Revisiting Aaron Rowand and Kyle Lohse

With a break in the Phillies' action, let's revisit, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, two personnel decisions the Phils made late last year, the failures to resign both Aaron Rowand and Kyle Lohse.

Rowand had a career season in 2007, batting .309 with 27 home runs. He was a popular, hard-nosed player but he wanted a big, multiyear contract which he got with the Giants. This year he batted .271 with 13 home runs. Not exactly lights out. His replacement with the Phils this year was effectively Jason Werth. Werth hit .273 with 24 home runs on a less than full-time basis. Rowand and Werth are both excellent defensive outfielders but Werth's excellent speed makes him much more dangerous on the bases. They both struck out well over 100 times. Clearly this move worked to the Phillies' advantage in 2008. The catch is that Werth will now probably be looking for the kind of contract Rowand was seeking last year.

The Phils acquired Kyle Lohse in mid-season last year. He pitched well, primarily as a starter, with a 3-0 record in 13 appearances with an ERA of 4.72. However, he did have a couple of late-game blowups which were very costly. He too sought a large contract which Philadelphia was unwilling to provide. But the Cardinals were and Lohse did not disappoint - he compiled a 15-6 record with an ERA of 3.78 in 2008 helping to keep St. Louis in the race for most of the season. Admittedly, this was accomplished in a much more pitcher-friendly ballpark; how this would translate to Citizens Bank Park is anyone's guess. Even 20/20 hindsight has its limits.

CORRECTION: Kyle Lohse did NOT sign a large (relatively speaking) deal with the Cardinals for 2008. He RECENTLY (9/30) signed a large multiyear deal with the Cards for four years.