Good morning and welcome to episode 388 of Effectively Wild, the Daily Podcast from

Baseball Prospectus, presented by the baseball reference play index. My name is Ben Lindbergh,

my podcast pal is Sam Miller, and today we move one team closer to the end of our journey from

the bottom to the top of the Pecota projected standings with a preview of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Later in the show, Nick Wheatley-Showler will talk to Matt Gelb, who covers the Phillies for the

Philly Inquirer, but right now we are about to talk to Bill Bayer, the founder of the Phillies

blog Crash Bernalli, the author of the book 100 Things that Phillies Fendt should know and do before

they die, a writer for Rotoworld and Heartball Talk, and also a contributor to the baseball

prospectus annual. Hey, Bill, what are some of the things that a Phillies Fendt should do before

he or she dies? Well, first of all, thanks for having me on, and the first thing that a Phillies

Fendt should do is not be a fan of the Phillies because it's horribly depressing right now,

but at least the last couple of years. It was good for a few years there. I'm not going to act

like that didn't happen, but it's a little tough. Well, in late January, you made a fairly strong

statement. You came out on your blog and you said that the Phillies have had a relatively good

offseason. Do you stand by this controversial statement and if so, why? Well, I kind of hedge

my bet there, put in the word relatively in there. I mean, if you go to the casino and you're up

with the big wigs, you know, throwing around $100 bills on the big tables, and then if you win

at Nickel Slodge, you're not really having a good night, but relatively in your own means,

that's a good night for you if you win a couple of spins there. That's kind of what the Phillies

have done. They didn't make any big mistakes. They didn't get locked down in a four or five-year

deal for a pitcher. They didn't have to give up their first round pick, which thanks their

finish last year's relatively high. And just really, they didn't make any bad personnel decisions

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