The Philadelphia Phillies boast an impressive starting rotation to be certain, but now they are examining their options for shoring up their closer’s role.The Phillies have been contract talks with Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon as well as current club member Ryan Madson, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com.Papelbon, who earned $12 million this past season, posted a 4-1 mark with 31 saves and a 2.94 ERA in 2011. Papelbon will turn 31 on Nov. 23.The 31-year-old Madson, who is reportedly seeking a three-year deal from the Phillies, converted 32 of 34 save opportunities this season. He posted a 4-2 mark with a 2.37 ERA in 2011.Madson’s value to the Phillies was increased when the team declined the 2012 option on oft-injured Brad Lidge.

The Philadelphia Phillies will continue making changes during this offseason. There are some positions among the starting eight slots that could be affected.

But, what is the one key change that the team needs to make in order to truly become a championship caliber team again?

First, Thome

This is not a piece about one specific ballplayer’s name, or a certain position on the field. It is about a philosophical change that must be made.

The Phillies recently signed former Cleveland Indians’ player Jim Thome(notes) as a free agent.

At one time, in the pre-Citizens Bank Park days, this player signed a big money deal with the team. His December 6, 2002 acquisition opened a new direction for the team and eventually led to their 2008 World Series championship.

Thome is a great team player and a future Hall of Famer.

He might also be a decent pinch hitter if he is somehow able to get enough at bats to stay sharp throughout the season.

But, Thome’s return to Philadelphia does not address the type of need that the Phillies must make.

We know that his addition is only the first step, among many, that will happen before the season begins next spring.

Contact hitter

Placido Polanco(notes) has been a very disciplined hitter during most of his career. He has also been one of the most underrated hitters in the game.

His career consistency has allowed runners to be moved and runs to be scored.

Injuries might limit Polanco’s ability to perform next season. Then again, they might not. But, the Phillies will still need to have more than just one, or two, disciplined bats in its lineup.

And this is the area that the Phillies must address if they hope to have any realistic chance of making playoff progress next fall.

Contact hitters, not undisciplined hitters, create runs. They also don’t generally go into prolonged slumps.

A new road

General manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. called on his team and his manager to take a new approach at the plate next season.

The key change that they must make is to first obtain a number of players who model Polanco’s approach at the plate. It would not be realistic to believe that this current group is capable of becoming something other than what they already are.

Whether that change is imposed at shortstop, in left field or at other positions is yet to be determined.

One fact is certain, if the Phillies don’t change the way that they approach the offensive part of their game, they won’t win in the playoffs.

Timely hitting is the other element that helps to win those pressured playoff contests. Pitching and defense are only two-thirds of the pie.

That would be the pie that the San Francisco Giants ate last year and the one the St. Louis Cardinals are eating right now.

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. Read his Sports Blog: Insight and followhim on Twitter @ SeanyOB

More from Sean O’Brien and the Yahoo Contributor Network:

When Baseball Cards were King

Phillies’ acquisition of Thome sets offseason tone

Charlie Manuel makes Phillies history

Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins and the case against re-signing him

Why the Phillies should not let Ryan Madson leave town

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PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Jim Thome(notes) and the Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to a
$1.25 million, one-year contract.

The 41-year-old Thome hit .256 with 15 home runs and 50 RBI in a combined 93
games with the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians last season. He batted .350
with runners in scoring position and .424 over his final 11 games of the season.

Thome played from Philadelphia from 2003-05 and has remained close with
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, his hitting coach for several years in
Cleveland.

Thome hit .260 with 96 home runs and 266 RBIs in his first stint with the
Phillies.

Thome has a .277 career average with 604 homers and 1,674 RBIs. He is one of
just eight players to hit more than 600 homers.

The Philadelphia Phillies are used to getting postseason accolades in the past few years. The 2011 season will be no different. In addition to the major awards that Phillies players might get, the team can also boast two players that are up for Players Choice Awards. As a Phillies fan, I am happy to see that Roy Halladay(notes) and Vance Worley(notes) are getting the recognition they deserve from their peers.

Halladay is up for the Outstanding Pitcher award. This award was voted on by Major League Baseball players prior to the end of the regular season. Halladay is nominated along with Clayton Kershaw(notes) and Ian Kennedy(notes). Halladay had another impressive season with a 19-6 record and a 2.32 ERA. He won the Cy Young award in 2010 and is among the favorites to win the award again. Meanwhile, Worley was one of the biggest surprises of the season. He is nominated for Outstanding Rookie along with a couple of Atlanta Braves players in Freddie Freeman(notes) and Craig Krimbel. Worley had an impressive 11-3 record and an ERA of 3.01 while filling in for both Roy Oswalt(notes) and Joe Blanton(notes). Worley wound up becoming the fourth ace the Phillies thought they would have had in Oswalt all season. He was one of the most consistent starters in all of baseball.

The Players Choice awards have been around since 1992 and the winners are able to donate grants to charities of their choice. While they aren’t as glamorous as major awards like the Cy Young or MVP awards, they are still special. There isn’t any baseball player around that doesn’t want to be recognized as one of the best by their fellow players. The Phillies finished the season with 102 wins. Despite their postseason failure, they were one of the best teams in baseball. It should come as no surprise that players like Halladay and Worley have earned this recognition. Hopefully, at least one will win the award. The awards will be given out on November 3 with a special that airs on the MLB Network.

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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.

On Friday night, the Philadelphia Phillies were eliminated from the playoffs by the St. Louis Cardinals, as Chris Carpenter outdueled Roy Halladay in a 1-0 classic. In the eyes of the Phillies and their fans, the season has to be a disappointment — a franchise record 102 wins and a first round exit. Expectations were set high coming into the season, thanks in large part to Cliff Lee deciding to spurn the Rangers, as well as the Yankees, to sign with the Phillies.

Lee, who is an Arkansas native, decided to leave Texas and return to the team who traded him to Seattle. It wasn’t about the money supposedly to Lee, who left millions of dollars on the table to sign with the Phillies instead of the Yankees. Part of Lee’s rationale was that there simply weren’t many cons to signing with the Phillies:

“I don’t know, just the team, the atmosphere, the environment, the fans, the city. I mean, there’s a lot of things,” Lee explained. “My family enjoyed it here. The pitching staff. There’s a lot of pros and not many cons when you start weighing things out.”    

Much like Mike Hampton chose to sign with Colorado Rockies in 2000 because of their school system, Lee let non-baseball factors decide where he signed with in 2010. Which is fine. Lee is entitled to sign wherever he wants, and personally, I always thought the Rangers should let him walk. 

But I wonder how much Lee is going to like Philadelphia and the atmosphere if the Phillies continue to disappoint. It’s not like their fans are the kindest in the world. They did boo Ryan Howard last night, right as he ruptured his Achilles tendon trying to leg out a grounder to extend Philadelphia’s season. 

Phillies fans shouldn’t be looking for any particular scapegoat. The whole team lost the LDS, plain and simple. Lots of blame is going to be placed on Howard, who did seemingly nothing after his first five at bats. Lee, though, is deserving of blame. Staked to a 3-0 lead in Game 2, with his counterpart Carpenter removed after three innings, Lee couldn’t hold onto the lead and was hung with the loss. If Lee held onto the lead, the Phillies sweep the Cardinals. 

Maybe the fans will always be supportive of Lee, but the environment will continue to sour unless the Phillies deliver championships. 

Either way, it’s quite satisfying to see another dream team out. The Rangers, who lost out on Lee, are still playing baseball in October while the dream rotation watches it on television.