Werthless-ness

I’m not a fair-weather Phillies fan. I didn’t jump on the bandwagon in 2008 during the World Series. I’ve been a Phillies fan all my life, mostly because it was forced upon me and not by choice.

But there was a point in July right at the trade deadline when my dedication was tested. At the end of May, the Phillies had suffered through three consecutive shutouts. Throughout June and July, it seemed that the Phillies wouldn’t even make the playoffs, let alone make a third consecutive trip to the World Series. From May 21-July 22 the Phils were barely fightin' and had a 22-31 record and were 7 games out of first place.

And, like all Philadelphia fans, when the going gets tough, we blame somebody. You can ask Donovan McNabb how it feels to have the weight of the Philadelphia Eagles on his back (although I'm not sure it's much better in Washington). Or how Pat Burrell felt whenever he struck out looking on a pitch low and inside with the bases loaded and two outs.

So while the Phillies floundered in third place in July, I blamed Jayson Werth, and called for his trade. Yes Werth is a valuable right-handed bat in a left-handed heavy line-up. And yes, there aren't any cheaper or better outfielders to replace him this offseason. But to me, Werth was playing for a huge contract, not for a team trying to make the playoffs.

His grouchy attitude only seemed to be more of a reason to blame the bearded right-fielder for any Phillies failure. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Werth complained that somebody made a Wikipedia page for him. Instead of realizing that athlete’s Wikipedia pages are full of sports statistics, Werth whined.

So Ruben Amaro Jr., while you talk to Scott Boras about Jayson Werth’s likely to be massive contract, think about being creative. Look for a good, young right-handed bat, or use one of the many already in the Phillies system, like Ben Francisco or John Mayberry Jr. Take a chance on somebody much like you took a chance on Jayson Werth despite his injuries, and hopefully it will pay off.

-Jayne W. Orenstein