Let Us Now Praise Bobby Abreu
He took it down to the wire, but the Phillies' right fielder hit his 30th home run of the year in today's season-ending 10-4 win over Florida to notch his second 30/30 campaign, which is also the second in team history. Abreu actually finished with 40 steals, giving him the first 30/40 season in the 122 years the Phils have been at this.

Abreu's final numbers: .301 average, 30 HR, 105 RBI, 40 steals, 118 runs scored, 127 walks, .971 OPS. That should be deserving of at least a few down-ballot MVP votes.

Also deserving of praise is Jimmy Rollins, who hit a grand slam today to finish an outstanding season: .289, 14 HR, 73 RBI (mostly from the leadoff spot), 30 steals, 119 runs scored, .803 OPS and excellent defensive work at shortstop.

Oh yeah: the Phils also made a managerial change over the weekend. I don't have much to add to the discussion here, except that it was at least two months too late--a point underscored by Houston's wild card-clinching win today, as the Astros canned Jimy Williams the day after the all-star game--and that at the least, the spotlight of accountability will finally be trained on Ed Wade and his chronic ineptitude.