Pat the Bat

For years, Pat Burrell of the Philadelphia Phillies has been a target of the fans anger towards the Phillies. A talented player from Miami, he was MVP of the 1996 College World Series. He also won the Golden Spikes Award in 1998. Burrell was then drafted number 1 overall by the Phillies.

Burrell originally was a 1st baseman. He moved to LF later in the season and finished 4th in Rookie of the Year voting. He had a breakout year the following year with 37 HR's. Buth then he went into a 3 year slump of inconsistency.

To his credit, in recent seasons, Burrell has shown an increasing ability to draw walks; however, his patience at bat also has resulted in his striking out frequently, including leading the Major Leagues in number of called third strikes. He has worked on this issue over the offseason.

As of right now, in his contract year with the Phillies he is batting .303 with 9 HR, 30 RBI, 21 hits but a staggering 29 strikeouts. His On Base % is .440. Great numbers to begin the season. Next to Chase Utley, Burrell has been the strength of the Phillies offense this year.

Prior to 2008 spring training workouts, t-shirts were made displaying a shirtless, bicep-curling Burrell with "Man or Machine?" printed on them. The media speculated that Chase Utley, the Phillies 2nd baseman, was responsible for the shirts although no one actually claimed responsibility.

New Flyers Help Turn Team Around

Winning the Eastern Conference finals would be icing on the cake for the Flyers.

Actually, it would mean another cake.

The Flyers savored a cake on Wednesday, the dessert becoming their tasty good luck tradition before the first game of each playoff series. Coach John Stevens cooked up the idea as a motivational tool in the minor leagues and now he uses it on the Flyers, who - sweet tooth or toothless - want to eat cake and have their Stanley Cup, too.

"It kind of symbolizes that all the ingredients by themselves aren't appealing, but when you mix them together and apply some fire, you come up with a better product," Stevens said.

A better product was all the Flyers wanted this year coming off a season when they were simply the worst team around.

The worst team in the NHL. The worst team in franchise history. The worst team in Philadelphia sports.

"There were times last year when it was hard to come to the ice," forward Mike Knuble said.

And this season?

"I'm having the time of my life right now," center Mike Richards said.

The Flyers' turnaround from the bottom of the league to playing in the East finals against Pittsburgh is one of the more stunning one-year transformations in NHL history. The Flyers are the first team to reach the conference finals a year after posting the worst record since the Red Wings in 1987. They vaulted from 22 wins and 56 points in 2006-07 to 42 wins and 95 points by shuffling the roster.

Danny Briere bolted Buffalo to sign an eight-year contract with the Flyers. Kimmo Timonen, Scott Hartnell, Joffrey Lupul and Jason Smith were all acquired in trades. Going back to last year's trade deadline, Martin Biron, Braydon Coburn and Scottie Upshall all came in deals that showed Philly's stop at the bottom would be a short one.

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Lito, Sheldon, Asante...OH MY

Three young corners. All in or near their prime. All three possess great skills. All three play on the same team. Only two can start. Yet the other will get playing time. What a situation for the Eagles to be in. But what a disaster it can be also.

First you have the high priced Asante Samuel who agreed to a mega deal dwarfing what Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard make. He wants to win. He knows how good the Eagles can be or else he would nt have come to Philadelphia. Samuel is a playmaker. He can get the INT's the Eagles were lacking last year. He will bring another dimension to the Defense.

Next you have the hard playing but under rated Sheldon Brown. He is a heavy hitter and rarely gets burned. He has good size and skills. People remember his hit on Saints Running Back Reggie Bush and just say "WOW".

Then you have Lito Sheppard. The one who's spot seems to be up in the air. He also is a playmaker when healthy. Ask the Dallas Cowboys. He has 8 career INT's against the Cowboys.

What to do, what to do, what to do.

We could do a few things. Like I mentioned in my last blog, we trade Lito. But that would be detrimental to the team right now. With today's passing game, you need three good quality corners. And right now we have that.

We could rotate all three. That would be the sensible thing. I know all three will want to play every down they can. But that isn't possible. But it would be smart to rotate them to keep them fresh, much like we do the defensive line.

We could move Sheldon Brown to Strong Safety. This frees up both Lito and Asante to play every down. It also gives us a 3rd CB on the field even though he is playing Safety. Brown, as I said earlier, is a big hitter. He can blitz from the safety position, much like he could from the outside or nickel.

We could let Lito play the nickel to keep him fresh. As mentioned previously, he's been injury prone over the past few years. Nothing serious, but nagging injuries that keep him from playing 100%. We need a 100% healthy Lito. Moving him and reducing his playing time may do the trick. It could have a positive effect on his game.

As you can see the Eagles have a problem. Is it a good one? Yes. Much like the LB situation, we have young talented players ready to make this Eagles defense great. And I can't wait to see just how great it can be.

What To Do With Lito

It's been the talk of the town ever since the signing of CB Asante Samuel. What will the Eagles do with Lito Sheppard? There are various rumors flying around about possible trades. There are rumors we will keep him. When it's all said and done who knows what will happen.

Some scenarios I personally would like to see are as follows:

1) Keep him this year. When healthy, we know he is a top CB. He makes plays in the secondary. Against division rival Dallas alone he has 8 career interceptions. But the problem is over the past couple of years he can't stay healthy for 16 games. It's always some nagging injury.

I imagine a secondary of Samuel, Brown and Lito along with Safeties Brian Dawkins and Quinton Mikell and think what a great secondary that would be. Three great CB's and one of the best Safeties ever in Dawkins. These guys will make life tough for WR's and others going downfield. It could be one of the top secondaries in the league.

2) Trade him for a high draft pick next year. Easier said than done I know. He was being shopped around during the draft but the Eagles were asking a high round number two. They didn't pull the trigger on any deals on that day. But once the OTA's begins teams might realize they need a veteran corner and come calling.

3) Trade for a player....namely a WR. We need a big time WR in this offense. The offense isn't bad, but could use the boost. Adding someone like the Lion's Roy Wiliams, Cardinals Anquan Boldin or Bengals Chad Johnson would easily make this offense more dangerous.

We gained an extra number one pick from a trade with Carolina. We could package that in a deal along with Lito for any of these WR's. We could also add another player like WR Reggie Brown if needed.

With these three scenarios we make the team stronger either through keeping Lito, adding a big play WR or adding picks in next years draft. I for one would rather keep Lito than trade him, but if the price is right and the team gains a player like Boldin or Johnson I'm all for it.

Eagles Draft Breakdown

Although it’s rather pointless to assign draft grades less than 48 hours after it ends, let’s face it – it’s fun.

Eagles Breakdown
Much to the fans' chagrin, the Eagles once again traded out of the first round. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Not only did they get Carolina’s first round pick in 2009, which, with Jake Delhomme still under center, should be a good one, but they also were able to pick up two players – Trevor Laws and DeSean Jackcon – who should make an impact in 2008.

Outside of Glenn Dorsey and Sedrick Ellis, no other DT could fit Jim Johnson’s scheme better than Laws. Will he start? No. But the Eagles’ front four won’t be suffering as much when they have to rotate out Mike Patterson and Broderick Bunkley.

Jackson is the most exciting addition. He won’t be the weapon Donovan McNabb craved on offense (at least this year), but just the mere fact we won’t be forced to watch Reno Mahe return punts or Correll Buckhalter take kick returns to the 21-yard line again and again makes this pick special. Obviously Andy Reid’s proclamation that they wouldn’t spend a pick based on a guy’s return ability is dubious.

Third rounder Bryan Smith goes hand-in-hand with Reid’s love for tiny defensive ends. Where he fits in with Philly’s already large crop of smallish pass rushers Trent Cole, Chris Clemons, Chris Gocong and Juqua (Thomas) Parker remains to be seen.

Cocky to a fault safety Quintin Demps is going to make his mark on special teams. He will need to keep his mouth closed and his ears open to have a chance of ever making his mark on defense.

The offensive line additions – Mike McGlynn, Mike Gibson and King Dunlap – are versatile, but only McGlynn will make this team.

It would be a wonderful story if linebacker Andy Studebaker could make the roster out of tiny, Division III Wheaton College. But Studebaker is among a stacked group of small pass rushers and will have to excel on special teams to earn a roster spot.

Overall, the Eagles found a dangerous returner, DT depth, more bullets for Johnson’s blitz gun, and some bodies for the offensive line – along with another first-round pick that could come in handy if that weapon Donovan McNabb wants shakes loose before training camp.

Grade: B

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Early Thoughts On Draft

Saturday proved full of surprises in the NFL Draft. The first two rounds were held and numerous trades were done. The Eagles were part of three of them. First they traded their #19 to the Carolina Panthers for their 2nd round pick, 4th round pick and next years 1st round pick. It might have been alot for the Panthers to give up but it was a great deal for the Eagles.

Next we traded our 2nd round pick to the Lions for another 4th round and Detroits 2nd. With that pick we selected DT Trevor Laws from Notre Dame. He was a team mate of DE Victor Abriami. Next pick was WR DeSean Jackson from Cal. I love this move. It was too early to take him in the first but perfect for the second. This guy might be small but he has great hands and speed. He will help our return game right away.

We then traded a 4th rounder to Miami for RB Lorenzo Booker. He is a player in the Westbrook mold. He didn't play much last year, but should get plying time here as a 3rd down specialist. Look for different screens and draws for him.

We still have many picks available today. Another day full of surprises.

Lito is still an Eagle for now. Will he traded today? Who knows. I personally wouldn't trade him unless it was for a WR like Roy Williams, Anquan Boldin or Chad Johnson. With two 1st rounders next year, I think a deal could be done. Maybe add in Reggie Brown as bait and then draft another WR today.

Some players still available I would like the Eagles to select are:

Safeties Josh Barrett, Reggie Smith or DeJuan Morgan.

WR's Marcus Monk or Adarius Bowman

CB's Justin King, Charles Godfrey or Chevis Jackson

OL Anthony Collins or Carl Nicks

LB Dan Conner

Why Conner? He's a player. Could provide valuable depth to this team and make plays on ST.

So far I like what we have done. I hope today brings us all the players we need to make a run at the SB.

Darft Day Is Here

FINALLY! After an offseason of speculation, the best day of the football offseason is here. The NFL Draft. As of right now the Eagles have 11 picks in seven rounds. Numerous questions need to be asked:

1) Will we trade Lito Sheppard? And if we do, who will it be to and for what?

2) Will we make a play for a BIG WR like Chad Johnson, Anquan Boldin or Roy Williams?

3) Who will the Eagles select with their first pick? An OL or a CB? Maybe a WR?

4) Will the Eagles move up in the first to get a player they covet?

5) How will different trades affect what the Eagles do?

6) Will losing a couple minutes this year hinder the draft process? Instead of looking for the best offer will teams just take a chance on certain players or trades?

7) Will the Eagles draft a Special Teams Returner?

8) Will any other players other than Lito get traded? The past couple years we traded 1-2 role players to move up.

All this will be answered in a few short hours. Draft begins at 3:00. Three hours later than usual. Both ESPN and NFL Network will have coverage.