistent pitchers in the game.  He'll eat up the National League with no DH and lineups filled with defensive players his numbers everywhere should just swell.  That will take a lot of pressure off Cole Hamels, who'll just have to be good, not great, to do his part in terms of pitching.   This doesn't mean that pitching isn't a concern, but it's a lot less of one with Halladay aboard.

Weaknesses: Pitching, Age.
Weakness in this case is a relative term.  The Phillies pitching looks to be solid if not overwhelmingly good.  It may not even be the best rotation in the East, but their offense usually makes up for a lot.  Still if the Phillies have an Achilles heel going into the season, aside from age, pitching has to be where you'd look.

For the 2009 Phillies the weakest link was the pitching, especially their established starting pitching.  Ace Cole Hamels failed to pitch like one, putting up a 4.32 ERA, Brett Myers, when he wasn't injured, wasn't any better (4.84).  Veteran Jamie Moyer came close to having an ERA of 5 (4.94).  Luckily the Phillies had unknowns like J.A. Happ 12-4, 2.93, and veteran Joe Blanton 12-8, 4.05 to hold down the opposition until the Phillies managed to land Lee to help carry them into the playoffs.

Joe Blanton will continue to be a model of consistency, eating innings and throwing a brilliant game now and again, but J.A. Happ was a statistical fluke. Expecting him to be that good again isn't realistic, but how good he can be at this stage of his career isn't a sure thing.  He'll definitely have some ups and downs.  The last spot in the Phillies rotation is totally up for grabs and while all of the contenders are proven, it's hard to know if Kyle Kendrick can really handle the job, or if Jose Contreras or Jamie Moyer really has a lot in the tank.

The scariest man in baseball last season was probably Brad Lidge, especially if you were a Phillies fan.  While Lidge did manage to save 31 games last year, he posted an ERA of 7.21 with 11 blown saves and opposing hitters hit .301 against him.  Lidge's problems may have been injury related and he's had two surgeries since and is supposedly healthy.  That means that once again he'll come into the season as the Phillies closer, and he'll be a cause for concern -- but probably not as much as he was last year.

In the offseason the Phillies added some insurance, bringing former closer Danys Baez aboard.  While Baez, probably wouldn't be the first choice for backup closer (that would probably be Ryan Madson), he'll add some depth to the staff and could step into that role or the setup role if Lidge bombs once again.  That depth might mean that Lidge is on a much shorter leash this summer.

Age, that universal problem, could cause some problems for the Phillies in 2010 as well.  While no one critical aside from Raul Ibanez (37) is really old in terms of baseball years, the Phillies have a lot key players who are on the wrong side of 30 and could be bigger injury risks -- that includes Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley (both 31), Placido Polanco (34), Roy Halladay (32), Jamie Moyer (47), Jose Contreras (38) Brad Lidge (33) and both catchers Carlos Ruiz (31) and Brian Schneider (33).

Potential Lineup
SS - Jimmy Rollins
3B - Placido Polanco
2B - Chase Utley
1B - Ryan Howard
RF - Jayson Werth
LF - Raul Ibanez
CF - Shane Victorino
C - Carlos Ruiz

Rotation
Roy Halladay
Cole Hamels
Joe Blanton
J.A. Happ
Kyle Kendrick/Jamie Moyer/Jose Contreras

Closer
Brad Lidge

One question that need answering:
Does the Phillies offense have to carry the pitching as much as it did in 2009? Or is the pitching strong enough that it won't need to be carried as often?  If that's the case the Phillies could run away with this division without much of a contest.

Prediction:
The Phillies are the class of the East and should win it hands down.  All that's really left to figure out is how much they'll win it by.  While the team is hardly invulnerable, the depth of the offense is tremendous and can make up for a multitude of sins, or injuries as the case might be.  That being said, I think the Phillies benefited from a lot of great performances last season that simply won't be repeated.   That means their win total could go down as much as it could go up.  Somewhere between 90-95 wins is where I'd expect to see them.

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