Oh the Philadelphia Phillies. It was announced earlier today that Phillies first basemen Ryan Howard will undergo surgery after being diagnosed with a meniscus tear in his left knee. Not exactly what General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr and the fans want to hear a week before the a week prior to the All Star break.

The Phillies have much improved this season compared to the season prior, entering today 3 games under .500 with a 43-46 record and 7.5 games behind the first place Braves. Mainly with help due to the health of their line up, break out season of Dominic Brown and Ben Revere getting on base and stealing bases after his crawling start. At the 2012 All Star break, the Phillies were 37-50 and 14 games back from first place, 2013 being a clear step up from the 2012 season. With the All Star break fast approaching  and the trade deadline at the end of the month, Amaro Jr has some big decisions to make.

With Howard now needing knee surgery that will put him out at least 6-8 weeks, we’re looking at a late August or early September return. It really wouldn’t be a huge shock to me if he was out the whole year. It Looks as if they will be calling up Darin Ruf from AAA Lehigh Valley who owns a .266/.344/.408 slash line along with 7 homeruns in 82 games this year. Not a lot of Simpsons for a guy who has big power potential as he showed last year in the minors and is also striking out more than once a game.

If I’m Amaro Jr (which I am not), I would seriously consider calling this season a wash. I know, the Phillies are hanging in there but realistically do you think they can compete with with the Nationals/Braves, the tight NL West and the successful Pirates/Reds/Cardinals out of the NL Central all fighting for the 2 Wild Card spots? The competition is looking quite fierce.

The Phillies don’t exactly have the depth and let’s be honest here, their system isn’t that great after shipping some talent to try and win it all again post 2009. There’s been interest in Toronto bringing in Chase Utley as well as the Kansas City Royals and the Dodgers all interested as well. Possibly unloading guys like Cliff Lee, Carlos Ruiz and Michael Young may be a good idea as well.

The Phillies have pieces like Brown, Revere and Hamels to build off of next year and getting some fresh prospects certainly would be an improvement to their organization. They sure don’t have enough pieces to get what they need at the deadline. If they don’t make some moves, I feel that they will run into the same problem again next season. It’s not an awful thing to think about building for next year. I just don’t think the Philadelphia Phillies have it in 2013.

–Tim Williams