The Philadelphia Phillies have won five consecutive division titles, two National League pennants and one World Series championship during the past five years. But, even rich kids have wishes.

Those who don’t take baseball, themselves or this piece that seriously will understand its message. As for the others, Jacob Marley will be visiting you once again this year.

Here are three wishes that the Phillies are expressing to Santa this Christmas:

Three Christmas wishes: Number 3 – Papelbon’s smooth transition

Stoppers are key to their team’s in-season progress and playoff hopes.

By inking former Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon to a long-term deal, they also bid adieu to Ryan Madson. Curiously, he had just assumed the stopper’s role in 2011 and saved 32 games. Current advice from Scott Boras was likely the element that caused the Phillies to seek a new late-inning mound man.

Papelbon averaged 37 saves per year in his six full seasons as Boston’s closer. The 31-year-old comes to Philadelphia with a 2.33 ERA and a 1.018 WHIP (Walks + Hits per innings pitched), dual marks that inspire strong confidence.

So, the Phillies are wishing that he makes the mental adjustment needed to handle life in the National League.

Three Christmas wishes: Number 2 – That the big three keep on rolling

Last season’s four aces: Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt never reached their overly hyped goals. But that wasn’t because of the efforts that Halladay, Lee and Hamels put forth.

Oswalt’s back issues basically derailed his season and any hopes he had of returning to the team in 2012.

Moving on to the future, the Phillies are wishing that their remaining three aces stay healthy. If so, they are nearly certain to continue to produce historically great numbers.

This franchise, as well as most other franchises, have never had three starting pitchers of this caliber who are in the prime of their careers.

Three Christmas wishes: Number 1 – Playoff potency

Some have raised a red herring about the Phillies 2011 offense.

Their incomplete point is this: The Phillies offense was one of the best in baseball after a certain point, the All-Star break, last season. Really?

Every rational baseball fan knows that the Phillies lineup wasn’t the best when the playoffs arrived and that’s when it needed to be. That legitimate point reveals something else that every baseball fan knows, statistics can be used to make almost any claim.

The Phillies number 1 Christmas wish is that their offense is potent in September and October.

When a team’s lineup warms in September and sizzles in October, playoff series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Miami Marlins, San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks or any other team can generally be won. Then, the Fall Classic can be directly addressed like it was when they beat the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008.

Merry Christmas Santa and all the best to Mrs. Claus and your team in the North Pole.

Sean was born in the Philadelphia region and has written professionally for over two decades. Read his Sports Blog: Insight and follow him on Twitter @ SeanyOB

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Jimmy Rollins just re-upped for three more years with the Philadelphia Phillies. That alone was hardly an Earth-shattering move. But it was one of significance to the Atlanta Braves.

Thanks to their epic September free fall, the Braves finished second to the Phillies in the National League East, which has been widely documented. What has gone largely overlooked is that the Braves finished closer to fourth place (12 games ahead of the New York Mets) than to first (13 behind the Phillies).

The third-place team, the Washington Nationals, should be stronger with Stephen Strasburg coming back from arm surgery and right fielder Jayson Werth possibly coming back from oblivion.

And the fifth-place team, the now-Miami Marlins, served notice that they don’t intend to remain at the bottom. The Marlins’ makeover, to coincide with their plush new ballpark, began with acquiring manager Ozzie Guillen from the Chicago White Sox. That move alone means nothing without players. But the significance was that Guillen knew the Marlins were committed to spending money to win. Sure enough, the Marlins signed shortstop Jose Reyes, starting pitcher Mark Buehrle and closer Heath Bell. Suddenly, a team that was just 10 wins short of a winning season has to be considered a threat to at least contend for the NL wildcard.

The Mets, despite losing Reyes, figure to be stronger after overhauling their bullpen. Then there’s the aforementioned Phillies. As if winning 102 games and running away with their fifth consecutive division title weren’t enough, the Phillies signed one of the game’s dominant closers in Jonathan Papelbon. Oh, and they won 102 games with Roy Oswalt, their No. 4 starting pitcher (that’s another story) spending a chunk of the season on the disabled list and second baseman Chase Utley playing hurt.

And the Braves?

To date, their big offseason acquisition has been the signing of Robert Fish, a hard-throwing lefty. Maybe Fish will turn out to be another Eric O’Flaherty. Or maybe he’ll be a left-handed Chris Reitsma. Even if he’s Jonny Venters, Fish likely won’t have a great impact on the Braves’ bullpen because, well, because O’Flaherty and Venters will get most of the work.

The Braves entered the offseason with two glaring needs: another strong right-handed bat for the outfield and more offense at shortstop.

Unless they make a move, the Braves will address those needs with a retread (Matt Diaz) in left field and a rookie (Tyler Pastornicky) at shortstop.

Maybe they’re not done shopping. Maybe Frank Wren, the Braves general manager, is merely bluffing when he says this team, as constituted, can overtake the Phillies.

The Braves don’t have the deep pockets to compete with other big spenders. But they do have an asset — actually, a collection of assets — that even the richest teams in baseball covet. They have a treasure trove of pitchers. Young pitchers. Young dominant pitchers who could become All-Stars for a decade.

Randall Delgado. Julio Teheran. Arodyz Vizcaino. Mike Minor. All projected to be top-of-the-rotation starters. This is in addition to Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson, Brandon Beachy and Kris Medlen, all established big-league starters. Medlen is the old man of the bunch. He just turned 26. That doesn’t include former Glenwood, CVCC and Auburn star Tim Hudson, who’s still going strong at 36.

The bullpen, as noted, is equally loaded. O’Flaherty, Venters and Craig Kimbrel are baseball’s best bullpen trio. Cristhian Martinez and Anthony Varvaro would be stars on most other teams.

One of baseball’s truisms is that you never can have too much pitching. An arm can go out on one pitch.

But it’s also true that you have to score runs to win, and the Braves’ lineup has too many holes to keep pace with the Phillies.

It’s time for Wren to dig into that treasure trove of pitching and deal for a legitimate right-handed bat in left field. If not, this time next year, they might be looking up at more teams than the Phillies.

– Guerry Clegg is an independent correspondent. You can write to him at sports@ledger-enquirer.com

General manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. continued to add pieces to his Philadelphia Phillies roster when he signed veteran pitcher Dontrelle Willis to a one-year contract.

The move allows the team to add a left arm that was very effective against left-handed bats last season.

From the beginning

Willis was originally selected by the Chicago Cubs in the eighth round of the 2000 amateur draft. He never pitched in the big leagues for Chicago and was later traded to the Florida (now Miami) Marlins in a multi-player transaction in 2002.

He posted the highest winning percentage of his career (.700) in 2003 when he went 14-6 for a Marlins team that defeated the New York Yankees in that season’s World Series. His efforts earned him an All-Star berth and the National League Rookie of the Year award honors. At 21, it seemed as though the Oakland, Calif. native was at the beginning of a brilliant career.

Willis’ next season actually foreshadowed others that were yet to come, as he went 10-11 with a 4.02 ERA. Then, he bounced back to produce the best year of his career in 2005. He went 22-10, made the All-Star team and finished runner-up in the Cy Young Award voting. That was his last great performance to-date.

More recently

The ‘D-train’ had a decent year in 2006, going 12-12, but followed that with a rough 2007 campaign. His 10-15 record, 5.17 ERA and a salary that was scheduled to escalate over $10 million in future years facilitated a trade to the Detroit Tigers after the season.

The Tiger years lasted through 2010 and resulted in a 2-8 record and a 6.86 ERA. Injury issues, an inability to regain mound focus and a WHIP (walks + hits per innings pitched) that amazingly ballooned over 2.000 appeared to put Willis firmly into the category of a has-been.

But, when you’re a left-handed pitcher who hasn’t yet turned 30, there’s always hope.

What about now?

After spending some time in the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants organizations, Willis signed a 2011 free agent contract with the Cincinnati Reds. This past season he started 13 games, went 1-6, had a 5.00 ERA and a 1.520 WHIP.

While his overall numbers weren’t great, he did have success against left-handed batters. Considering that Antonio Bastardo is the team’s only current left-handed reliever with more than a few games of major league bullpen experience, the Phillies are likely to give Willis the chance to serve as a lefty specialist.

Pitching coach Rich Dubee has helped many men play to their strengths during his time with the team. That type of positive influence should put Willis in position to make further progress in 2012.

After earning a Communications degree from Penn State in 1990, Sean started his career in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons front office. At that time they were the Philadelphia Phillies Triple-A farm team. He has written professionally for over two decades. Read his Sports Blog: Insight and follow him on Twitter @ SeanyOB

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The Philadelphia Phillies have many Thanksgiving blessings to count.

Despite the fact that they dropped the National League Division Series to the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, the team still has a number of strong attributes.

Let’s look at three of them:

Thanksgiving blessing #3: The closer

Without Brad Lidge(notes) performing as he did in 2008, it’s difficult to imagine how the Phillies would have made the playoffs, let alone win their second-ever World Series championship. It’s purely wishful thinking to assume that any other reliever would have done what he did during that particular season.

Don’t forget, ‘Lights Out’ had previously experienced some disastrous seasonal endings before the Houston Astros traded him to Philadelphia.

Why the emphasis on Lidge, now that Jonathan Papelbon(notes) is here?

Papelbon was a critical part of the Boston Red Sox 2007 championship season. Like many closers, he floundered at times after that.

But, he remains a sharp, 31-year-old stopper who is in the prime of his career.

No, that fact doesn’t guarantee the future. But, his presence offers reasonable hope that the back end of the bullpen can be secured.

Thanksgiving blessing #2: Starting pitching

People can accurately claim that general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. has gone all-in by acquiring a bounty of starting pitching during the past few years.

In so doing, he wasn’t just aiming for a one-time shot at a title during each season. Instead, he was creating a rotation that offered multiple chances at championships.

Everyone knows that you have to get to the dance in order to be able to capture the trophy. With Roy Halladay(notes) and Cliff Lee(notes) in place, the Phillies will remain a legitimate contender.

Securing Cole Hamels(notes) past the end of his contract in 2012, will only bolster this team strength.

Thanksgiving blessing #1: Ownership

Yes, we know that the Phillies need to continue to focus on upgrading their offense.

But, a consideration like that is light years away from how this franchise used to operate.

In the recent past, the Phillies often found themselves in need of offense, pitching and defense.

This ownership group created one of the best ballparks in baseball. Then, it took its profits and funded a payroll that transformed the franchise into the New York Yankees of the National League.

After earning a Communications degree from Penn State in 1990, Sean started his career in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons front office. At that time they were the Philadelphia Phillies Triple-A farm team. He has written professionally for over two decades. Read his Sports Blog: Insight and follow him on Twitter @ SeanyOB

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Philadelphia Phillies fans like myself don’t have as much reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving as we did a month ago. Thanks to the NLDS, we have new reasons to be upset towards the likes of Ryan Howard(notes), Cliff Lee(notes) and Charlie Manuel after worshiping them for years.

However, there are a few Phillies we can still feel thankful to have around even during this offseason.

Roy Halladay(notes)

If the Phillies had just gotten one run for Halladay in Game 5 against the St. Louis Cardinals, his legend would have grown even more in Philadelphia—if that is possible. As it stands, Halladay remains the ace of aces in the National League after two years here, and may be the primary reason why the Phillies still have an open window for another title.

Cole Hamels(notes)

Hamels is a throwback to the old days when the Phillies could win a World Series and when the team only had one ace. Now that his problematic 2009 season seems to be fully behind him, Hamels has become as reliable as ever—which he showed when he gutted out six shut-out innings in Game 3 at St. Louis. Right now, he is one of the few veteran Phillies who isn’t a question mark; perhaps because he is one of the younger veterans.

Jimmy Rollins(notes)

If Rollins remains with the Phillies heading into 2012, it will give fans all the more reason to be thankful. While we can debate whether he has enough left in the tank to earn a five-year deal—especially with all the other improvements the Phillies need to make—few will argue that he doesn’t deserve to end his career in Philadelphia.

We may be clinging to the old days when Rollins was an MVP and the Phillies were still pennant winners. Yet if he and the team can agree on one more deal, it will make fans appreciate him all the more because he will be a Phillie for life, after all.

Carlos Ruiz(notes)

Ruiz was one of the many Phillies who had nothing to offer on offense in the NLDS. But we had no choice but to put up with it because of the catcher’s invaluable service behind the plate. Considering the work Ruiz has done with Halladay, Hamels and Lee over the years—including a no-hitter and playoff perfect game with Halladay—it is worth a few offensive slumps.

Hunter Pence(notes)

Until October, Pence looked like the missing piece of the puzzle for the Phillies offense. However, since he made such an impression on Philadelphia before the postseason, the right fielder is one of the few players that can be safely let off the hook. The hope is that Pence will stay on our good side during his first full year in a Phillies uniform next season.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The Philadelphia Phillies declined
to pick up contract options on Roy Oswalt and Brad Lidge, making
the 34-year-old pitchers unrestricted free agents.

“We will remain in contact with representatives for both
players about the possibility of bringing them back for the 2012
season,” Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said in an e-
mailed news release.

Oswalt started 23 games this season, going 9-10 with a 3.69
earned run average. He joined the Phillies at the 2010 trade
deadline, going 16-11 with a 2.96 ERA since then.

Oswalt pitched this season on a staff that included past Cy
Young Award winners Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, All-Star Cole Hamels and Vance Worley, who went 11-3. All four are under
contract next season.

Lidge, who struck out the Tampa Bay Rays’ Eric Hinske to
secure the Phillies’ World Series title in 2008, made 25 relief
appearances this season, going 0-2 with one save and a 1.40 ERA.
The former full-time closer had 48 saves in as many attempts in
2008, including the postseason, and in four seasons in
Philadelphia had 100 saves and a 3.73 ERA. He also went 12-
for-12 in save opportunities during the playoffs.

The Phillies led Major League Baseball with a 102-60 record
this season, falling in five games in the National League
Division Series to the St. Louis Cardinals.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Mason Levinson in New York at
mlevinson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net.