You're Pushin' Me, Baby...
Well, here we are just two-plus hours before the Phillies start the 2005 season, and they're already grinding down my optimism. If bad news comes in threes, I've got your troika right here:

• Thursday, March 31: Howard's options. I didn't actually have a big problem with the Phils sending minor-league slugger Ryan Howard back to AAA for more seasoning. He won't play in front of Thome, and he's too young and strikeout-prone to be a good bet in a pinch-hitting role. But the rationale Ed Wade offered to ESPN's Jayson Stark turned my stomach: "Despite the fact he's coming off a tremendous season, he still has two options left. So we just feel the appropriate thing is to let him continue to develop and see what happens." Hey dumbass: the point isn't to use up all the guy's options so you can defer making a move on him till he's 27. The point is to get the best team on the field. If the offers for Howard aren't adequate, that's one thing; one rumor I heard was that Tampa was offering inconsistent reliever Danys Baez and one-dimensional speedster Joey Gathright, which isn't good value. But Wade's typical caution and utter lack of creativity leads me to believe that Howard is about to enter the unpleasant Land of Prospect Limbo where so many previous young Phillies have wasted away. Perhaps not surprisingly, he's requested a trade. Wouldn't you?


• Friday, April 1: Marlon Byrd demoted. After retooling his swing over the winter and hitting .390 with power this spring, with only injury risk and reputed clubhouse malcontent Kenny Lofton in front of him, one might have thought that Byrd was set to reclaim the starting job he lost in 2004. Instead, the brain trust that has brought the team zero playoff appearances in 11 seasons sent him back to AAA. Byrd thinks he's done in Philly, and I can't blame him. I t's probably just a matter of time before Ed Wade trades him, probably along with a second-tier pitching prospect, for David Weathers.


• Sunday, April 3: Chasing Polanco. For six months, the Phillies have been saying that Chase Utley would be their starting second baseman. His very promising 2004 and good bat this spring seemed to confirm the wisdom of this position. The team offered arbitration to incumbent starter Placido Polanco, but made no bones about their wish that he sign elsewhere and allow the Phillies to collect compensatory draft picks. The problem was that Polanco hired idiots for representation, misjudged the market, and wound up accepting arbitration--driving the team over-budget and creating an infield logjam. He then proceded to whine about his self-created dilemma all spring. Polanco hits lefties very well, as Utley does not, and has value in his versatility; he's an above-average third baseman and can play a credible shortstop. But Utley's clearly the better hitter against right-handers. Even so, Polanco will get the start today against Washington righty Livan Hernandez. Hopefully it's a one-game aberration based on Polanco's good career numbers (15 for 42) against Hernandez, but it sends a lot of bad messages about what works and what doesn't in the Phils' organization. No wonder Ryan Howard wants out...

I'd like to think that all this will play itself out--that the decisions around Byrd and Polanco, and the rationale for how the team is handling Howard, will prove sound. But seven years of Ed Wade's rotten decision-making, and 26 mostly futile and disappointing years of following this team, don't give me tremendous hope. If they win, it will be in spite of these moves, but consistent executive incompetence is tough to overcome.