Bobby Abreu, we hardly knew ye...

It's been a weekend of mixed emotions for the die hard Phillies fan such as myself. First, David Bell was traded to Milwaukee for nobody, which is a shame because it came right as he finally got on my good side for the first time since 2004 by playing like a competent major league third basemen.

The big shebang was yesterday, of course, when the Phillies traded Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle to the Yankees for four people of little consequence. Finally, Rheal Cormier, who, like Bell, had finally gotten back on my good side after a disastrous 2005, was traded to Cincinnati for a prospect of middling talent.

So holy crap, where do I start?

First of all, I'm sadder than anybody to see Bobby Abreu go. We sports fans of Philadelphia like to pride ourselves as being more knowledgeable than the average fans, but the way we treated Abreu never really reflected this. He's been one of the best hitters in all of baseball for almost a decade, and what do we do? We rag on him because he doesn't dive into the right field wall like Aaron Rowand would (apparently we'd be better off with more players who play hard-nosed defense and have an on base percentage of .322 and less players who play average defense (and yet have an amazingly strong arm) and have an on base percentage of .427 and also hit 100+ RBI every year). Any team in the league would be happy to have Abreu, and any team would be better with him than they are without him.

If it's true that he was traded to free up the money that we would pay him, which it seems to be, this reflects extremely low standards by the Phillies' GM, Pat Gillick. Remember when he vowed not to trade Abreu unless he could get a top tier starter in return? That standard sure dropped. It seems like these days all he's worth is a shortstop who might someday hit in the 8 hole for a team like Pittsburgh. And hell, let's throw in Cory Lidle too! It's not like the Phillies have any problems with starting pitching...

So here's what to expect from Bobby now that he's joined the Evil Empire: he'll be rejuvenated, find his power stroke again, be a 30/30/.300 guy again, and win a World Series or two.

Are we used to seeing former Philadelphia athletes win elsewhere yet? Curt Schilling sure didn't mind leaving. Scott Rolen doesn't have a ring yet, but does play for one of the most consistently great teams in the league. And we didn't get anything of value in return for those guys either! (Placido Polanco excluded, but we traded him for a relief pitcher who's currently in jail in Venezuela.)

So with the Phillies having emphatically declared themselves "sellers" and not "contenders" (check back in '08, says Gillick), here's the shortlist of teams with old allies to root for during the remainder of the 2006 season:

- Detroit Tigers - They have the aforementioned Placido Polanco, plus they're the feel-good story of the year, considering how badly they've stunk for quite a long time. They now have the best record in the league.
- Cincinnati Reds - Another story of a rising underdog, they also have former Phillies Eric Milton and Rheal Cormier.
- Boston Red Sox - Curt Schilling, Mike Timlin, and manager Terry Francona are the old pals here. But they all were with the '04 team that won.
- New York Yankees - It's time to think the unthinkable. The Yankees have Abreu and Lidle. They have Phillie fan favorite Sal Fasano, who's not quite the same without his hair and fu manchu, but is still the same Sal Fasano who busts his ass for every single foul ball and who used to drink 30 beers every day. Their third base coach is former Phillies shortstop (1970-1981) and former Phillies manager (2001-2004) Larry Bowa. And on top of all that, I find myself almost feeling sorry for Douchebag Supreme Alex Rodriguez, who really, truly has no way to stop fans from booing him. He could hit .400, and people would complain that he still got out 60% of the time. In other words, he's a little like Bobby Abreu was in Philadelphia. Except that Bobby Abreu wasn't a pretty boy douchebag, no matter what some people said. But still, with all that, let's put it this way: if the World Series comes down to the Yankees and the Mets, we have a clear choice.

Finally, one more note on Abreu: did anybody see his post-game interview with Harry Kalas and Chris Wheeler yesterday? Bobby proved himself a man of utmost class and dignity, and deserves all the respect that any of us can possibly give to an overpaid professional athlete. I'm going to miss him, and even knowing that he'll be playing for the Yankees, I'll still root for him.