Keith Van Horn=Kevin Garnett???

Phil Jasner writing in the Daily News today-

"I haven't exactly gotten a flood of e-mails asking why the Sixers weren't players for a Garnett-quality acquisition, but the ones I've gotten openly wonder why "the Sixers never do stuff like this?" They did. Or have you forgotten Chris Webber? Keith Van Horn? Glenn Robinson? Or $50 million for Kenny Thomas?"

While the wisdom of the Celtics trading their entire future for one player is questionable, the fact that Kevin Garnett is one of the GREATEST PLAYERS IN NBA HISTORY is not. And he's still got a good 3-4 years of high-level play left in him (unlike the overrated and poorly aging Ray Allen).

So how exactly have the Sixers gone after players of Garnett's caliber? Keith Van Horn and Glenn Robinson, while pricey, are not Hall of Fame players like KG. And Webber, who may actually make the HOF (stop laughing), looked like he was playing on a wooden leg when the Sixers got him. Also, without Kenny Thomas' awful contract the Sixers would never have been able to trade for Webber anyway.

There's a big difference between going after pricey players and elite players still in their prime. The Celtics may have done a dumb thing getting rid of most of their franchise this offseason for basically 2 players (prove me wrong, Big Baby), but it automatically makes them the best team in their division for the next 2 years. And KG, Pierce, Allen, and a bunch of rodeo clowns could make the Finals out of the crappy Eastern Conference. They didn't go out and grab a Webber or a Van Horn; they got themselves a game changing force. The Sixers haven't done that in a long, long time.

Your July National League Player of the Month

Well last night broke like a five year streak of Phillies beating the Cubs when I had seen them duke it out at Wrigley. It could because Adam Eaton stinks, but I will blame it on the fact that I couldn't have my full attention on the game due to the amount of inanity I had to suffer through between pitches.

Anyways, his fielding problems last night aside, one Phillie should have just about wrapped up the NL Player of the month award. His stats and their ranking in the NL in July.

.435 BA (2nd)
6 HR (10th)
22 RBI (6th)
.567 OBP (1st by 67 points)
.768 SLG (2nd)
1.332 OPS (1st by 60 points)

In the last month, Burrell has seen his BA rise 57 points, his OBP rise 51 points, and his SLG rise 98 points. His .872 OPS for the season ranks 24th in the NL Overall and 9th amongst NL Outfielders (ahead of both Carlos Lee and Alfonso Soriano). But it will only take one 0-fer for the fans to get back on him. Yayyyyy.

Also, Adam Eaton stinks.

How bad does he stink?

His 5.87 ERA ranks him last in the NL among. Below even Kip Wells, who should not be in baseball. He ranks 43rd out of 49 NL pitchers in WHIP. After the game last night, even Jose Contreras commented that Eaton stinks on ice.

And they still have two more years with him. Nice job Pat Gillick. Way to not only set the market price for starting pitching last year but also manage to walk away with the worst free agent pitcher on the market. That's Billy King-esque.

Why Does Joe Morgan Even Discuss Baseball?

Not to bite off FJM's schtick, but this is too much. This is from Joe's chat today.

Chris (Tampa): Does adding Teixeira to the Braves lineup give them one of if not the most potent lineup in baseball?

SportsNation Joe Morgan: (11:23 AM ET ) No, there are better lineups than the Braves--the Tigers, the Mets. He may help their lineup, but it doesn't make them the best.

Oh Joe. You confound me. You know what is a good way to measure the offensive ability of each team's lineup? The amount of runs they score. And with a few simple clicks, I can determine that the Mets have scored 481 runs this season, good for 9th best in the National League. Which is also 25 runs less than the Atlanta Braves have scored before they even obtained Mark Teixeira, 36 runs less than the Florida Marlins have score, and 94 runs less than the Phillies have scored. But Joe has never let a fact get in the way of his ridiculous opinions.

Peter King is an Ass

Why he hates McNabb so much is beyond me. This is from his column today:

"I plan to win games every year I'm playing, and I plan on doing it here in Philadelphia. I'll be here in Philadelphia for years to come."

-- Donovan McNabb, with the hot breath of second-round quarterback Kevin Kolb breathing down his neck as the Eagles opened training-camp practice on Saturday.

What the hell is he even talking about? Kolb is breathing down his neck? He's going to be the #3 QB and is at least 3 years from being considered as the Eagles starting QB.

And that begins our Eagles preview.

This is an Offense

To follow up on last week, the Phillies are now averaging an astounding 5.50 runs per game. The Marlins, who are still second in runs per game, are avergaing 4.89 runs per game. For the mathematically inclined, the Phillies are leading every team in the NL by over 0.6 runs per game. That is quite a number.

And because they have been getting halfway decent pitching of late, they are winning more than they are losing.

These next four games are a big test as they face the Cubs who have the best rotation in the NL that isn't fronted by Jake Peavy. Fortunately they don't have to face Carlos Zambrano, but they can't avoid Rich Hill and Ted Lily. If there is any "flaw" with the current Phillies is that they occasionally struggle against left handers. They are hitting right handers with the same success, but it is much more impressive when compared to the rest of the league.

Injuries continue to take their toll. As soon as they got Howard back, Myers goes on the DL. Myers and Gordon come back and Utley breaks his hand and now Madson hurts his arm. Madson has been really good the last two months, especially in July. Hopefully they can weather the storm. If not, we can all just blame Pat Gillick. It is what I like to do.